Our people

Prue is driven by the need for successful small businesses. Small business success, means so much for the local community and the families they touch. Making business easier, simpler and smarter for business owners is key to the success of the business and its owners. It is what Prue focuses on. Connection with you, the business owner, fosters a deep understanding of your goals and needs and ensures the plans we make together are achievable.

Her areas of expertise include financial control, management accounting, financial accounting, system and process design and implementation, financial evaluation, business advisory, project management and general troubleshooting. Prue has the ability to quickly and accurately identify issues and develop practical solutions for you and your business.

Prue has a B.Com. (Accounting) and is a member of CPA Australia. Her professional qualifications combined with a broad industry experience gained over 25 years ensure that Prue has the expertise and practical skills to understand your business.

Elona joined the team in June 2016 as our Practice Administrator and Bookkeeper and is now our Management Accountant | Client Services Manager. Elona has exceptional communication and organisation skills and enjoys building relationships with our clients and helping them understand their numbers and achieve their goals.

With a background in office management, accounts and banking, along with being Xero and Spotlight certified, Elona is a great support to all our clients.

When not working you might find Elona being creative; painting, jewellery making, or doing something with fabric or yarn in her studio. She lives in rural Marlborough and loves swimming in the river, walking in the native bush and catching up with her family on her regular visits to Christchurch.

Alena has been working at Astute Mode since April 2018, she started as our Client Administrator and is now qualified, having just completed a Certificate in Bookkeeping, which enables her to use her knowledge and understanding to help our clients with their bookkeeping needs.

Alena enjoys communicating with the clients and likes to help take the stress away from businesses by helping them understand more about what the numbers in their business represent rather than just looking a report your accountant has handed you and not knowing how to interpret the numbers or the impact they have on your business.

When not at work Alena can be found with her nose buried in a book or herself in a bookstore buying more books to add to her never ending collection. You can almost always find Alena listening to music and she loves going out and exploring New Zealand and is looking forward to extending that to other places around the world very soon.

Esther has a fascinating background having been born in the Netherlands and raised in Africa (Ivory Coast and Ghana) before moving to Christchurch at age 12.

She joined Astute Mode in June 2021 and currently works as a Bookkeeper, keeping our clients’ bank reconciliations, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll and GST all under control. She is also learning how to prepare financial statements.

Esther loves helping clients by taking away the hassle of bookwork, letting them focus on running and growing their businesses. She is currently studying towards a Bachelor of Accounting degree, through Massey University, which she hopes to finish later this year.

When not at work or studying she can be found hanging out with friends, at the gym, baking or discovering more of the many cafes and restaurants of Christchurch.

Her next big adventure is a move to Auckland where she will continue to work for Astute Mode.