Catherine Smith

Australia’s Most Awarded Accountant

Director Freedom Financial Solutions FFS Pty Ltd, Consultant to WFS, Accountant, Mortgage Broker, Real Estate Agent, Property Advisor and Justice of Peace

Catherine is an Accountant, Tax Agent, Mortgage Broker, Real Estate Agent and Property Adviser. She is also an Author and regular contributor in Your Investment Property Magazine. She was the 2019 Telstra Business woman of the Year (ACT) and has been awarded 50 plus other ACT, NSW and Australian awards in the financial services sector. She has 30+ years’ experience in taxation, business, SMSFs, finance, mortgages, financial planning, property and share market investing. She spent 11 years with the Australian Taxation Office as a senior Fraud Investigator and Director. She is the founder of Wholistic Financial Solutions. Australia’s most awarded financial services firm

Wholistic Financial Solutions mission is to guide clients to financial freedom. . Catherine has a Master’s Degree in Tax Law. Degree in Accounting. Diploma of Financial Planning. Diploma of Advanced Financial Planning. Diploma of Mortgage Broking. Diploma of Finance. Diploma of Real Estate. She is also a Justice of Peace Catherine also qualified as a Certified Master Results Coach and NLP Practitioner. She competed on the Australia Dragon Team in 2013 and travelled extensively competing with her State and National teams. She was in a team who broke the Guinness book of records for longest distance in a Dragon Boat in 24 hours. She was a Candidate for United Australia Party in the 2022 election. On top of all of that she has single handedly raised 4 wonderful children. In her spare time Cass enjoys snow skiing, boating, training in MMA and target shooting

Mary-Jane Liddicoat

As a former senior public servant, diplomat, author, publisher, linguist, interpreter, small business owner, human rights advocate, and community leader of 30 years standing, Mary-Jane has a diverse public and private sector experience across a broad range of industry sectors. Representing the Australian Government in Japan, Korea, and the Middle East, Mary-Jane has extensive international and media experience, including with Korean, Japanese, Arabic and French language expertise.

In 2022, Mary-Jane was invited to run as an ACT Senate Candidate for the Informed Medical Options Party in the Australian Federal Election, and, in 2015, she was the “Best New Business” Canberra Women in Business winner and the President of the Manuka Business Association, and in 2013 Mary-Jane’s business won the Australian Bartenders “Best Cocktail Bar (ACT)” award. Mary-Jane graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours), University of Sydney. She is married with three school-aged children.
Mary-Jane spent 20 years training in Shotokan Karate and Taekwondo, and now enjoys a variety of shooting disciplines.

Joe Arnold

Accountant and Bookkeeper in Training

Joe comes to FFS after a unique and varied career spanning the Australian Defence Force, the public sector, various private sectors, academia, small business management and self-employment. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Politics & International Relations, a First Class Honours Degree and was midway through a PhD in Supply Chain Resilience at the UNSW before realizing that his passions for coaching small business required a different approach. After several years lecturing in business and economics at the University of Canberra including a Lecturer of the Year award and with further qualifications in Project Management, Risk and Business Continuity and Vocational Training & Assessment, Joe is passionate about life-long learning and mentoring.

Joe is currently employed as an Accountant-in-Training and Bookkeeper in our Business Tax team. He is a member of the International Institute of Business Analysis and the Risk Management Institute of Australasia. Joe is currently pursuing his CPA certification and aspires to combine his knowledge and experience to be a well-rounded business analyst and accountant. He is a proud supporter of the veteran community and enjoys reading military history, target shooting, landscape photography, rock climbing, camping and fishing, despite being a poor angler!

Iris Yan

CPA Accountant

Iris is a qualified CPA. She has a bachelor of Commerce, Majoring in Accounting, a Diploma in Taxation and an Advanced Diploma of Australian Law (AIFA), also a certified Xero adviser. Iris joined WFS after she graduated from university, she has been with WFS for more than 8 years.

She is responsible for the smooth processing of individual and rental property tax returns, SMSF processing, tax return lodgements, liaising with the ATO, company and trust setups, ABN and TFN applications and bookkeeping for our business clients.

Lisa Galatis

Consultant

Lisa is a CPA qualified Accountant having worked as an Auditor at the start of her career and subsequently moving into Financial Accounting. She has 20+ years’ experience across various sectors including property development, bookkeeping & consulting services, tax accounting, land surveying and telecommunications. She has lived & worked in 3 different countries & speaks 3 languages. Lisa is highly skilled in streamlining processes leading to efficient teams, strategic planning & implementation, enhancing collaboration & communication in the workplace and change management.

Lisa is passionate about empowering people to take ownership in co-creating the life they desire. She completed a Cert IV in Human Resources as well as a Diploma in Life Coaching incorporating Hypnosis, NLP & Time Line Therapy®. Lisa is fascinated by the connection between energy, our physical bodies & the mind – hence she studied ITA Energy Medicine and Mahat Meditation and is a facilitator of their Self Care, Learn to Meditate & Childrens Meditation courses. She has also studied Human Design & has fun experimenting with her chart. Lisa has 3 young adult children - twin boys & a daughter. She loves traveling, cooking, trying new experiences and expanding her knowledge