Our Hunter Valley-based Team

Balanced Beans was founded by two passionate accounts specialists who love numbers and like nothing better than mulling over spreadsheets, balancing books and talking tax!

Throw in a bit of payroll action and we’re in business heaven.

Hi there.

We’re Brodie White and Karen Burgess. Great mates with a shared passion for helping small businesses succeed.

We started Balanced Beans a professional Accountancy and Bookkeeping Practice helping startups and SMEs with their financial needs.

Our business is the culmination of our lifelong involvement in small and family businesses. Our extensive experience and insights into the financial aspects of running a business set us apart from your average bookkeepers.

With the help of Tracey West our Client Services Administration superstar, Bookkeeper Nikki Mell, and Accountant Tracey Iuliano, Balanced Beans helps businesses grow and thrive.

We know that balancing the books, managing payroll, and making sure you are doing the right thing by the Tax Office is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is ours!

So, let our team take care of the ‘boring bits’ while you concentrate on building your business.

We offer a complimentary initial consultation to identify your needs and determine how we can best support you.

Director | Chartered Accountant | Tax Agent

Brodie White B.Com CA MBA

Brodie is a Chartered Accountant and Registered Tax Agent with two decades of industry experience. She is passionate about helping small businesses succeed and alleviating the burden placed on business owners from tax and accounting obligations.

Brodie has worked in both public practice and as a financial controller of privately owned enterprises allowing her to understand the needs of her clients and how best to achieve them.

She has a Master of Business Administration with Distinction at The University of Newcastle, is a member of the National Tax and Accountants’ Association, a Xero Advisor with Xero Payroll certification, and enjoys keeping up to date with industry training to better help her clients.

Brodie was awarded Business Woman of the Year at the 2023 Hunter Region Business Excellence Awards.

When not working, Brodie enjoys spending time with her young family, playing netball, travel and hobby farming.

Director | BAS Agent | Bookkeeper

Karen Burgess

Karen has over 20 years of experience in accounts in privately owned businesses from a wide range of industries. She enjoys helping small business from set up and training to transactional and activity statement preparation.

Karen is a Registered BAS Agent with the Tax Practitioners Board, has a Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping, and is an active member of the Australian Bookkeepers Network. She is also a member in practice with the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, a Certified Xero Advisor, is certified in Xero Payroll and is a Certified Hubdoc Partner.

Karen’s extensive accounts experience make her a highly sought-after accounts professional. Karen is dedicated to her professional growth and the success of her clients.

When not working, Karen enjoys spending time with her three children, supporting them in their chosen interests and training her young horse.

Client Services Administration Officer

Tracey West

Tracey is the first point of contact with Balanced Beans as well as the go-to for client enquiries.

Whether it is onboarding new clients, keeping them on track with ATO obligations, scheduling client meetings, or working behind the scenes with our busy bookkeepers and accountants, Tracey’s role is pivotal to our ability to deliver proactive and timely services to our clients.

Tracey enjoys creating a positive first impression and fostering relationships. Drawing on skills and knowledge from an extensive working career, she is adept at streamlining processes, troubleshooting and providing administrative support. And she is super friendly to boot!

In her spare time, Tracey loves travelling in her motorhome, spending time with her daughters as well as listening to her husband’s band. She also enjoys a glass of champagne, cooking and pilates!

Bookkeeper

Nikki Mell

Nikki is our Bookkeeper extraordinare and a great addition to the Balanced Beans team. She helps manage a portfolio of clients with their day-to-day bookkeeping needs and loves helping business owners keep their books in shape.

She has over 10 years’ experience in bookkeeping across a wide range of industries from working with large mining companies through to helping small business owners and sole traders.

Nikki’s qualifications, expertise and love for numbers means she is the perfect person to balance your books and make sure everything lines up the way it should at the end of each business day.

She has a Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping, is a Certified Xero Advisor and is certified in Xero Payroll.

In her spare time her passion is her family and running her own small business in the food industry. She is also a very proud mum and ‘Kiki’ to her grandbaby.

Accountant

Tracey Iuliano

Tracey is our accounting genius specialising in financial accounts and tax returns. She assists Brodie to look after the accounting needs of our clients.

Tracey brings over 20 years of experience in both public and private accounting to her role at Balanced Beans.

Holding a degree in commerce from Newcastle University, Tracey is also a Certified Xero Advisor with additional certification in Xero Payroll.

In addition to her extensive accounting expertise, Tracey has a deep passion for animals. She works part-time as a Veterinary Nurse and has experience as a wildlife rehabilitator.

Outside of work, she enjoys staying active through soccer in the winter and water skiing in the summer, while also cherishing quality time with her son.