News
NZ Virtual Assistant Awards
09 August 2021
Behind every business is a story of ambitious people doing what it takes to turn a dream into reality. Irene Bennetts, founder and CEO of Streamline sister company Admin Army got to tell her story at #Bookkeepcon21 in Rotorua last month. It was the second year in a row Irene has presented at the conference. Her topic: Lessons from the battlefield – a first-hand experience of growing a thriving bookkeeping business. Admin Army has been on a bit of a roll – it has been welcoming new customers at a rate of knots and has recently been shortlisted in several categories for the NZ Virtual Assistant Awards, which will be announced in Kirikiriroa Hamilton on 25 September.
Profile: Building a business in a time of Covid
02 March 2021
You’ve devoted yourself to growing your business, have just merged it with a larger organisation, and six weeks later Covid-19 comes along. What do you do next?
Irene Bennetts, founder of Streamline sister company Admin Army, explains her response in a new National Business Review profile. Plus: managing remote teams, owning a small piece of a big company rather than a big piece of a small one, and expanding into the United Kingdom.
- Paywalled. The NBR has a “register to view one free article a day” offer.
We'll soon be open for business in the UK
19 February 2021
After expanding from our New Zealand base with units in Australia, Fiji and India, Streamline Business Group has a new market in sight: The United Kingdom.
We’ve set up shop in the UK by establishing two new entities, Streamline Business Solutions UK Limited and Admin Army UK. As soon as Covid 19 restrictions are lifted, we expect to begin commercial operations in a market that we believe has untapped demand for the business process efficiencies that are SBG’s area of expertise. One early priority: Adding scale to Admin Army’s offering by acquiring locally-based bookkeeping companies.
Are You Ready for New Zealand’s New Privacy Law?
20 November 2020
New rules around the use of private information come into force in New Zealand on 1 December. If your business stores or uses personal data, the Privacy Act 2020, along with its new requirements and stiff penalties for privacy breaches, will apply to you.
The good news is that Streamline already complies with the new rules, and that applies to the personal data we hold on behalf of customers.
Some businesses will take the opportunity to review their privacy policies and practices. If you’re one of them, Streamline can help. Our Privacy Impact Reports give you a professional, third-party assessment of your risks and provide actionable recommendations to protect you from privacy breaches and the reputational and legal damage that comes with them.
Privacy Impact Reports are produced by Streamline’s channels director, Glyn Williams. Glyn, a founder of information security advisors Prima Solutions, has more than 10 years experience in navigating businesses through privacy regulation compliance.
Want to know more? Get in touch with Glyn now. He’s at glyn@streamlinebusiness.net and can be reached on +021 567 391.
A new focus for Streamline: the channel.
08 October 2020
A warm welcome to the newest member of the Streamline Business team, Glyn Williams.
Glyn, who has plenty of runs under his belt as an IT entrepreneur, has come on board to build channel partnerships. His appointment as Channels Director reflects the growing demand for back office processing expertise from ERP solution vendors in particular.
Want to connect with Glyn? He’s at glyn@streamlinebusiness.net.
Delegation for control freaks, the imposter syndrome and more: Irene Bennetts video
11 September 2020
If you’ve ever started your own business from scratch, you’ll know that sometimes the biggest struggle can be with your own state of mind. Irene Bennetts, CEO of Admin Army and a director of Streamline Business Group, is no exception.
Irene has shared her experience of starting Admin Army in a candid video interview hosted by business coach Natalie Tolhopf. The video, part of Tolhopf’s NZ Business Women series, covers the imposter syndrome, business growth, delegation for control freaks, and how to keep going when life throws you a curveball. Recommended viewing if you’d like to know what it’s like being in the control room of a new business.
Watch Irene’s NZ Business Women interview.
Streamline and Sharp New Zealand Partner to Simplify Access to Business Technology Solutions
24 June 2020
IT and services innovator Sharp New Zealand and back office processing specialist Streamline Business Group have joined forces to simplify access to a broad suite of business technology solutions.
A strategic agreement by the two companies, effective today, will see Sharp offer a subset of Streamline’s custom and off-the-shelf business process automation solutions alongside Sharp’s existing office productivity technology suite, including content management solution M-Files and communication management tool PlanetPress.
