16/10/2026
Happy Bosses Day!
Meet Ian Ferreira-Massyn | Founder of GARVA
There are accountants.
Then there is Ian.
Working for Ian is a bit like working for Miranda from The Devil Wears Prada.
He doesn't shout. He just looks at the trial balance, then looks at you, then looks back at the trial balance.
Nobody has ever recovered from that look.
He doesn't need to ask whether you checked your work. The silence asks for him.
"Bank recons? At month-end? Groundbreaking!"
And when he says "That's all", the meeting is over. Even if you were halfway through a sentence.
Unlike Miranda, though, he will sit down and help you fix it... and then he'll build an app so it never happens again!
Because that is Ian's other superpower: if a process doesn't work, he builds an app.
Clients losing their slips? He built Slippy G.
Travel logbooks driving everyone mad? He built VroomVroom.
A bank feed not working? He built CSV Genie.
At this point, we are scared to complain about anything.
Someone mentioned the coffee machine last week. We expect an app by Friday.
What most people don't know is that at university, Ian competed at Nationals in Ballroom and Latin-American dancing.
This explains a lot.
He handles month-end like a cha-cha: quick, quick, slow, and never, ever off the beat.
Whenever he deals with a SARS auditor- he copies in: [email protected] to show them he is being serious.... and once he starts to write his emails with numbered pragraphs (even numbered short sentences)... you know he just ended the disagreement like a check mate in a chess game.
He also doesn't like people being late. If the meeting starts at 09:00, then 09:02 is not "almost on time". It is a lifestyle choice he does not support.
At the office, his favourite phrase is "It is what it is."
He uses it for load-shedding, eFiling going down on deadline day, and the client who drops off a shoebox of slips on the 28th.
When something makes no sense at all, like a client who paid a supplier from their personal account "just this once", the office hears the other phrase:
"Ag nee o f*k."... We have learned to translate. It means "Let's review this together."
Shortly after that, there is usually a new app.
Ian doesn't just 'recommend' Xero. He converts people! Clients come in for a tax return and leave with a Xero subscription, live bank feeds and a GARVA badge.
We've learned to measure the day's mood in coffees. One means a calm day. Five means VAT week.
Ian has one rule that the whole team loves:
Timesheets belong in the trash.
While other firms count every six-minute unit, Ian only asks two questions:
1. Is the client happy?
2. Was it done on time?
If the answer to both is yes, that's all.
He builds an app for everything- Except timesheets.
Someone once suggested a timesheet app... the look they got was enough. Miranda would have been proud!
There is one more thing Ian does...
Sometimes, when he does a compilation of financial statements or independent review, he picks up something that needs to be brought to the client's attention under the professional rules. When that happens, a letter goes to the client for our file.
It's called a NOCLAR letter: "Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations".
Nothing says "have a lovely day" like an email with that subject line.
So before the letter lands, Ian picks up the phone.
He explains what it is, why we have to send it, and what happens next. Mostly, he explains that nobody is coming to arrest anyone.
Clients have been known to go from "Am I in trouble?" to "Can we sort this out on Xero?".... and if not, we are sure Ian will be able to recommend an app to manage their compliance in under ten minutes.
Miranda would have sent the letter.
Ian sends the letter and makes the call.... It is what it is. But it doesn't have to be scary.
After hours, you'll find him on the couch, catching up on Kyknet's Afrikaans soapies- Binnelanders, Skemergrond, Diepe Waters en SuidOoster…. with his laptop open. He can follow a soapie wedding, a soapie divorce and a VAT reconciliation at the same time.
The VAT reconciliation is usually the least dramatic.
In the family, he is known as "Kosie".
We have been told this is a family-only privilege.
We have decided to ignore that.
Happy Bosses Day, Kosie. 🦒
That's all.
