HQB | Accountants Auditors Advisors
About the company
HQB has been providing accounting, audit and advisory services since 1955, serving the Coffs Coast for seven decades. The team consists of Chartered Accountants, and each client has a Partner and a Manager on their team. HQB has an in-house team of registered auditors based in Coffs Harbour and Bellingen, and is licensed to manage company, trust account, and statutory SMSF audits. HQB offers complimentary audit insurance.
What customers say
Based on genuine customer reviews
Reviews
Reviews are taken from publicly available sources.
James Davis came highly recommended by a trusted friend for his finance knowledge, experience & approach. I booked the appointment online, saw him within the week and received prompt advice. We were very impressed with his understanding & ability to give immediate guidance and clarity on a tricky financial issue that we'd been struggling with. I only wish I had of seen him earlier!!!! We will definitely use James for any future financial, tax, super & accounting advice. Thanks James.
I have worked with James and David as well as Brianna from HQB for the last 18 months and can highly recommend their services. They provided us with all of the financial and auditing expertise we required , including successfully assisting us on a variety of specialist / niche questions. Our year end audits and grant acquittals were run very efficiently, on time and within budget.
I was a HQB customer for the last 2 years after my old accountant retired. I was never fully happy with the service we got but always gave them another chance. The first year I had to ask the staff member to include a critical deduction to our tax return 3 or 4 times, this was over $16k and they advised they would investigate it each time but then left it off the return with no further questions asked. Had I not rejected the return and sent them the details a 5th time we would have missed the deduction on our return. I believe they thought we were misinformed of stamp duty exemptions in other states and simply ignored my advice. This year the response to our queries always had to be followed up multiple times before a response was received, often weeks after initial email was sent. Year 2 we raised these concerns before proceeding with our returns and was promised that it would be done within 30 days and we would receive prompt replies. However, again we had to follow up multiple times and did not achieve our returns processed in 30 days. This year I had a question regarding capital gains and send off an email to the person we had been dealing with. We received a reply with a spreadsheet explaining our position. About 4 weeks later we received a bill for over $1100 for 2 hours of bookkeeping, we questioned this with them and was told that we had been liaising with a partner and their rate was $500 per hour. We had not been told we would be charged for the advice received or that it was for a partner to complete the work. I don’t expect to receive work for free however they did not mention that there would be a cost, let alone $500 per hour. When questioning this large bill, we were told it is our responsibility to understand their fee structure and they are under no obligation to advise us of any charge before the work was completed as it was available on their website. We have since moved to another local accountant, but HQB has been refusing to send them our data until we resolved the bill issue, it has been sitting with them for a review for over 2 weeks. We ended up paying the bill just to move forward with our returns elsewhere. I would be warning anyone interested in this firm to be wary when dealing with them.
We had been with our previous accountant for over twenty-five years, leaving them was a hard decision. However, the transition to HQB was done professionally and with ease by Brad Sheaves and his team. We have not regretted the move at all. We receive regular contact from HQB and this contact is not just a broadcasted newsletter e-mail, but telephone calls and correspondence from Brad. His advice is concise, relevant to our situation and very appreciated. Highly recommend Brad Sheaves and the HQB team.
I was referred to James & the HQB team around 2016. James has been fantastic - always available when advice is sought, explains options clearly and moves quickly when I request documents in most unreasonable timeframes. It's also comforting dealing with someone who has local knowledge is very much part of the community. I have no hesitation recommending him and the team!
I have been with HQB since ACSM was merged...so long ago i cannot remember. Their service has always been good and this has been elevated to excellent since James Davis took over my account. He is super sharp, good at listening and prompt in response to enquiries. I recommend HQB.
I met James Davis from HQB about 6 - 7 years ago when we were looking for an accountant that would suit our needs better and provide the advice that would steer us into the future. At the time I sat in front of James and fired so many questions, scenarios, future plans etc and James did not bat an eyelid. There was no let me get back to you on that one, or good questions I will check the current legislation, it was a variety of questions that led to us setting up a structure that has allowed us to grow with absolute confidence we are structured appropriately. This relationship has grown from strength to strength and i would have no hesitate to refer anyone to HQB as I am confident they will have the exact same experience and get the advice they need when they need it. Thanks for the amazing service guys and quality advice.
Accountants in Coffs Harbour compared
Ordered by rating, weighted by the number of reviews — businesses with only a handful of reviews do not jump to the top automatically. 5 businesses in this category in Coffs Harbour are compared.
| Rank | Provider | Rating | Reviews | Open Sat. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CharterNet Coffs Coast | ★ 5,0 | 30 | No |
| 2 | K O Accounting & Taxation Services | ★ 5,0 | 15 | No |
| 3 | Bartlett Accounting | ★ 4,9 | 9 | No |
| 4 | HQB | Accountants Auditors Advisors (this page) | ★ 4,7 | 71 | No |
| 5 | H&R Block | ★ 4,3 | 52 | Yes |
