Scott Norrish
Accounting & Taxation Manager
With over ten years experience in public practice accounting, Scott has established a reputation for providing his clients with meaningful and valuable advice, delivered in a manner which is straightforward and understandable.
Scott is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and has a strong technical background, particularly focused in the areas of taxation and superannuation advisory, business structuring, strategic planning and commercial advice.
Scott has worked with successful business owners across a broad range of industries, and prides himself on being able to provide advice on matters of a technical nature, in a practical and commercial manner.
Scott understands that every business is different, and that every business owner has a different philosophy and different requirements. He strives to ensure that he provides valuable services to his clients, which match their specific needs. He believes that the role of a professional advisor is to ensure that the client receives valuable information which allows them to make informed decisions.
Ryan Taylor
Accounting & Taxation Supervisor
Ryan is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and has a passion for helping business owners and managers to implement strategies that have a significant impact on their wealth generation and protection.
Ryan has been studying and working in accounting for over 7 years and more recently financial planning. In addition to his Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Newcastle, Ryan has also completed his Diploma of Financial Planning. All this experience means he has a broad knowledge of how to best utilise your business to generate and grow your wealth. He understands that even in the most difficult of investment environments wealth generation is still achievable.
Ryan has worked closely with hundreds of businesses in all aspects of advice including income tax, strategic analysis and succession planning.
One of his results was helping to free up cash flow through the utilisation of a self managed superannuation fund to purchase a business premises, unlocking $200,000 in free cash to the business owners.
Ryan’s philosophy is successful business people seek advice, make decisions and then implement them. It is Ryan’s mission to ensure that you generate and protect your wealth in the most effective and efficient way possible.
Ian McDougall
Accountant 
Ian has been working in public practice accounting for 9 years and during that time has gained a vast knowledge of the accounting industry. Through his studies and practical experience Ian has become well versed in what is required from him by clients and business managers.
Ian has a passion for helping businesses grow and assisting business owners and managers in becoming the best that they can be. He has worked with 100’s of business from small family businesses to reporting for multi-national entities.
Through this experience Ian has learnt that the thing that separates a good business from a great business is having business owners who know how the numbers in their business work and how they can be improved. Ian is driven to ensure that business owners have accurate and relevant reports that can assist the business in growing.
Ian understands that going into business is a big risk for people in today’s economy and the best way to ensure that those risks are minimised is by having the right advisers for your business. Ian lives by the philosophy that “No one person can know everything so why not employ an expert for those things you don’t know”
Kellie Power
Accountant
Ashleigh’s strong work ethic and enthusiastic approach to her work has paved the way for her to provide a warm, welcoming and comfortable atmosphere for clients. As their first point of contact with the firm, Ashleigh believes that a clients’ first impression of VBD is incredibly important. It is for this reason that she inspires to succeed at providing a welcoming and friendly environment. Ashleigh applies this same bubbly and positive attitude to everything that she does in order to make the experience for clients of the utmost enjoyment. Ashleigh is very much a people person, and her vision for any VBD clients is that they enjoy every aspect of their experience with our firm.
As a business owner herself, Katrina’s passion for design is equally matched by marketing and business enthusiasm. What this translates to are service offerings that target what business owners want and need from their accountant, business consultant or coach in the simplest way possible. 
Kellie is enrolled in her final year of studies in a Bachelor of Commerce degree through the University of Newcastle.
Kellie is passionate about building her career in the accounting industry and as such she has worked hard throughout her studies to gain experience in the field. She has 3 years experience working in accounting firms and upon graduating knows this experience will ultimately give Kellie a head start on her peers. Whilst adopting VBD’s ethical, professional and quality work practices and standards, Kellie endeavours to become a fully qualified Chartered Accountant in the next few years.
With a similar passion to build business as her VBD colleagues, Kellie is driven by her clients’ successes. The highlights of her job are delivering the best accounting and taxation results possible. Kellie believes that undertaking further study and continual education and training will put her in a position to provide her clients with the best advice and knowledge available. She is confident that with the right mindset, motivation and passion, every business can succeed. This attitude is prevalent in her day to day enthusiasm for any job at hand.
Kellie Howard
Trainee Accountant 
Kellie is currently completing a Bachelor of Business degree at the University of Newcastle.
Kellie has always had a great rapport with people, and her extensive experience in customer service and hospitality has further developed her ability to build strong relationships with clients. Kellie’s customer focus is evident in her dealings with accounting clients, and in her patient, approachable and understanding nature.
As an aspiring accountant, Kellie is determined to learn as much as possible from her colleagues and mentors, and she is always looking for new and challenging ways to improve her skills. Kellie’s philosophy is that the more she learns, the better she can assist her clients in their wealth creation and business goals.
Kellie believes that anything is possible, and she uses this credo in her day to day application of accounting. She is always looking for better solutions and more profitable outcomes for her clients.
Maryanne Ruddy
Office Manager 
Maryanne was born in the Newcastle area and has been working in the accounting profession for over 27 years and has interacted and been directly involved with a lot of businesses during that time.
Maryanne is the backbone of VBD and is responsible for the administrative management of the business including accounts receivable and accounts payable. She is also an expert in all ASIC documentation attending not only to the needs of the business but also to those of the clients.
This means is that if you have any issues you want solved when dealing with the business talk to Maryanne her results speak for themselves.
Maryanne’s philosophy is there is no problem that can not be solved.
Danielle Hanckel
Client Service Co-ordinator 
Danielle's team profile is coming soon!
Ashleigh Brown
Administration Assistant 
Ashleigh is employed at VBD as the Administration Assistant and is enthusiastic towards providing a helpful service to clients. Ashleigh has studied administration for two years and has attained a certificate 2 in Business Services. This means Ashleigh has a competent understanding of business administration functions and in effect, can provide a high level of service and communication to VBD’s clientele. Ashleigh also has four years experience within the retail and customer service industry which means she is tuned to the needs of customers and how to best accommodate them.
Katrina Lees
Marketing Co-ordinator
Katrina has been working in marketing and design for the past 6 years completing her design and communication degree at the University of the Sunshine Coast in 2007. Katrina has been involved with an award winning creative agency for the past 3 years as well as working part-time with VBD with her experience ranging from creative strategy, PR, marketing (specialising in online marketing) and graphic design.
Katrina’s experience is vast across a range of industries her most notable work has been in the B2B sector, in property/real estate education, online e-commerce businesses as well as service based businesses.
Katrina is passionate about what she does. Her vision is to work with business people so that they get what they want from their accountant or business coach.
