Paul Wollaston with his Chartered Accounting Fellowship award. Photo / Supplied
Paul Wollaston with his Chartered Accounting Fellowship award. Photo / Supplied
Rotorua's Paul Wollaston has received a top accounting award given in New Zealand and Australia, having been awarded a Chartered Accounting Fellowship.
Becoming a Chartered Accountant Fellow recognises contribution to both the profession and the community.
Paul was presented the award in Tauranga recently at the Chartered Accountants Bay of Plenty Gala Dinner, and he says it feels great to be recognised by his peers.
Paul says in his school years he loved maths and was comfortable with numbers, and he decided at an early age that going into accounting was what he wanted to do.
Paul started out of university in an accounting firm in Auckland that has since become BDO.
"When you are starting off as a young accountant, the best kind of firm to go into is a charter, to get that experience before moving out to the corporate world."
From a travel to a car rental company, from a shipping company to the tertiary education sector, he has worked in various environments over the years and enjoyed the variety this has brought.
He says working with the shipping company was quite unique, and was owned by different governments of the Pacific Islands - "that was a great environment to work in".
He says working in a range of settings means you gain different knowledge and interests.
For example, when with the shipping company he took more interest in Pacific Islands news, and with the rental car company was interested in the latest model of cars for what would be best in the fleet.
Central North Island regional manager Neal McDiarmid (left) and Paul Wollaston at the CAANZ Bay of Plenty Gala Dinner at Trinity Wharf, Tauranga. Photo / Stephen Barker/Barker Photography
He has been in senior executive positions in the tertiary education that included with Bay of Plenty Polytechnic in Tauranga before Rotorua where he was Waiariki's finance and corporate director.
He stayed to support the merger between the two polytechnics, working to combine two systems and teams when it became Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology.
Paul says the environment with the polytechnics was all about imparting knowledge and the people working there get a buzz out of this.
In accounting he was able to impart knowledge too, helping with training and being a guest lecturer, he says.
When it comes to work among the community, Paul has once again been in a variety of roles.
Sport has been a big part of his community involvement - he has been on the board of Sport Bay of Plenty and was chairman for three years.
Paul says his time with Sport Bay of Plenty and being part of its awards was a really great time.
"You get to see what's going on with sport in the region, and at the annual Sports Awards seeing all the athletes, coaches and volunteers being recognised was always great to see."
He has also been a convener of the Rotorua Marathon Clinic and is an executive committee member of Lake City Athletics Club.
Paul is a board member and the treasurer of Mokoia Community Association.
He has been involved with Rotary for more than 20 years, including clubs in Auckland and Tauranga, and is the president for Rotorua Rotary North.
"Certainly Rotary is a big commitment. In the Rotorua Rotary North club, members run the Kuirau Park Saturday Market and are rostered on to do shifts.
"That's quite cool, being able to catch up with people who turn up to the market."
