John M. Carr was born in Chicago Illinois, but grew up in New Zealand. He completed a Bachelor of Commerce Degree at Auckland University before being recruited by a Fortune 25 company in the United States. He held several positions within the sales and marketing departments of the company during his nine-year tenure.

Between 1977 and 1984 he purchased a number of offices of a bookkeeping company, which became the nucleus of today’s Better Business Services Inc. He also completed his MBA and obtained a Certified Public Accountant’s license in Oklahoma and Minnesota during this time.

In 1984 he left 3M to pursue his own entrepreneurial business opportunities. Concentrating on bookkeeping, tax preparation and payroll processing in Texas and Florida, the company developed a strong reputation as a proven provider of tax and bookkeeping advice for small businesses.

Better Business Services Inc offers extensive tax preparation and financial planning assistance to a wide cross section of businesses. To further support the clients of the business, John Carr is both an Enrolled Agent with the Internal Revenue Service and a Certified Tax Practitioner. The forty-nine employees in the company have been key to the success of the company.

In addition, Mr. Carr has owned and operated several small businesses in a diverse range of industries, from travel and aircraft leasing to printing and computers.

In 1987 he listed an entity on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. The business invested in service companies specializing in small businesses in the United States. In 1993 the company expanded into New Zealand forestry, a change in direction that presented significant opportunities for the minority investors. The company expanded further, and in 1994 merged with Evergreen Forests to form a $100 million dollar company.

In 1989 he rounded out his financial experience and qualifications as a Certified Fraud Examiner and has investigated a number of white-collar embezzlements and frauds. As a Certified Valuation Analyst, Mr. Carr is able to value businesses and financial transactions from a number of perspectives.

In 1995, as a Director of New Zealand Petroleum Ltd, Mr. Carr was key in changing the direction of the company. As a result, it developed into a $100 million dollar provider of eldercare facilities for the retired.

In January 2001, Mr. Carr published his first book – “Wealth Creation” designed to give practical tips for all those striving to achieve their financial dreams.

In 2002 the Certified Public Accounting office in Idabel Oklahoma merged with another CPA practice resulting in the largest CPA office in McCurtain County, Oklahoma.

In July 2003 the Oil and Gas Bulletin was merged with the acquisition of PEX Publications in Perth, Australia making it the premier publisher of Oil and Gas information in Western Australia.

August 2003 saw All Purpose Finance Ltd set up as a New Zealand finance company with John Carr taking a minority holding.

In October 2003 the Coronet Alpine Hotel was added as a 74-room hotel serving New Zealand inbound tourists and catering to Ski Season at the base of Coronet Peak in Queenstown – a top tourist destination. By 2006 revenues had quadrupled with the addition of a 7 lane, state of the art bowling alley.

A three-story historical brick building was renovated and in May 2004 the CPA offices moved into the building. The CPA office was successful in securing the Budget Making position for McCurtain County. We assist the Excise Commission and County Commissioners in establishing the annual multi-million dollar county budget. The CPA office is the pre-emanate accounting office in McCurtain County.

May 28th 2004 saw the sale of Moneyonline to publicly listed Dorchester Pacific. The merger gives the company greater access to an expanded base of clients and more diversified list of products.

The central administrative offices for the BBS companies were moved to a campus-like setting on 10 acres of land in Boerne, just outside San Antonio in May 2004.

April 2005 was a busy month with the acquisition of EasyBooks NZ Ltd. With 8,000 customers in New Zealand and a strong role with Accountants in New Zealand Easybooks is the common product that will be developed across all three counties. It provides an entry level accounting product and the opportunity to offer an ASP (application service provider) model. In 2006 a number of related software products to enhance the end users experience were developed.

In the same month, Spectrum Resources sold its subsidiary – Kinetiq NZ Ltd and Demand Response to Mr. Carr. They are located along with Easybooks in a company owned executive office park on the North Shore of Auckland. The programming team from Kinetiq will work with Easybooks and Pex to develop online solutions for customer needs. The initial expectation of true synergy between the companies as envisaged as the businesses settle in has been realized. Kinetiq has hired additional staff to support the growing suite of on line software solutions. It is expected that each company will continue to evolve as a “center of excellence” with their own expertise being shared across the companies.

In August 2005 the New Zealand Institute of Directors conferred the Fellow of the Institute of Directors to Mr. Carr

Shelf Company No 10 purchased an iconic coast line property in Pakiri that borders the latest Auckland Regional Council park acquisition. It is proposed to expand and develop the Alpaca business in Suri breeds on this property.

In April 2006 Brass Magazine New Zealand was purchased by Electronic Publishing Ltd. Brass is a complimentary business to Pex in that programming and design elements, in addition to office sharing will be beneficial to both companies.

He has a 200-acre farm in rural New Zealand, running to the ocean and 11 miles of white sand beaches and is being developed as an agri-forestry venture.

John M. Carr B.Com., MBA, CPA, CFP®, CFE, CVA, CFS, EA
San Antonio, Texas