News Release March 2020

Author: Lisa Taylor

on 22 Mar 2020

CONNECT AUDIT APPOINTS NEW AUDIT PARTNER AND SMSF ASSOCIATE AND ACQUIRES WPIAS AUDIT.

NEW MERGED AUDIT FIRM BRAND IS SOON TO BE LAUNCHED:

CONNECT NATIONAL AUDIT (CNA)

New Qld Address: Suite 41, Level 4, 58 Riverwalk Avenue, Robina, 4226
Head Office Address: Level 8, 350 Collins Street, Melbourne,3000

Lee-Ann Dippenaar has been appointed the new Audit Partner with leading national boutique corporate audit and SMSF audit services firm Connect National Audit.

Lee-Ann has over 28 years audit experience having been involved in audit since 1992. She gained six years extensive audit experience, both external and internal, with PricewaterhouseCoopers Auckland (NZ), achieving manager level in 1998. Thereafter, she joined the corporate arena as Finance Manager for a major New Zealand public listed company. Lee-Ann moved to Australia and commenced with WPIAS in January 2003. Her extensive experience and technical expertise have led her to undertake and manage the audit of a wide range of clients across diverse industries.

Lee-Ann and her team will be assisting George Georgiou, Managing Partner and the Connect Audit team and be involved in their audit clients where required. There will be no change to the past structure of audit field work or the completion of Connect Audit work and WPIAS audits.

Elliott Da Silva has been appointed SMSF Audit Principal as part of the new Connect National Audit team. After graduating with a Bachelor of Business and Commerce at Monash University in 2007, Elliott worked with boutique firms in business services, going on to specialising in SMSFs for the past ten years. Elliott is responsible for communicating with clients and trustees to ensure their audit obligations are met in a timely and efficient manner.

Elliott Da Silva and the team are responsible for managing the SMSF Division, including maintenance of audit programs, continued enhancement of the audit process and ongoing staff development and training. With over 60 years of combined experience within the superannuation audit industry George, Elliott and the team will provide clients with a high level of compliance, support and assurance.

Lee-Ann and her team will be working with George, Elliott and the Connect Audit team and be involved in the group’s SMSF audit clients where required. There will be no change to the past structure of SMSF audit work or the completion of the Connect SMSF audit work and WPIAS SMSF audits.

James Ridley (Technical Review and QC Partner) is a Registered Company Auditor, a member of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and has over 20 years of professional services experience.

James specialises in external audit and forensic accounting and also has experience in internal audit, risk management and transaction services. James has provided services to clients ranging from ASX listed entities to large private and SME companies.

James is also a recognised expert in audit methodologies having authored the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand Audit Manual and toolkit. Further, James was the first external expert used by the CAANZ for this author role.

George Georgiou, Managing Partner, FCA brings over 40 years’ experience in corporate, audit, financial and management in professional advisory services. George has acted as an Independent Accountant, Company Auditor and Corporate Advisor to Professional Services Firms, Public Companies, Large Private Companies and Initial Public Offerings (IPO’s - Prospectuses). He has the experience and network to provide assistance with Corporate Governance, Investment Ready, Research and Development Grants, sourcing Investors and Joint Venture Partners.

By July 2020, Connect National Audit (CNA) will form a National Alliance with Sydney , Brisbane , Adelaide and Darwin based independent audit services firms. Our alliance will create the largest boutique audit only specialist firm in Australia.

At CNA we take pride in the quality of service provided and the results we deliver. We all support other accounting firms with their clients audit needs.

As our name suggests, we always remain independent audit specialists.

Our priority is to assist you, your clients and your business by providing cost effective audit solutions, which meet your operational needs, and more importantly, help you to achieve your strategic objectives.

Our vision is to be recognised and respected as the leading provider of quality audit, assurance and advisory services.

For further information

George Georgiou
Managing Partner
Mobile : 0418 362 058
ggeorgiou@connectinternational.com.au
Lee-Ann Dippenaar
Audit Partner
Phone:(07)55804700
Lee-Ann.Dippenaar@wpias.com.au

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