Clearway Accounting is a Porirua-based accounting practice looking after the accounting needs of small and medium businesses in Paremata, Mana, Plimmerton and the surrounding Wellington region. With more than 30 years of experience as accountants, the team keeps to reputable standards and has built its client base largely through word of mouth — clients telling their friends.
The practice works to what it calls the golden rule: your approval is obtained before any work is undertaken. That means you stay in charge of what is done and what is invoiced to you, with no surprises. Clearway's stated specialty is helping businesses improve, get stronger and grow — and, as principal Ray puts it, looking for the dollars and picking them up for clients. Many businesses, with Clearway's help, have found the dollars that make the difference.
Services cover the full compliance cycle — tax returns, GST, end of year accounts and financial reports — alongside practical support such as setting up accounting systems, Xero support and accounting advice. As a registered tax agent, Clearway keeps you up to date on when tax is due, can file tax matters on your behalf and can give you more time to file your tax return.
Beyond compliance, Clearway acts as a sounding board and adviser: helping you identify the few key performance indicators worth tracking, monitoring results, advising on ownership structures, preparing forecasts and plans, and getting your business sale-ready if the time comes to sell. Rental property investors are well catered for too, with guidance on where to place ownership — company, trust or personally — for the best taxation return, and warnings about recent Government changes to interest deductibility and ACC levies for self-managing landlords.
It's a personal, connected practice. Ray has worked in accounting since leaving school and stays current through regular tax updates and monitoring taxation cases. Clearway likes to connect and partner with its clients and can refer you to trusted bookkeepers, mortgage brokers, conveyancers, coaches and other professionals. Expect a warm welcome — and possibly a cat on the keyboard.
On Pope Street in Porirua, Clearway Accounting has quietly become the accountant that small and medium businesses in Paremata, Mana and Plimmerton recommend to their friends. That word-of-mouth growth is no accident — the practice has more than 30 years of experience behind it and a simple philosophy: work to reputable standards, keep clients informed, and always be looking for the dollars that make the difference.
Every engagement at Clearway starts with the same commitment: your approval will be obtained before any work is undertaken. It sounds simple, but it puts clients firmly in charge — you decide what gets done and what gets invoiced, and there are no surprise bills at the end of the month.
That same straight-talking approach shapes everything else. Principal Ray has worked for an accountant since leaving school, passing exams and completing his studies — even if, as he jokes, that was last century. He stays firmly up to date through regular tax updates and by monitoring taxation cases, so clients get old-school diligence with current knowledge.
His dad's advice still rings through the practice: 'If you saw a dollar, would you step over it?' Ray still looks for the dollars — and picks them up for his clients.
The core work is dependable compliance: tax returns, GST, end of year accounts and financial reports. As a registered tax agent, Clearway keeps clients up to date on when tax is due, files tax matters on their behalf and can give them more time to file their tax return — a small relief that matters at busy times of year.
But compliance is only the beginning. The practice's stated specialty is helping businesses improve, get stronger and grow. That means sitting down with owners to determine the few key performance indicators genuinely worth tracking — rather than overloading them with numbers — and monitoring results so they always know where they stand.
Clearway also advises on structures (who should own what and how it should be set up), sets up new accounting systems, provides Xero support, and builds forecasts and plans with clients. When the time comes to sell, the team can talk through what would help achieve the best result. And when a client needs expertise beyond accounting — a bookkeeper, mortgage broker, conveyancer or coach — Clearway knows and refers trusted people.
Rental property owners get particular attention. The first question is where ownership should sit — a company, a trust, or personally — for the best taxation return. Clearway also flags two current warnings: Government changes to interest deductibility, which may mean reviewing bank options, and the higher ACC levies self-managing landlords can face.
Clients of Clearway aren't account numbers. The practice describes itself as connecting and partnering with clients, focused on building their businesses rather than just processing paperwork. There's real warmth here — Ray has served as National President of Toastmasters, making presentations to figures like Mayor Tim Shadbolt, and the office comes with its own cast of characters: Zigger the mouse killer, who ensures micro breaks by covering the keyboard, and dogs Zuda and Zeva around the house.
If things feel too tight, Clearway's invitation is simple: talk to them, and let's find those extra dollars to make life easier for you.