Ben Blackler
CA (PP) BCom BA
PARTNER
Ben is a chartered accountant with over 20 years’ experience helping small to medium sized businesses. Ben helps tease out your goals, be them personal or business related. He is results and strategy focused and is a true business adviser. You’ll often find Ben negotiating on his clients’ behalf for a better deal.
Ben helps set the direction of Blackler Smith & Co as a highly effective advisory firm to a wide range of businesses.
Blair Smith
CA(PP) BCA
PARTNER
Blair has over 20 years’ chartered accounting experience in helping business owners become more successful and more efficient. His affable nature and ability to speak ‘Plain English’ accounting makes him approachable and well respected by all ranges of clients.
Alison Jones
CA BCA DipProfAcc
SENIOR CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT
Alison Jones is a chartered accountant with 15 years’ experience and commenced with Blackler Smith & Co in 2017. She builds strong relationships with her clients, advising them in all areas of accounting and business.
Alison’s forte is helping clients create better systems within their business that save time and provide useful practical financial information so they can make better business decisions.
She always encourages her clients to ‘just ask’ and no question is a ‘silly question’.
Alison is married to Paul with two school age daughters. Most of her spare time is taken up with being a taxi to various kids’ sport and dance events but when time allows she enjoys long walks with her dogs in the hills around the Hutt Valley.
Kelly Sinclair
CA BCA DipProfAcc
SENIOR CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT
Kelly Sinclair came to Blackler Smith & Co as an experienced, fully qualified chartered accountant in 2015.
Kelly has excellent problem solving and advisory skills and can work through a lot of detail when needed.
Kelly has significant experience with business purchases, assisting people with ‘due diligence’ (business assessments), training clients on Xero, forecasting and loan applications for businesses including franchises.
Clients tell us that Kelly has an easy manner, explains things well and can help you if you are new in business, or need help with something more complicated.
Susan Little
CA BBS
SENIOR CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT
Susan Little has been with Blackler Smith & Co since its inception in 2014. She has over 20 years’ experience in chartered accountancy, having fully qualified at a Big 4 firm as well as obtaining international career experience at an automotive multi-national in the United Kingdom.
Susan works with clients across a wide range of industries including recruitment, architecture, chemistry and medicine. Susan also provides tax advice and assistance for estates and has helped many clients with child support and Working for Families entitlements.
Susan is very responsive to queries and can be relied on to efficiently manage your projects and tasks.
Susan is married to Jeff and has two children and three step-children. Susan likes to spend time catching up and relaxing with her family and friends, attend soccer games with her son and enjoy the results of her daughter’s passion for cooking.
Jean Millar
Dip Bus
SENIOR ACCOUNTANT
Jean Millar assists clients in a wide range of industries including painting and decorating, real estate as well as commercial and residential property investors.
Feedback from clients is that Jean is very conscientious and reliable.
Jean enjoys providing financial statements and tax return work for her clients while finding solutions for them.
Jean enjoys property renovations and she finds it rewarding to watch an idea morph into a renovated bathroom or bedroom. In her typically honest manner, she admits most of the hard work is outsourced.
Letitia Bryan
RECEPTIONIST / ADMINISTRATOR
Letitia Bryan is a friendly and enthusiastic person at reception and she will receive your telephone calls (three days per week). As well as efficiently managing meetings, Letitia administers many tasks including company formations, maintaining records, and managing tax returns and assessments.
She is also our team’s unofficial social secretary and has a knack of involving everyone with her passion for anything sociable.
Outside of work Letitia is a proud mum to a gorgeous little boy and her interests include film, food and literature.
Our chartered accounting team
Why do we always let our community know we are chartered accountants? Because we like to educate people who may have no idea that a person straight out of school can call themselves an ‘accountant’. Being a chartered accountant means that we are University qualified, belong to a professional body, have many hours’ worth of compulsory professional training each year and get audited on a regular basis. Our ‘kaitzen’ (continuous improvement) approach means in reality we are constantly upskilling and training ourselves in all areas of business.
Photo: Brady Dyer
Award winners
Winners at the Wellington Region Business Excellence Awards – Small Business and Professional Services 2015
