Wairarapa

Brett Wooffindin

Brett was raised on a South Canterbury sheep farm and moved to the Wairarapa in 2015. He gained a first-class honours degree in Commerce at Lincoln University and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2007.

Brett’s previous experience includes getting qualified at a big four accounting firm, working at investment banks in London and contracting for top 10 NZX listed companies where he specialised in change management and process improvement.

Brett specialises in cloud computing where he is the firms Xero and Figured specialist, as well as experienced with other addons such as WorkflowMax, Spotlight Reporting and payroll programmes. Brett also focuses on improving business performances through strategic planning.

Jennifer Martin

Jennifer was born and raised in the Wairarapa and has lived in the region most of her life. She gained a BCA in Accounting, Economics and Commercial Law from Victoria University and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2011.

Jennifer’s work experience includes various roles for firms in Wellington and the Wairarapa before she started at Lawson Avery in August 2018 as our cloud-based specialist. As part of this role Jennifer is responsible for products such as Xero, Figured, Cash Manager Focus, Spotlight Reporting, Workflow Max and MYOB Essentials.

Jennifer also has practical business experience having assisted running a family business for the last eight years.

Heather Macdonald

Heather was born into a farming family and grew up in a small rural community near Gravity Canyon, Taihape. She studied at Massey University and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Studies in 1983.

Heather then completed a Diploma in Business and Administration extramurally to gain further university papers required to qualify as a Chartered Accountant, which she successfully did in 1986.

After working for a large CA firm in Hamilton, primarily in the audit division she moved to the Wairarapa and has worked at Lawson Avery since July 1984. Heather specialises in farm accounting and lives on and is actively involved with a sheep and beef cattle farm at Ihuraua.

She enjoys dealing with farmers, understands the challenges they can face and the specialist accounting and taxation requirements of a farming business.

Rob Royle

Rob was born are raised in Wainuiomata before moving to the Wairarapa in 2015 with his wife and two young boys.

Rob studied at Victoria University completing a BCA and post-Graduate Diploma in Accounting before qualifying as Chartered Accountant in 2018.

Prior to joining Lawson Avery in 2018, Rob had worked at another local accounting firm and worked in the finance team at The Salvation Army.

When Rob isn’t in the office or chasing his kids around its likely he’ll be out pig hunting with his dogs.

Jaimi Stewart

Jaimi was born and raised in the Wairarapa. She achieved her Bachelor of Accountancy from Massey University and in 2020 qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

Prior to joining Lawson Avery in 2021, Jaimi worked at another local accounting firm for five years.

Out of the office Jaimi loves playing and watching sport, particularly hockey and spending time with friends and family.

Svetlana Dumanovskaya

Svetlana was born in Crimea, Ukraine and at the age of 9 moved over to New Zealand with her family becoming a local here in the Wairarapa.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Accountancy through Massey in 2019 and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2021.

Prior to coming onboard with Lawson Avery, Svetlana has worked at other CA practices over the last 10 years. She has a passion for the Dairy Industry and is involved in the Dairy Industry Awards as the Regional Manager.

In her spare time she can be found at the local F45 gym, helping out her partner with their contract milking business or on their lifestyle property in Carterton with their dog, and soon to be little helper.

Jhellaica Manjares

Jhellaica, also known as Laica, was born in the Philippines and moved to Masterton in 2013 to join her husband who’s been an apiarist in Wairarapa for 15 years now.

She is a Certified Public Accountant abroad and is currently doing her last CAANZ module to become a fully qualified Chartered Accountant.

She has had several exciting roles overseas including being an auditor at PwC and an accountant at IBM. Prior to joining Lawson Avery, she was juggling her role as a Senior Finance Officer in Wellington, and study towards becoming a Chartered Accountant.

Laica is also a mum of two beautiful kids – Eunice and Lucas.

Hiona Haeata

Hiona was born and raised in the Wairarapa and spent 10 years living in Australia. She moved home in 2022 to be closer to family.

She completed her certificate level 4 in accounting and bookkeeping, then completed her registration as a BAS Agent, and is now currently working towards her bachelor’s degree in accounting.

Prior to coming on board with Lawson Avery Hiona worked at another CA Practice in the Gold Coast
as a bookkeeper, developing her skills she grew a passion for accounting.

Out of the office Hiona loves spending time with her daughter and family and looks forward to
exploring the beautiful outdoors and scenery that she missed.

Robyn Morgan

Robyn was born and raised in the Wairarapa.  Prior to joining Lawson Avery she worked at another local accounting firm for ten years. In 2022 she qualified as an Accounting Techinician.

Out of the office along with her husband she’s kept busy with their two kids, enjoying a good coffee, a gluten free scone and podcast. 

Julian Allen

Julian’s previous work experience includes working in small, medium and large accounting firms as well as holding senior financial and management roles within a diverse locally run family businesses, a nationwide professional services firm and a publicly listed multi-national company.

Julian gained a Bachelor of Business Studies, majoring in Accountancy, from Massey University before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1999.

He has enjoyed gaining an understanding of businesses from the ground up, particularly to appreciate the impact of accounting and management decisions on a business.

He has predominantly lived in the Wairarapa, Wellington and the Manawatu since he was a teenager.  This includes attending Kuranui and Makoura Colleges. 

In 2020 he and his wife Fleur (Chanel College teacher) bought a lifestyle block just out of Carterton.  In their spare time, they enjoy tending to the myriad of animals on their ‘farm’ as well spending time with their three grown up children and young grandchild.

Kathryn Pound

Kathryn was born and raised on a sheep and beef farm in Pahiatua.

She attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks, on a swimming scholarship where she graduated with a BBA in Accounting, complemented by a Minor in Sports Management in 2017. She then completed her Chartered Accounting qualification in 2023.

Prior to joining Lawson Avery in 2024, she worked for six years at an accountancy firm in Lower Hutt and a Grant Thornton in Wellington, specialising in Business Advisory Services.

Outside of work she enjoys gin, cricket, or returning to her roots to lend a hand on the family farm, in no particular order.

Neha Patel

Neha obtained her Bachelor of Commerce in 2015 and her Master of Commerce in 2017 from India.

She is currently pursuing a Graduate Diploma in commerce with a major in Taxation at Victoria University of Wellington to gain knowledge about NZ business and tax law.  She is also a Provisional CAANZ member.

Prior to joining Lawson Avery, Neha worked in the New Zealand banking sector. She has developed excellent communication skills and is always eager to try new approaches.

Neha was born and raised in India and moved to Masterton in 2020 to join her kiwi husband who works locally as a pharmacist.

In her free time, she enjoys drawing, painting, and spending time with her family.

Nicole Sim

Nicole was born and raised in the Wairarapa, growing up on numerous dairy farms across the region and developing a love for the outdoors and animals.

Working in a GP Practice while commuting to Upper Hutt for the past 5 years, Nicole has developed a fine eye for detail and is looking forward to being closer to home and all that this has to offer.

You can often find Nicole out walking and exploring the great outdoors of the Wairarapa with her fur baby, whipping up some baking in the kitchen, and spending time with family and friends.