Sharp General Manager for Business Solutions Dave Pointon says the agreement offers customers Streamline’s product expertise and consultancy experience, along with the convenience of a single billing relationship and ongoing account management from Sharp.
“The ability to analyse business process workflows and to identify opportunities for efficiency and productivity gains is critical to the selection of automation software solutions, and that’s exactly what Streamline will offer our customers,” Pointon says.
Streamline CEO Craig Pellett says the agreement with Sharp builds on a resale partnership that goes back to 2015. “We’ve learned over that time that there’s a growing appetite for liberating businesses from inefficient and error-prone manual processes. That appetite has only increased as New Zealand companies emerge from the Covid-19 lockdown, so the time is right for a sales model that makes it easy for businesses to tap into the advantages of office automation.”
The lights are still on for Streamline Business and Admin Army
1 April 2020
Are we working through the Covid-19 lockdowns? You bet we are!
New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment confirmed this week that both Streamline Business and sister company Admin Army qualify as essential businesses under the current lockdown rules, which classify our services as critical for ensuring businesses and workers can continue working from home.
Our teams in New Zealand, Fiji and India, working almost exclusively from home, will continue to support customers and offer our full range of services throughout the pandemic.
COVID-19 Update
19 March 2020
Our clients rely on Streamline for business processes that are in many cases critical to their organisations. Today I wrote to them to explain exactly what has been done to ensure we keep their work running without disruption during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Alongside the health and welfare of our own staff, the continuity of our clients businesses has been our highest priority. Here’s what we’re doing:
- For four weeks now our NZ team has been working from home, coming in to our Newmarket office only on an agreed schedule.
- Each home worker has been given additional screens and the supporting technology to keep them 100% efficient.
- To guarantee the continuity of our mail operations we have engaged a second mail house provider in addition to Solution Dynamics, should it be required.
- We have also set up another scanning site at Sharp’s offices in Penrose to support our Newmarket office capability.
- Our India team has also been working from home without delivery issues for the past week, supported with the same technology as their NZ colleagues.
- Our outsource provider in Daqing, China has been unaffected throughout the course of the pandemic and continues to provide daily service for some clients. Daqing provides backup to our own Data Validation teams when needed.
- Our Fiji team continues to work without interruption from our Suva offices. We have initiated additional measures to keep the Fiji workspace safe. This includes reconfiguring the office and employing additional staff for regular cleaning and disinfection.
- Working from home for the Fiji staff is a last resort, as residential infrastructure and personal home environments are not as robust as our locations in NZ and India.
- We’re currently negotiating with the Fijian authorities for an exemption that will enable our team to continue to work from our building should a quarantine be imposed.
We’ll keep you posted on any further developments.
- Craig Pellet, CEO
Admin Army's Irene Bennetts recognised as global accounting leader
16 March 2020
Congratulations to our own Irene Bennetts, who has just been recognised as one of worlds top 50 women in accounting.
Irene, CEO of Admin Army and a director of Streamline Business Group, was the only New Zealand-based executive in the “Top 50 Women in Accounting 2019” awards announced last week by business software firm Practice Ignition.
The awards acknowledge women who are “leading the charge when it comes to advocacy, change and
Admin Army joins forces with Streamline Business Group
04 February 2020
Smiles all round this week as we announce that bookkeeping and related services provider Admin Army has joined the Streamline Business Group. It’s a move that promises synergies for both organisations and upside for their customers.
Streamline acquired Admin Army Limited via a share swap that was completed on 31 January.
Streamline chairman and CEO Craig Pellett says the acquisition is strategic. “It’s the first step in the development of an umbrella of adjacent brands and services, all drawing on Streamline’s technology stack and all with the same mission: unlocking business success through a combination of advanced automation and our experienced global team,” he says.
Admin Army retains its branding and founder Irene Bennetts, who stays on as CEO, says its customers can expect a “business as usual” approach along with a broader range of solutions and expertise.
“I believe that by joining forces the group will become a potent force in the business support services industry,” Bennetts says. “Admin Army now has the capacity to deliver far more to our clients’ businesses and our ability to serve new clients will be dramatically improved as we rationalise our services.”