We’re Here To Make Tax Less Taxing
Allen Knight and Karl Farrand co-founded Taxlab in 2009, having previously led Deloitte New Zealand’s tax technology team. We started with a simple mission: to use technology to take the pain, risk and cost out of tax administration. With over 20 years combined tax software experience, we knew that kiwi businesses deserved a product that put their needs first. Today, we partner with clients to improve our software directly from their own user requests and feedback. And our experience means we deliver tax software that genuinely gets results.
Team
Taxlab is led by industry experts who have worked within the accountancy profession for considerable time. Our leadership ensure the organisation is product focused and available for customers to talk directly to. We’re experienced, agile, local, and passionate about what we do – a product-focused company that is proud to employ experts who care deeply about solving customer problems. Talk to our team today to discover the difference.
Allen Knight | CEO and Co-Founder, BCA, DipACCY
Allen is a visionary tax software designer with a unique skillset. He works closely with Taxlab’s customers, leads tax product design and runs the business. Allen has worked in tax since 1998 including as Head of Tax Technology for Deloitte. He has practiced as a corporate tax adviser for Deloitte in New Zealand and in the UK and has managed in-house compliance for Corbis and Expedia’s European operations.
Karl Farrand | CTO and Co-Founder, BCom
Karl has been delivering tax software for large corporates and accounting firms since 2001. He focuses on customer support, cloud-based technology strategy, and maintaining system security and architecture. Karl’s technology skills are combined with years of exposure to complex tax concepts. Karl was previously an Associate Director at Deloitte and has worked for EY, BAA and Bellsouth.
Rita Lee | Product Director, LLC, BCom, CA
Rita is a specialist in transforming accounting firms and tax functions through process simplification and technology. She has worked in tax technology since 2006 with PwC and Thomson Reuters’ Tax and Accounting team. Rita leads our product strategy for firms and partners.
Christel Townley | Product Owner, BCom, CA
Christel is a Chartered Accountant with over eight years within Big Four sharing her tax expertise in a wide range of tax types with a diverse client portfolio. She has previously worked for both Deloitte and MYOB and is now leveraging that knowledge to take the hassle out of tax compliance for users.
Darrel Schreyer | Head of Engineering
Darrel has been developing commercial software since 1995. He is a widely recognised development leader with deep technical depth in the Microsoft technology stack and spent 3 years as a development leader at Xero. Darrel is an expert in finding out what makes a business proposition unique and how to build efficient development around it.
Sunny Gomasa | Software Team Leader, ME, BE
Sunny has developed corporate web applications professionally since 2010. He leads Taxlab’s Agile development program and specialises in user interface strategy and development. Before Taxlab, Sunny worked for Datacom and holds a Masters Degree in Computer Engineering.
Jeremy Dobbie | Business Development Manager, LLB, BCom
Attentive to the needs, Jeremy has been bringing technology solutions to accountants working in practice or in house since 2012. Having worked at PwC, EY and Thomson Reuters, he sees tax technology as a primary enabler to reduce risks, drive efficiencies and empower teams in a more digital and transparent world.
Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors are some of the most respected specialists in their respective fields. Their experience, advice and mentoring provides the right environment for robust management of the business and robust delivery of modern cloud based tax software.
Mike Shaw, CA
Chair of the Board
Mike is a former Senior Tax Partner at Deloitte, where he specialised in strategic tax advice and tax policy. He’s been a primary advisor to the Corporate Taxpayer Group and a member of the government’s Tax Working Group. Mike is a shareholder in Taxlab and co-founder of OliverShaw, specialist tax firm.
Robin Oliver, MNZM, MA
Non-Executive Director
Robin is a former Deputy Commissioner of Inland Revenue who has been described as ‘one of the most fearsome tax minds in the country’. His service to our nation saw him recognised as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009. Robin is a shareholder in Taxlab and co-founder of OliverShaw, a specialist tax firm.
Colin McEown, BEng
Non-Executive Director
Colin is an experienced CEO and CTO involved in the development and commercialisation of SaaS products since 2003. A co-founder of MySite, Colin led the development of Consultation Manager, Australia’s most successful Stakeholder Engagement platform. Colin is now CEO of AssetAccountant, a SaaS platform used by accounting firms and corporates in Australia and New Zealand.
Allen Knight, BCA, DipACCY
Executive Director, CEO and Co-Founder
Allen is a co-founder of Taxlab and has been an Executive Director since the incorporation of the company. Allen was a tax accountant before co-founding Taxlab including over 13 years as a Chartered Accountant. He was the original designer of the Taxlab product suite and now runs the commercial activities for the business.
Karl Farrand, BCom
Executive Director, CTO and Co-Founder
Karl is a co-founder of Taxlab and has been an Executive Director since the incorporation of the company. Karl is recognised as an expert in the industry and originally architected and programmed the Taxlab platform. He now runs the development team, security and is deeply involved in advising ATO and IRD on tax technology issues.