The Accountant Who Stays
Episode 11 with Nick Gregory, CPA and co-founder of Altera Financial.
Nick Gregory and his business partner Joel Hams built Altera Financial around a simple gap they saw in the accounting profession: most business owners do not actually expect their accountant to pick up the phone.
In this episode of Queensland Business Stories, Nick joins Chris Tipper to unpack what availability looks like once a firm grows, why Altera defines ideal clients by sophistication rather than fee size, and why the relationship layer of advice still matters in a cloud and AI-heavy world.
Availability As A Business Model
Nick is honest that responsiveness gets harder as a firm grows. Altera’s answer is not a vague promise. It is a culture of acknowledgement: same-day or 48-hour responses so clients know the message landed, even when the full answer takes longer.
Sometimes the smallest signal matters most. A client wants to know their email landed.
The Ideal Client Is Not A Fee Number
Altera does not define ideal clients by a simple revenue or fee cap. Nick’s phrase is “sophisticated client” – owners who are good at what they do, focused on growing, and willing to bring the right advisors around the table.
That applies to operating businesses and high-net-worth clients. The work changes, but the relationship model stays the same.
The GP Accountant
Nick deliberately describes himself as a general practitioner of accounting. The client knows their business better than any accountant will. The accountant’s job is to ask better questions, apply pattern recognition from multiple industries, and bring in specialists where the work calls for it.
The Company-Money Trap
One of the most practical sections is Nick’s warning for trade business owners and fast-growing operators. The money in the company account is not automatically theirs to spend. It can include the ATO’s money, employee superannuation, and tax bills that arrive months later.
The question has to be asked early: what money is actually mine? Waiting until the bill arrives makes the recovery expensive.
AI Does Not Replace The Relationship
Altera is cloud-based, SaaS-friendly and already using AI internally. Nick’s distinction is clear. AI is a productivity layer. It helps the team work faster. It does not replace the meeting, the phone call, the trust, or the judgement that clients are actually paying for.
Partnership Takes Courtship
The episode closes with Nick’s view on business partnerships. He and Joel worked together for years before founding Altera. That mattered. A bad business partnership can be harder and more expensive to unwind than a bad marriage, so the fit needs to be proven before the pressure arrives.
Connect With Nick
Altera Financial
Phone: 07 3188 3200
Level 3, South Tower, 527 Gregory Terrace, Fortitude Valley QLD 4006
More From Queensland Business Stories
Queensland Business Stories is presented by Connected Platforms. We sit down with Queensland business owners, operators and leaders to unpack the real decisions, constraints and lessons behind the work.