About Me
Mobile: 0418 210 599
Mr Taxman, aka Adrian Raftery, PHD, MBA, B.Bus, CPA, CTA, FCA, F Fin, FIPA FFA
Mr Taxman, Dr Adrian Raftery is the best-selling author of 101 Ways to Save Money on Your Tax - Legally! (now in its 10th edition) and is widely sought by the media for his views on tax, superannuation and financial issues. Adrian holds a PhD in Self-Managed Superannuation Funds, a Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning and a Graduate Certificate in Journalism as well as an MBA and specialises in business consulting, accounting, superannuation and tax planning.
Mr Taxman has over 30 years' experience in providing tax and accounting services to businesses, individuals and self-managed super funds. Adrian runs a COVID-19 proof award-winning accounting practice remotely down in the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne after learning his craft originally at Deloitte and Pannell Kerr Forster. Adrian spent a decade in academia and was an Associate Professor at Deakin University as the course director for their financial planning programs and the inaugural director of Professional & Executive Education (Domestic) at the Deakin Business School. He is the former chair of the Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals (AIOFP) and of the Financial Planning Academics Forum (FPAF) and has had a number of research articles on audit, tax and superannuation published in the world’s top academic journals. He is a board member of Bears of Hope Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support Inc.
Time to drop the shovel and become an accountant
Being born to Irish immigrants and from a line of 6 generations of bricklayers, helped laid the foundations for the approachable, down to earth nature of Mr Taxman. It was during a labouring stint at the age of 15 that Adrian's father gave him two options. Get an education or grab the shovel and wheelbarrow from the back of the ute & become the 7th bricklaying generation ... it didn’t take long for the accountant to emerge!
Whilst working with his father, Adrian would count the exact number of bricks required for each wall. He would make statements like "Dad I've worked out that if you didn't have so many smoke breaks, you could lay an extra 113 bricks exactly per day". It was soon after that his father suggested he drop the shovel and become an accountant.
The makings of Mr Taxman
To put himself through university, Adrian started an accounting cadetship with Pannell Kerr Forster before gaining more exposure as a manager with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. He spent one year fulfilling a dream to work on the stock market as an option trader, before establishing ARW Chartered Accountants in 1997 and AccountantsRus in 2001.
Please don't confuse 'Mr Taxman' with 'The Taxman!'
Despite being called it for years, alot of people confuse Mr Taxman with the ATO.
"Consider 'Mr Taxman' as being the good cop compared to 'The Taxman' as being the bad cop ... a subtle but important difference" says Adrian.
Achievements
- Top 5% of Chartered Accountants in the ICAA's Professional Year Program
- Twice named in Australia's Top 50 Financial Planners in the AFR Personal Investor Magazine's Masterclass (2005-06 and 2006-07)
- One of the youngest to hold the honour of Fellowship with the Institute of Chartered Accountants;
- Founder and former managing director of award-winning practice ARW Chartered Accountants which was twice named in Smart Company's Top 50 Companies in Australia (2008 & 2009) as well as receiving Australian Business Awards for Service Excellence (2008) and Community Contribution (2008 & 2010)
- Founder and former CEO of accountants R us, Australia's leading network of independent accountancy firms.
- Represented the Australian Masters AFL side in 6 International Rules Test matches versus Ireland in 2006, 2008 and again in 2009 in front of his Irish relatives in Dublin & Galway.
- Played for the All-Stars in the 2009 EJ Whitten AFL Legends Match
- Finalist in the 1992 BRW Business Student of the Year
- SCG XI Player of the Year in 2011
- People’s Choice Winner of 3 Minute Thesis competition, UTS Business School in 2013
- Received the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Ideas at Deakin University in 2015
- Mentored three past winners of the AMP University Challenge
- Winner of the 2018 E Yetton Prize for the best article published in the Australian Journal of Management in 2018
Charity work
- Since 2010 Adrian has been Board Member for Bears of Hope and is currently the Treasurer. His fundraising efforts over the years have personally raised over $100,000 for the charity including trekking Kokoda in 2018 and running the 2009 Sydney marathon in a Leprechaun suit
- In November 2007, Adrian ran the New York marathon and was Australia's leading fundraiser for the National Heart Foundation
- Has helped raise funds for other charities including Kids 4 Christmas, the Kokoda Track Foundation, Camp Quality and the Leukaemia Foundation
- Wrote a blog for the 2008 Mother's Day Classic to help raise much needed funds for the National Breast Cancer Council
Media
Mr Taxman is regularly seen on TV and in the media giving his expert views and has appeared in:
- National Nine News
- A Current Affair
- The Today Show
- Sky News
- Woman’s Day
- Australian Financial Review
- The Australian
- Sydney Morning Herald
- The Age
- Daily Telegraph
- Herald Sun
- Sunday Telegraph
- Money magazine
- Irish Echo
- The Sunday Times
- IFA
- Financial Standard