Chapter 43: Accounting

Thursday Morning Helena, Zac, Suzanne and Fred met for breakfast. They returned to floor 22 but room 4 this time. At 9.30 the first interior decorator gave their first presentation. Zac and Helena were aware of the purpose of unit 4, Suzanne and Fred had no idea. This made an interesting presentation. By 12.30 all presentation had concluded and $9,000 cash payments made. They returned to the steak house to discuss the proposals. They had decided that presentation 3 for $380,000 was the best design and with a good time frame. They asked that designer to meet with them at 3.30pm.

The interior decorator was surprised at the decision. He did not expect to win, however his design was both elegant and meet all of the requirements. The only decision was a choice between a yellow or blue design. The girls went yellow, the boys blue. Helena conceded to blue, knowing that it was going to be Fred’s place in the end. Work would start next Monday and should be finished within 5 weeks which suited the plans including the wedding. Payment schedule was agreed, key handed over and Helena transferred $100,000 over immediately to get the work going.

The four of them went for a walk along Marine Parade then entered the french restaurant at 6pm for dinner. They finished around 8pm then left for home. Suzanne was staying at Zac’s place for the night.

On Friday morning Helena rang Jane regarding a list of properties and asking “Who does the accounts for the properties?”

Jane advised “I am having a meeting with them in 30 minutes to discuss some items, maybe you should be there as they still believe Mrs Romano is alive. No one told them of the change over.”

Helena advised “OK I will be down with another colleague, not Ben the one you know?” She then called Fred and told him to dress appropriately for the meeting. Helena told Fred how to act, she did not want to show her skill set straight away. He agreed. They arrived at the solicitors office within 30 minutes.

Helena and the accounting firm arrived at the same time, they were taken in first then Jane introduced Miss Helena and handed over a copy of the legal documents showing Helena transfer from Mrs Romano. Harry gave then the OK with a proviso saying ‘They think you are naive and too young to understand accounting, lucky we have Fred’

They presented the accounts for Mrs Romano and will now adjust for the transfer to Helena. As most off the business is in company structure, this will not be affected, as only shareholding exchanged. Helena passed the accounts to Fred, who studied them with interest. They continued to present the returns from the properties in Qld and NSW. (They were unaware of Victorian properties) Helena whispered to Fred.

Helena asked “Do you have a list of all of my holding under each company and what else do you manage for me?”

One partner mentioned “We have 5 companies that have cash and share holdings, As funds become available we purchase shares and properties in accordance with previous instructions.”

Helena asked “Listing and total assets please?”
The partners looked at each other then advised “Your property listing has not been revalued for between 5 to 10 years, your share and deposit holding together with property I believe would be in the range to 25 to 28 Billion Dollars.”

Jane looked astonished.

Helena and Fred just look without expression. Helena asked “When can I get a complete listing of my property and share holding please?”

He advised “We can get a listing after lunch when we return to the office?”

Helena replied “Yes I will come with you to meet your staff, I like to know all people working on my affairs.”
Fred pointed out an error in the accounts of $1m.

Helena asked “Line 24 why is there an error of $1m please?”
They looked at the figures and could not explain. Jane sat back amazed at Helena.

Helena said “Jane I think we need to extend this meeting in their office, Is there anything else you need these people for?”
Jane replied “No Helena, Good luck down stairs, Do you want to see me later?”
Helena replied “Yes I come up either for or after lunch. OK guys lets adjourn to your office to discuss.” She stood ready to leave. They quickly shuffled their paperwork together and lead the way to their offices. Helena met the rest of the staff and Harry approved of them all.

In their board room she explained about her lottery win and some purchases she made since coming into wealth. They advised they use to pass onto Mrs Romano $1 million each year for share dividends which are not taxed in her hands and then invested the rest as she directed. Their fee was 4% same as the legal office. Where possible Mrs Romano insisted they did not enter into any tax avoidance scheme but tried to minimise her tax as low as possible. They paid all of the costs associated with her units on floor 22. Fred nodded to their information and Helena stated “Please continue under the same instructions. How much cash monies do you currently hold for me as at now please?”