Sinclair Wilson Accountants and Business Advisors owes much more than part of its name to its co-founder, Mr William George Sinclair.
The community mindedness, legendary work ethic and professionalism of the firm’s co-founder remain fundamental values of the practice, more than 70 years after it first opened in a run-down house at the rear of a Warrnambool fast food stand.
The firm farewelled its founding father earlier this week, closing for a half-day as a mark of respect following Mr Sinclair’s passing on 29 January 2020. He was 100 years of age.
Mr Sinclair’s accounting career began at just 14 years of age, when the eldest of five children, as equally gifted in sport as he was with numbers, left school in his rural New South Wales home town to train in the profession.
The clever teenager worked during the Great Depression to help provide for his farming parents and siblings. He was later recorded as saying that working with farmers through the Depression helped teach him about the impact of hardships, and the importance of supporting people through it.
After serving as a pilot in World War II, the young Mr Sinclair returned to Australia in the late 1940s. He found his way to Warrnambool via his employment with Taxation Services Australia, regularly travelling from TSA’s Melbourne office to Warrnambool, to work with local businessman and community leader, Mr Alan L Lane OAM.
Seeing an opportunity for private practice in the coastal town, and with his entrepreneurial client’s encouragement, Bill Sinclair opened his own practice in 1949. A year later, he convinced his former TSA colleague Stan Wilson to move from Melbourne to join him, and Sinclair Wilson was born.
The burgeoning Sinclair Wilson practice was very different to the 18-partner,120-employee, five-office operation it is today. Housed in a partly-demolished residence behind Kermond’s Hamburger Stand in Lava Street, the firm took 11 years to turn its first profit.
Showing his signature tireless work ethic, Mr Sinclair during this time sold potatoes and gladioli, and drove a local taxi to support his young family and make ends meet.
These first-hand experiences provided Mr Sinclair invaluable insight to his clients’ lives, and how his talent for numbers and business could support them as they built their business and livelihood. Friend and business partner Bill Phillpot recalled being advised by his mentor to charge a fledgling business, ‘just what they can afford to pay’, as the gesture would hopefully inspire long-term loyalty that was always of greater value.
Highly competitive, and very much a perfectionist, Mr Sinclair was a master of discipline, a strong delegator and generous mentor, who continued to guide and influence his colleagues long after officially retiring from the Sinclair Wilson practice in 1988.
Sinclair Wilson Chair, Mr John Bouwman said the Group’s founder left a remarkable legacy.
“There is much about who Sinclair Wilson is today that is a result of Mr Sinclair’s vision and leadership – more than most people might realise,” Mr Bouwman said.
“But even those who didn’t have the pleasure and honour of knowing and working with Mr Sinclair are familiar with his values, because they continue to be preserved in how we operate our business, and serve our clients.”
