|
|
Accounting for
Life
This article was written by Lynnley Driver and
published in New Zealand Lifestyle Farmer, Volume
6, number 2, March 2005.
When you think of accountants you probably think
mortgage, debt, and lack of money. However,
there is a new kind of accountancy for lifestyle
farmers that accounts for all your goals, not just
the financial ones.
Imagine a couple tossing in their plum careers in
favour of an idyllic country lifestyle. Consider
also their six-figure mortgage, their lack of
regular financial support for the first two years
and the work involved in developing a 20-30 horse
breeding and training operation.
This was the journey taken by Barry and Anne-Maree
Ward of La Grange, West Melton, near
Christchurch.
“I was a hotel manager,” says Barry.
“Anne-Maree was a marketing manger. I was
always on late shifts and she was flying up and
down the country three times a week.”
It got to the stage where they were literally
meeting up in the Koru Lounge just to see each
other and Barry began to question their quality of
life.
“There was no time for anything.”
After reading John Clarke’s book, The Money or
Your Life’, Barry found some answers. He had
always bred and trained Standardbred horses, a
hobby he loved, so he left his career of 20 years
to become a full-time house-husband and horse
trainer, while Anne-Maree choose to stay on in her
job.
“In my role as marketing manager, I felt
important, successful, and sought after. It
took me a while to question where my hectic
lifestyle was heading.”
Instead of seeking help from traditional financial
accountant to work out their goals, they used
Holistic Management, an accounting practice
that not only worked on their financial
aspirations but also on their life goals; working
hours, family time, and their relationships, as
well as the year-to-year goals for the farm and
their animals.
Holistic Management planning involves the whole
family, children included, in the process.
It originally emerged as a way to help local
tribes to regenerate the wild savannas of Africa
from desertification, but is now used
worldwide. A family will set themselves a
“super goal’, which every decision has to be
geared towards.
When the Wards’ daughter Alessandra was born, they
faced a new priority: rearing a child.
That’s where the Holistic Management system taught
the couple to consider the all important question;
what do I value most in life? For Anne-Maree
it became clear.
“We decided that quality time with our family was
our basic goal, and our decisions now revolve
around that.”
She left work and the couple set about making
their Standardbred operation financially viable,
while cultivating a quality family lifestyle.
“Our holistic goal was to live in the country
amongst trees and animal in a manner that is
supportive of our community and environment and
for our child, or children, to experience growing
up with those values.”
In the first year of holistic management, they
expected to earn enough from the sales of their
yearlings to get by but their policy to keep and
race fillies and sell colts was too rigid – their
entire crop was fillies, so they had no yearling
colts to sell.
In retrospect, they say they made a critical error
but Holistic Management is helping them get
through it.
“Holistics teaches you to ask vital questions,”
says Anne-Maree. “This isn’t working for us,
what have we done wrong? Holistic Management
helps you keep focused on where you are going when
things don’t go right, and gives you the tools to
re-adjust without compromising your overall
objectives.
As a consequence of keeping all the filly foals,
they will have to struggle through the second year
on the back of very little income, but there will
also be an impact on the third year.
“It takes two years from conception to yearling
sales,” says Barry. “In that time we have to
pay stallion service fees and all rearing costs up
to sales day. And, don’t forget, we are
paying the same costs for the following crop of
foals as well.”
Barry has found banks to be totally unmoved by any
requests for financial extension. “When
Anne-Maree was working they were falling over to
give us money, but they are blind to anyone who
doesn’t fit their criteria.”
With Alessandra now one year old, Anne-Maree helps
cash flow by working part time from home, a
compromise that doesn’t go against their overall
goal.
“Holistics is very much about finding solutions,
and considering how that impacts on the original
goal. The same question is continually
asked: will this solution tale us closer to our
goal, or further away from it?”
Barry gives a simple example. Do you spend
40 minutes going to the supermarket or spend that
time developing the vegetable garden? What
will you serve your holistic goals best? For
them the vegetable garden wins, though, says
Anne-Maree, that solution won’t suit
everyone.
Barry has reduced his expenses in an effort to
balance the books. A holistic system of
grass growing has reduced expenses enormously,
there is “truckloads” of grass and they haven’t
had to hard feed their mares or foals at all.
The overall vigour and health of the stock is “way
up”, with the mares allowed to eat down only the
top third of the grass before being moved on to a
new paddock. That way the grasses re-seed
and the pasture rejuvenates, producing a thick
sward which holds more moisture in the soil.
Barry says he would never plough a paddock again,
“not even at gun point”.
Holistic practitioners have a great support group
and brainstorming sessions provide some innovative
solutions. From one meeting, Barry took away
the idea of helping to pay expenses by selling
advertising space on his horse float.
Barry and Anne-Maree have also learnt to encompass
other in their decision-making process.
“You cannot make a decision without it impacting
on someone else. You learn to weigh factors
up very carefully.”
They set aside one day a week, preferably a
Sunday, which is held sacred.
“We have quiet, good-quality time which
rejuvenates creative thought processes, and
restores energy.”
With horses sometimes racing on a Sunday, it would
be easy to slip back into the old system of a
seven-day-a-week workload, but that’s when the
holistic system keeps you focused, says Barry.
This year they have four yearlings to sell, two
fillies, and two colts, that they expect will
average $10,000-$15,000 each. Several mares
and foals will be sold in autumn to provide
further income and make way for more racing mares
as they retire to stud.
Getting through to February 2006 is the toughest
call for Barry and Anne-Maree. This year,
they will have 11 yearlings to feed and another
crop of foals to raise. By 2006, they will
have more yearlings to sell, and therefore more
income but they expect it will take 10 years for
them to become financially independent.
In that time, they know they will have to learn
more exciting and innovative ways to handle life
challenges, but in the mean time they are enjoying
good-quality time with their family.
|