Firm Profile

Our History

Murray Nankivell has its origins in the Bordertown District in the mid-1930's as part of a local stock agency business. In 1974 Des Murray took control of the accounting part of the business, opened the Bordertown office and established a part-time office in Naracoorte.

Deane Nankivell joined Des in the business in 1983 and moved to Naracoorte to take charge of that growing part of the firm in 1984. The firm had also formed an association with four other accounting practices located in Adelaide and Port Lincoln as part of network keeping up with an ever-changing profession. Deane became a partner of the firm in 1986.

We became one of the first South Australian firms to computerize in 1986 when the business purchased a Hartley computer system. State-of-the-art at the time, the computer system cost about $100,000 (a small fortune 20 years ago), used 9-inch floppy disks which were able to store a single client's information and ran just one of these floppy disks at a time. This network became the forerunner for many future upgrades which have allowed us to keep pace with changes in information technology and make our business efficient and productive so that we can provide a cost-effective service to our clients.

Opportunities arose in the Mallee, Kaniva and Naracoorte to acquire the businesses of retiring accountants. These acquisitions added new clients and new staff to Murray Nankivell and increased the geographical area we service.

John Burgess and Tony Bedworth joined the partnership in Bordertown and Naracoorte respectively during 1997 after working in the firm for the previous eight years. Murray Nankivell began to develop their "team" approach to dealing with client issues at about this time. By assigning several key staff and a partner to look after each client, we have been able to ensure that we maintain our timely service and that clients can talk to someone they know and who knows them.

The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) saw our business experience a major growth spurt as farmers and businesses began to realize that they needed an accountant able to help them with the transition and ongoing obligations. A series of seminars held throughout the region delivered the message to over 1000 people. Murray Nankivell has always emphasized the need to keep good records for tax purposes and provides hands-on training in maintaining manual cash books and computer programs. This approach helped many clients become ready for the implementation of GST.

By June 2004, staff numbers had grown to 31 and we had added Edenhope, Tintinara and Robe to our visiting locations to better service our clients in those areas. Our "founding partner", Des Murray, decided to leave the business to pursue personal interests in Adelaide. This paved the way for a new management team which now includes Mark Edwards, Matt Rowett and Jon Mock and new skills and experience to complement the existing expertise of Deane, Tony and John.  In July 2006 a practice in Millicent was acquired, this saw the establishment of the firms third permanent office. A year later Nhill became a visiting office.

Murray Nankivell has always prided itself on providing a quality service that cares about its clients and their business. Being able to pick up the phone and speak to someone who wants to help is what our clients tell us is merely the start of the relationship. The right people, the latest in training, computers and systems and the desire to make your business successful are just some of the reasons that we continue to grow.