For such a small South Eastern suburb 30kms out from the city center of Melbourne, Australia and of under fifteen thousand residents, there are an awful amount of accounting firms. The old saying, "other than life itself, there are no surer things than death and taxes. Dandenong is testament to this. The City of Greater Dandenong has a rich and diverse history. This is reflected in historical sites that show the changing face of our city, and in the valuable contributions made by Indigenous Australians and people from all over the world who came to make their home here.

The Australian government is making life a little harder for accountants and tax agents. New regulations for individuals that are purely PAYGW employees they no longer need to lodge their annual income tax returns through a registered tax agent. If, for example, you have one wage, no rental properties, basic tax deductions and not involved in a Trust or Company, lodge through E-Tax. The government believes that this new ruling will save the average Australian tax payer money and time each tax year. Pensioners who have minimum tax return activity will benefit mostly. But what about the other side of the equations? The accountants and tax agents who's livelihood depends on business.

The suburb of Dandenong is full of accountants, lawyers and conveyances. Every street from Clow street to Robinson street up until Princes Highway. I spoke with one Dandenong accounting firm representative, Harry Le Gan from MC & S Pty Ltd and asked the question, how can so many firms stay profitable? "I can only speak for our client base, but MC & S Pty Ltd's clients are from all industries, from all over Australia. Not just in Dandenong or surrounding suburbs. I think if all Dandenong tax agents fought for the handful of Dandenong clients, majority of us would be out of business." "So the reason we have been successful for so long is finding a clientele outside our locality. Not having all our eggs in the one basket per se."

Dandenong has been set up as a second financial hub. A mini CBD for the south eastern suburbs. People who live in the outer suburbs of the South East cannot travel into the city for work. They need a closer financial hub, to improve their work - life - balance. The City of Greater Dandenong have invested heavily in cleanly up the streets. Making the streets more "friendly" in anticipation of more business. Let hope this continues, for accounting firms Dandenong. One would hope, money hasn't been wasted for no reason.