FOR 100 years, Dawson and Partners has been providing professional accountancy and business/financial advice to its largely rural client base.

From humble beginnings as the branch office of a Sydney firm to the broader role of providing a range of professional advice services, Dawson and Partners has been a regional Australia success story.

The practise began operations in July 1918 when Henry Livingstone (Harry) Dawson, having returned from service in World War I, established a branch office of the Sydney firm Vigars & Sky in Cootamundra.

A partnership was formed with Walter Ernest (Wal) Heath in 1922 and the business, renamed Dawson and Heath, traded for over 40 years, spanning a period that included the installation of electricity (1924) and the introduction of telephone services (1930s).

Dawson and Heath moved from the Parker Street premises to the newly constructed Austral Chambers at 27 Bourke Street in March 1927. This would provide a base for the business for many years.

In the 1930s the partnership took on a trainee, Walter McEllister (Mac) Leonard. It would prove to be a fortuitous start in business for Mac, as he went on to become chairman of the board of Ampol and was knighted in 1977.

The partnership again expanded after World War II when Harry’s son Hugh joined the firm in 1950 to continue the family tradition. Harry retired in 1949 and Wal retired in the mid-1960s.

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There were many changes for the business from the 1950s to the early 1970s and after Hugh retired in 1973, the firm’s name was changed to Dawson and Partners.

“Jindalee House” would become the firm’s new home from 1975 and would remain so until 2002 when it was destroyed by fire.

The 1980s was again a time of change – the introduction of computers forever changed the profession and Dawson and Partners expanded its services to cover Sydney clients.

As well as requiring new premises to be built in Cooper Street in 2002, the business also converted to a corporate structure at this time and expanded its professional services to providing conservative financial advice.

Since 2003 the firm has been managed by the current executive directors – Tim Meares and Greg Southwell in Cootamundra, and Matthew McNamara in Goulburn.

DAWSON and Partners is a well-established and dynamic rural accounting practise with offices in Cootamundra and Goulburn.

Its vision is to be accepted as the best service-oriented rural accounting practise in southern NSW, providing exceptional levels of customer service to clients.

Staff work to provide a range of accounting and financial services that keep pace with emerging commercial trends, particularly as they affect rural industries.

Dawson and Partners will:​