William Buck appoints five directors in business advisory division
Mid-tier accounting and consulting firm William Buck has appointed five new business advisory directors across its Australian and New Zealand offices.
The Melbourne office of William Buck has recruited Zaid Khatri as a director – the accounting and advisory firm’s equivalent of a partner. Khatri brings over twelve years of Big Four financial services experience both locally and abroad.
His appointment follows the recent director promotion of Eric Flammang on the Gold Coast, while three new directors have also been added in Auckland: Diana, Li, Brian Cao and Courtney West.
Zaid Khatri crosses to William Buck after spending the past three years as a director with Deloitte, before which he spent over a decade with KPMG between Australia, India, and the Middle East serving clients in areas such as technical accounting advice, year-end and audit support, and the preparation of financial statements. His appointment is part of William Buck’s stated strategy to strengthen its CFO advisory service offering.
“Zaid’s highly accomplished career, demonstrated ability to collaborate internally, and relationship-driven approach makes him an obvious fit for William Buck,” said Melbourne managing director Lindsay Holloway. “His experience advising on complex business transactions, the implementation of new accounting standards, and M&A will support our CFO and C-suite clients in corporate, not-for-profit and government sectors.”
Promotions
William Buck has also made four director promotions within its business advisory division.
Based in the firm’s Gold Coast office, Eric Flammang has been with the firm for close to four years, having previously spent around five and a half years each at PKF and local accountancy WMS. A chartered accountant, Flammand advises clients on strategy, transaction structuring, taxation, and IT implementations.
Courtney West is one of three director promotions in William Buck’s Auckland office, taking the firm’s New Zealand senior leadership headcount to fifteen. She has been with the firm for the past four years and advises clients on tax issues and business structuring and planning, with a particular focus on the health industry, such as GPs and dentists. West also supports overseas organisations in their endeavours to transition to the New Zealand market.
Diana Li has also been promoted to director in Auckland, one of William Buck’s nine outlets across Australia and New Zealand, including a second Kiwi branch in Tauranga. Joining the firm in 2017, Li serves clients including SMEs, commercial entities, trusts and high-net-worth individuals on property tax issues and business structuring, and also works in the area of solvent liquidations and providing litigation support services.
Brian Cao has been with William Buck for close to a decade, and now becomes one of the firm’s approximately 120 directors across Australia and New Zealand who oversee an almost 1,000-strong team. In addition to business and tax advisory services, Cao provides outsourcing services to clients and supports multinational companies from Europe, the US and Asia in establishing their businesses in New Zealand.
