In conversation with; Laura Dillon Tax Advisory Specialist.

By Cathriona Murphy

CSG is a Tralee based firm well known to all within the world of business. From tax to accountancy they have you and your business covered so you can rest easy and focus on the day to day. I recently sat with Taxation Partner, Laura Dillon to find out more about the firm and their recent launch of a whole new image and rebrand.

Laura, can you tell our readers about your background and your career in CSG?
I am originally from Tipperary myself, I studied Law and Accounting in college which is a good background for Tax. I then went on to gain my masters in accounting in Galway. I trained in KPMG in Dublin which I really enjoyed, I worked there up to the position of associate director. I also have 2 years industry experience with GE (General Electrical). I left my position with KPMG to come work with CSG. My husband is from Killarney so we were trying to decide what the best move for us as a family would be and to have a firm such as CSG to come and work with just made our decision so much easier. I started as Head of Tax in 2018 and since then I have Damian Clifford and Shane Cronin in the Tax department as well with me. We have focused on growing the tax department but we are currently hiring for it too! I feel very fortunate in my job because the work is as interesting whether I am sitting at a desk in Dublin or Kerry, the client base I work with is so broad and diverse it makes it so interesting for me. I was delighted to be recently made a Partner in the firm along with my colleagues Roisin Mulvihill and Edel Broderick in January of this year. It was lovely for us to get that promotion and recognition amongst our colleagues and clients.

For those who may not know what the firm is about, can you explain a little for them?
For anyone that is not familiar with CSG, we are an accounting firm, we provide accounting, audit, tax and advisory services to clients. We are based locally here in Tralee but with a national expertise level, we have a great client base throughout Kerry and further afield. It is a very interesting job, you get to be involved in different transactions that your clients are undertaking, to guide them through it and assist them every step of the way. We also guide them through their audits, accounts and tax returns. So for us, it really is an interesting mix of services.

What client base do you service and provide for?
We have a very broad range of clients, from sole traders to large corporate groups. We really do cover the whole spectrum of clients, especially given that we are 4 firms merged together, it means we can offer our clients a service of very high standards with a wealth of experience. We are very lucky with our geographical location as we have a lot of hotel groups around us with Kerry being a hospitality centre so we get to work with a lot of clients in that area. Aside from that sector, there really are some great industries in Kerry and across Munster that we get to work with for example the tech industry, manufacturing industry so a really good broad range of client base

Can you tell us about the team in CSG?
There are currently 43 of us here in CSG with 2 more to come on board in May. It really is great to be providing highly skilled jobs here in Kerry, I myself would have moved from Dublin to Kerry so to have a company of this calibre to work in is a great opportunity. Every work day is interesting with the diverse range of clients which we are very lucky to get to work with. The mix of staff too really helps in terms of what we offer our clients. Each year we take on students from MTU and other colleges which brings a great energy into the place, we would have people doing exams with us and then there are qualified accountants, tax advisors and auditors within the firm giving us a great range of age, experience and expertise. We all work well together and do lean on each other for support which makes linking in with colleagues on behalf of our individual clients so much easier, it’s a good dynamic in the office and one that we are proud of.

What do you feel sets your company apart from competitors and makes it so popular with clients across Kerry?
A lot of our work comes from referrals so if you do a good job for somebody it’s always a great sign when they recommend you on to their friends and family. We aim to deliver accessible and a high quality service to all our clients. When a potential client chooses CSG they get a personal and tailored approach to their business needs. We are lucky in that we are a one stop shop, we have it all here under the one roof. It allows ease of access to leading professionals, ensures excellent time management and is a cost effective approach. For example, I am a tax advisor which is a service that a lot of firms may not have and would have to outsource so it really is great to have these services inhouse.

Finally Laura, you recently launched an exciting rebrand of the company, how did that go?
We were delighted with the launch of rebranding recently, it was a very successful launch and one that we are proud of. It came about, as I previously mentioned we are 4 firms which have amalgamated, so we felt for everyone to feel settled, CSG was a rebrand that made sense. It came after a lot of change within the firm such as 3 new partners so it coincided nicely with all of that too. It allowed us an opportunity to reflect and focus on the firms vision, values and what direction we wanted to go in the future. It was a good exercise in terms of thinking ahead and about providing those skilled jobs in the Kerry area and enticing more highly skilled professionals to work with us. To celebrate it we had a lovely event in The Rose Hotel here in Tralee to launch it, it was very well attended which was lovely for us as a firm to feel so supported by clients, local businesses and the general public. Events like that are great in terms of staff morale, it gives us a sense of pride in where we work. It was great to see everyone enjoy themselves and I think everyone took something from the launch which was great to see. It promoted performance optimization and leadership skills which no matter what role you are in is always helpful with us all trying to juggle jobs, life and families!