SHANNON HARNETT AWARDED 2020 NUFFIELD SCHOLARSHIP

Our warmest congratulations to our Rural Accountants director Shannon Harnett, one of five awarded a Nuffield NZ Farming Scholarship for 2020 in Wellington on Tuesday 5th November.

A Nuffield Farming Scholarship is one of New Zealand primary industry's most sought-after and highly valued scholarship awards. Its purpose is to help create tomorrow's leaders and, via an intensive 12 month programme which includes 16 weeks of overseas travel, all scholars are exposed to new insights and ideas in agricultural practices world-wide.

Scholars embark on a presenting a thesis-like finding on the topic of their choosing back to the Nuffield board during the following year, the outcome being to share, implement and positively influence decisions in the our agri-food sector and rural communities.

Shannon is a Chartered Accountant, holding senior management and accounting roles before becoming director and co-owner at Rural Accountants, a progressive accounting firm in Whakatane.

She is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors, holds directorships in several agricultural & horticultural businesses and has been involved in several horticultural start-up businesses dealing with PVR varieties.

Growing up on a sheep & beef farm in Hawkes Bay, Shannon’s farming background started straight out of school at a farm accountancy practice. She then went on to graduate from Massey University with a BBS, majoring in Accounting and Management, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Agri Commerce.

A long-time advocate of the New Zealand primary industry, Shannon has gained valuable industry knowledge during her career and believes New Zealand is uniquely placed with an exciting opportunity to grow high value, consumer driven produce.

Her plan is to research the value that Plant Variety Rights (PVRs) could contribute to New Zealand's horticultural and primary industry sectors.

We will certainly be keep a very interested eye on her progress throughout 2020 so make sure to pop back here often for rolling updates!

You can read more about what is involved in the nuts and bolts of a Nuffield Scholarship right here.

Listen to Shannon's interview on Magic Talk's Rural Exchange (REX) show; Rural Exchange: Ep 127 Sat. 10th November 2019 and forward through to 10:12 to hear the interview. 

 

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What Our Customers Think

Great local Accountants. They provide an excellent service with great explanations for the layman. They provide accounting services for non rural clients too.

Quinn Wilson, Restaurant Owner, The Wagon
What Our Customers Think


Rural Accountants is a real asset to our business.

The team at Rural Accountants pretty much manage all our administrative tasks for the group including payroll and tax planning, ensuring we don’t pay any more than necessary. They are at the forefront of technology and have helped us get up and running with Xero and Figured which is much more efficient than the way we used to work.

Sam Jones, Managing Director, Sybton Farm Ltd Partnership
What Our Customers Think


Christine is very knowledgeable, great to deal with and knows our business well. She is also a sheep & beef farmer so knows the industry really well and understands our needs.

Rural Accountants keeps us on track through strategic and forward planning meetings throughout the year. Christine knows our business inside out so she can deal with our questions instantly.

Mathew & Gemma Barham, Hawke’s Bay Farmer of the Year 2012
What Our Customers Think

What Our Customers Think

I used to work out my GST and process it manually which would take me at least a full day every two months. The team set up reconcilliation rules and other quick tools, and showed me how to do all my reconcilliations and process my GST returns through Xero which now takes me no time at all!

Mike O'Neill, Financial Services Northland Ltd
What Our Customers Think


As a farmer, Christine understands our business and how farmers and growers operate.

We use Rural Accountants to provide a full accounting service to an orcharding partnership which operates a number of orchards with a wide spread of varieties and management systems. Rural Accountants are always timely and accurate, and their annual financial accounts are extremely easy to understand and very grower-friendly.

Paul Jones, Orchardist