Our History

Steel Walsh & Murphy was created on 1 July 1980 by the merger of E Steel & Co Chartered Accountants of Cowra and Walsh & Murphy, Chartered Accountants of Cowra. The firm of E Steel & Co was formed by Eric Steel in 1952 and Walsh & Murphy was formed by Bill Murphy in 1975, through the purchase of Allen Walsh’s practice.

Following the merger of the two firms, Mr Eric Steel and Allen Walsh remained as consultants to Steel Walsh & Murphy. Mr David Steel and Mr Bill Murphy were partners in Steel Walsh & Murphy until 30 June 1986 when Mr David Steel retired. Mr Bill Murphy practiced as a sole practitioner until Mr Kendall McMaster joined the partnership in 1988 and Mr Mark Fisher in 1996. Kendall McMaster and Mark Fisher left the firm in 2011 and Bill Murphy practices as a sole proprietor.

Currently SWM Chartered Accountants comprises one principal, three managers, and seven accounting and clerical staff.

In July 2001, SWM Chartered Accountants merged with another local accounting business, Reg Cassidy and Co. Further expansion of the business followed with another merger in 2006 with Cowra firm Robert Sligar and the purchase in 2007 of a Sydney based accounting business, ASTIMS of Neutral Bay. This business was renamed ASTIMS & SWM Chartered Accountants to reflect and identify of SWM Chartered Accountants and its Cowra origins. the Neutral Bay firm was sold in 2015 to focus on the ever growing Cowra firm with many trainee accountants trained over the years.

We are committed to forming close partnerships with our clients, enabling us to understand your unique situation and customise the assistance we provide to suit your requirements. Our commitment to excellence is evident in our hardworking team and the exceptional service we offer.

Our enthusiasm for our work means you get a friendly team of professionals eager to use their expertise to help you succeed!

SWM Chartered Accountants has offered accounting traineeships for Cowra School leavers and others entering the Accounting industry since 1996. The trainees work in our office and undertake their accounting studies externally. We have trained in excess of 25 Cowra locals over the years and currently have four trainee accountants.

We have always embraced technology and we were one of the first firms of accountants in the Central West to adopt electronic filing. SWM Chartered Accountants has now been using this system for over 15 years.