History of McKern & Associates

Offices Services Articles Client Area Are We Right For You Training & Employment Contact Us

McKern & Associates History

Damien’s Early Beginnings

Damien McKern’s career commenced in 1990 with enrolment into the prestigious Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Business (Accounting Major) double degree at Queensland University of Technology’s Garden Point (Brisbane) campus. As this 5 year full time course progressed, Damien’s part time job became a 30 hour /week night-fill role, teaching Damien a strong work ethic.

Six months work experience at Kitchen & Kennewell in Brisbane provided some practical experience, culminating in graduation in late 1994. By this time, Damien had commenced working for Holmes & Partners, a well established Chartered Accounting firm on the southern Gold Coast under the watchful eye of the senior partner, Noel Holmes, himself a Chartered Accountant. This invaluable professional & business mentoring continues to this day, with Damien & Noel having commitment to the same core values and giving Damien an experienced & successful ‘sounding board’. In 1997, the Chartered Accountant (CA) program was passed with flying colours and Damien knew he had found his calling.

By 2002, Holmes & Partners had become a founding member of a National firm and Damien decided to commence a new chapter in his life, and in March 2002 at the age of 29, with a tax agents registration and CA practicing certificate in hand, formed McKern & Associates Chartered Accountants based at Burleigh Waters.

McKern & Associates – 2002 to current day

Growth was swift, with 4 key team members soon joining McKern & Associates from the former Holmes & Partners, and several other professionals and support staff joining the happy little band. August 2002 saw client demand and space constraints mean that the 100 sq meters at the Classic Way office expanded to 170 sq meters, and an additional office was rented at Minjungbal Drive, Tweed Heads South. At this time, Damien commenced his pattern of two days per week at Tweed and three days per week at Burleigh, a pattern that still exists today.

To accommodate the expanding team, in May 2004 the Burleigh team moved to their current address at Suite 4, Burleigh Office Park. And then in 2007, the Tweed Office was re-located to their current address at Unit 1, Tweed Office Park. By this time the total team had expanded to its current size of around 45 staff.

McKern & Associates - The Future

Never a firm to stand still, McKern & Associates has an eye for the future. Damien and the team are currently formulating a succession plan that will see Shelly Hutchinson as an Associate leading to Partnership, paving the way for future expansion of the leadership team. Core to this process is the necessity for future partners to passionately commit to Damien, Shelly, M&A’s value system, and a single minded focus on delivering affordable quality service to our 6,000 plus clients. Our commitment to giving young people a start in the profession is the key to this, and we expect the future of M&A to be built on the development of core technical skills within these willing minds.

Our firm is also focusing on ‘soft skills’ such as staff management, communication and interpersonal skill sets. The McKern Management Team have recently undertaken a year-long professional training course with Crestcom, an International Management Training Organisation. ‘The Bullet Proof Manager’ training course is proving to be an invaluable asset to our management team, including Damien and Shelly, our Practice Manager Jan Lodge, Office Manager Brooke Skillen, together with all of our Client Managers including Alicia Chapman, Luisa Braun (CA), Samantha Landon (CPA), and Scott Williams (CA).