Getting to Know… Dee Workman

It’s hard to imagine many bookkeepers who have a truck licence, or who have worked in a butcher’s shop. Dee Workman certainly doesn’t fit the bookkeeper mould.

“I like to have goals set and once I achieve them, new ones put in place,” says Dee. “Otherwise life would be rather mundane. My husband thinks I should be a rally driver, which I think would be fun! I did the bungy jump in Queenstown which was awesome, although I forgot to take money out of my pockets and saw it fly past my head into the river.”

Dee-Workman has been one of the most prolific contributors to the Community Forum in recent months, assisting hundreds of grateful Community members by sharing her fantastic knowledge and experience. “My passion is helping and assisting small businesses get the best out of their accounting software,” she says.

Dee first began using MYOB software 10 years ago when working for an accounting firm in the Melbourne suburb of Werribee. After returning to her homeland of New Zealand, she worked for a local accountancy firm for 6 months and realised “there were so many businesses that needed hands-on help with their accounting programs”.

“In early 2007, I started my business Keep It Simple Solutions with one solitary client. It’s just myself and I provide a variety of services, locally on site or remotely anywhere else. I provide bookkeeping, sales, consultancy, training, small business set-ups, GST processing, payroll services and everything else in between.”

Dee is often first to post on the Community Forum each day, with her daily routine of logging in around 7am to check emails and the forum. “I contribute to the forum because I love helping people, and the forum also helps me find answers to some things I am stumped on. I was first drawn to it when I was stuck on an issue with a client, so posted a question, and now I spend hours on it. I keep up to date with all things MYOB through the forum.”

Dee works remotely with many clients and reckons her current role is the best job she has ever had. “I love my work and the satisfaction I get out of it.”

“My worst job was as a shop assistant in a butcher shop,” Dee recalls. “The butchers used to lock me in the chiller with the light out, and I didn’t like to move in case I ran into a pig’s head or fell in the pickling trough!”

Dee’s advice for new AccountRight and Essentials users is “not to get really angry and frustrated when something is not working”. “Take a deep breath, write down what it is and then a couple of hours later compile a question on the forum,” she suggests.

“More often than not there will be a simple answer or fix to the problem. There is so much to know and first time users are not expected to know the program inside out straight away. I am still learning a lot.”

Dee recently moved to the Tasman district at the top of New Zealand’s South Island, and is looking forward to building a new house with her husband Andrew and son Oliver.

One of Dee's favourite ways to spend time is participating in classic truck runs. “We have an 88 Mack Superliner which my husband drives and a 45 Ford Jailbar that I drive.

"A whole group of us meet and go to all sorts of weird and wonderful places and stay away for a night or two. Labour weekend we did a run to Greymouth and about 30 old restored trucks came along.”

“I have my class 2 truck licence and am contemplating getting my class 4 truck licence. Not for any particular reason, just because it is another challenge!”