Isitolo Leota Chartered Accountants: Supporting growing businesses in Samoa with quality financial advice

“I believe it’s very important for growing businesses to invest in quality financial advice and support. At the end of the day, you need to know your business. People want it to make a profit, most have some idea if they are making a profit or not. But it’s really important to have a financial report prepared by a credible accountant and understand exactly what it means for your business.”

Alice Niumata-Leota, Partner at Isitolo Leota Chartered Accountants, Samoa

Operating a small-medium sized growing business with limited resources can be challenging and keeping on top of the financial aspects can be overwhelming, especially for sole traders or growing enterprises with only a few employees. 

Samoa is the latest addition to the Business Link Pacific (BLP) network, with the BLP programme having been established there at the beginning of 2019. One of the key business advisors we’ve partnered with is the highly experienced, family owned and operated accountancy firm, Isitolo Leota Chartered Accountants, based in Apia.

This week we talked with Alice Niumata-Leota, a Partner at Isitolo Leota, about how quality financial business advice can effectively support the growth of your business and why it’s such a worthy investment.

Isitolo Leota Chartered Accountants was first established by the late Sala Isitolo Leota in 1992 until he passed away in January 2013, and was later succeeded by his son Tuala Pat Leota. Since then the firm has expanded and grown its services and client base, offering more than 26 years experience in providing quality audit assurance, tax planning and preparation, accounting services, business services and consultancy. 

The firm assists a variety of clients in the Samoa business community with their financial management, from start-ups and entrepreneurs, to Government organisations and not-for-profits. A well-known firm, Isitolo Leota is one of the five major established and reputable firms in Samoa that is regularly approached for credible business assurance services. 

As Alice explains, business owners, especially those operating smaller businesses often struggle to establish professional accounting practices, due to a lack of resources and know-how: 

“In Samoa, a small business can be one person and quite often less than 10 employees. The owner will spend their time working in their business and on their business, but will require help with their accounting, which they don’t always have access to as a small-medium sized enterprise. Larger companies can afford to hire in-house accountants and CFO’s, smaller companies are the ones that usually need our services.”

Since Alice joined the firm in mid 2018, the firm has taken on more of an advisory and consulting role with clients. Alice specialises in auditing, in particular helping clients to identify the internal controls and systems that need to be in place to eliminate financial errors and ensure that different components of the business can be assessed on a daily basis. She has also noted the increase in women-led businesses in Samoa, “There are a lot of hard working women out there, entrepreneurs, setting up their own businesses, and I think that’s really exciting, it’s really great to see that. Most of my new clients, are all women.”

Alice shares that it is also quite common for growing businesses in Samoa to not have a strategic business plan in place, which is a service Isitolo Leota is well versed in providing and places emphasis on when working with clients.

“Business planning helps you to know your strategic direction, your goals and objectives. It can be for 1 year, 2 years, 3 years or the next 5 years. If it’s all laid out, at least then you know where you want to go and what you want to achieve. If you have a set goal, it’s good to break it down into objectives that are achievable and realistic so you can reach the end goal.”

Isitolo Leota is currently assisting a variety of clients referred to them through the BLP programme, including Silva Transport Ltd, Samoa Events Management Co, Talamua Publications Ltd and Vaoala Vanilla to name a few. Through the BLP Subsidy Scheme, these clients are able to gain access to Isitolo’s services at a cost-effective rate.

Alice shares that one of the standout projects the firm has worked on since joining the BLP network, was assisting newly incorporated retail store, Ma’Ali Company Pty Ltd, to prepare a loan proposal so the business could expand to a larger premises. 

“They were having difficulty in getting a loan for a building expansion, so we assisted them in preparing their financial reporting and filing their tax returns and GST. They really wanted to expand their business and needed help with loan facilitation, and as a result managed to obtain a loan so they could purchase a property for the expansion, which is now is progress! They are now also more knowledgeable about their tax compliance and their overall financial position.” 

The Ma’Ali Company business expansion in Apia, Samoa (the previous business premises is the smaller building on the left).

“It’s great for us to see the client succeed, it’s good to see that the service you’re offering is adding value to the business itself. Instead of just providing a financial report which they can use to get a loan, we want them to really look at the report, look at the financial analysis and see ‘oh I need to cut down expenses in this area, I need to spend more time on this product because this is where I’m making more money’, it’s amazing for us to see a client using our advice to grow their business.”

If you’re interested in gaining cost-effective access to quality financial advice like the type that Isitolo Leota offers, but are not sure where to start, take the free online Business Health Check. The Business Health Check has a section that specifically addresses finance and accounting for growing businesses, and will help you identify where there are gaps in your business that could benefit from business advice. 

Alternatively, to arrange a face-to-face consultation with our BLP In-Country representative in Samoa, John Lemoa, email [email protected] 

You can also connect with Isitolo Leota Chartered Accountants via the BLP Portal.