Narrogin’s Ian McMullan recognised for 60 years of country service as a Certified Practising Accountant

Retired Narrogin accountant Ian McMullan has been recognised at the industry’s highest level with a certificate marking 60 years of service and membership of CPA Australia. Mr McMullan said it’s “a bit of rarity” for a Certified Practising Accountant to reach 60 years of service but he’s never looked back. “I remember when I was 18, I used to go for three and a half hours, 5.30 to 9, of cost accounting,” he said. “18-year-olds have better things to do on Friday nights than spend three-and-a-half hours at Tech, but that’s when the course was.” After graduating in 1964, Mr McMullan worked in public service until about 1970, and in 1974 he went into public practice and accepted his first posting in Wagin before moving to York where he became a practice partner. Country life was agreeable, and Mr McMullan spent time in Wagin, York, and Esperance before settling with his wife in Narrogin. Mr McMullan has seen a lot of change over the years, but the biggest has been the arrival of the computer. “Just before I joined CP Bird, one of the tests you had to do (for them to accept you) is writing a cash book . . . and the total of all the columns had to equal the total of the whole lot - you had to do it in your head,” he said. “Then we graduated to calculators and after that computers made a huge difference. “A lot of that is pretty routine stuff and you’re far better off to have the computer do all of that and then be able say ‘now I can really get in and do some work for you,’ rather than just proving you can add up. “The computer meant that you had the capacity to do more things.” Since retiring he has kept his finger on the pulse and his passion for numbers, business and economic matters is active and engaging. In November, Mr McMullan will attend a formal CPA event in Perth where his milestone will be celebrated.