1976 Commenced public practice as PJ Hood & Co at 99 Currie St Adelaide

1978 Moved premises to 66 Hindley St. Now employing 3 staff (one of which, Barbara McKenzie, is still with the firm and is the Office Manager). One of the first Accounting firms to purchase a computer, which was literally the size of a washing machine. Grown from the original one client to approximately 50 clients.

1984 Moved to Unit 1, 110 Hutt St Adelaide and now employs 4 staff, has 150 clients and 3 computers and utilises Solution 6 Accounting software instead of the electronic adding machine and cash books.

1985 Graham Sweeney joins the practice as an employee and the total number of staff grows to 5.

1989 Graham Sweeney becomes a partner in the practice and the name is changed to Hood Sweeney. Matthew Fox becomes the sixth member of staff, joining the firm as a Graduate Accountant. The number of clients of the firm is now almost 200.

1994 expand the premises to units 1 and 2, 110 Hutt St, now employ 10 staff and has around 350 clients.

1995 Scott Young joins the firm.

1997 Matthew Fox becomes a Partner in Hood Sweeney.

1998 expand the premises to units 1, 2 and 3, 110 Hutt St, now employ 12 staff and have around 450 clients.

1999 Graham Sweeney tragically passes away at age 49. The loyalty and patience of client's during this tragic period will always be remembered and appreciated.

2001 The firm makes a decision that ensures it maintains its entrepreneurial edge as the next partner, Matthew Rowe, adds another dimension to the practice. The addition of financial planning sees the firm become a multi disciplinary practice, uniquely positioned to service our client's financial needs. Investment Funds under Advice in the first year of operation are $35,000,000.

1 July 2004 Peter Hood retires as a Partner of Hood Sweeney, in so doing he leaves the practice in great shape. At the time of Peter Hoods retirement he has achieved great success in the profession:

• There are 31 staff, 23 Accounting and 9 Financial Planing
• There are 900 clients
• The firm now ranks number 88 in the BRW top 100 Accounting firms in Australia
• The firm offers services outside of the traditional accounting services, Investment Funds under Advice now stand at just over $70,000,000.

1 July 2004 - Two new partners, Brian Wright and Ian Burford, join the two Matthews. 110 Hutt Street is renovated and extended, we now occupy units 1,2,3,4 and 5.

December 2004 -  Hood Sweeney incorporates a new division within the business and merges with an existing IT Services Business (Technology Partners Pty Ltd) to form Hood Sweeney Technology.  Hood Sweeney Technology - IT that works!

1 March 2005 -  Hood Sweeney Finance is now formed, making for a formidable client advocate when dealing with financiers. The Directors of Hood Sweeney Finance have in excess of 27 years banking and finance experience.

28 February 2007 - The Hood Sweeney Group re-locates to our new purpose built premises, 11-16 South Terrace Adelaide.  Hood Sweeney has been located at 110 Hutt Street since 1984, with Hood Sweeney Technoloy being located at 211 Finders Street since 2002. Quite simply we have outgrown Hutt Steet and now wish to co-locate all divisions within the one location - the major internal reasons for our re-location:

• Capacity for growth
• Cultural Interchange and Cultural Flow-on having all divisions within the one building, particularly important with regard to our IT Services Division
• Team Ethos - all leadership staff on one site
• Group Dynamic and operational synergies
• Open Plan floor plates allow us to work within our teams - better learning environment for the development of professional staff.
• A high quality professional environment provides us with a competitive advantage over others in the ability to attract and retain high calibre professional ataff

1 April 2007 - Hood Sweeney merges with Bond Stuppos & Associates.

• Bond Stuppos & Associates was established in 1947 and is the largest Accounting & Business Services firm in the Whyalla region of South Australia.
• This merger is a significant vote of confidence in the future of Whyalla and the region by one of Australia's Top 100 Accounting & Business Services Groups.
• Our aim is to bring the substantial strength, skills and resources of Hood Sweeney to Whyalla and the region, whilst at the same time retaining Bond Stuppos & Associates high level of local personal service that clients have enjoyed since 1947.

1 April 2007 - Scott Young, Soto Stuppos and Tony Michaels are appointed as Directors of Hood Sweeney.  Scott, Soto and Tony join Matthew Fox, Matthew Rowe, Brian Wright and Ian Burford as Directors and at the time of their appointment:

• The Hood Sweeney Group now has 78 staff; 41 Accounting & Business Services, 17 Financial Planning Services, 18 IT Services and 2 Finance Services.
• There are 3,000 clients
• The firm now ranks number 61 in the BRW top 100 Accounting firms in Australia
• Investment Funds under Advice now stand at just over $400,000,000.

12 December 2007:

• Greg Parr joins Hood Sweeney as the Group General Manager & General Counsel after a successful career as a Litigation Partner with a well known legal firm.

30 June 2008:

• Tony Peake retires from Hood Sweeney Technology and his successor, Gerry McGuinnness is appointed CEO of Hood Sweeney Technology.

September 2008:

• Hood Sweeney now has 90 staff and has moved towards a corporatized business model instead of the traditional professional partnership
• The firm now ranks 39th in the BRW top 100 Accounting firms in Australia.

31 October 2008:

Some Changes in Our Leadership Team.....

We are pleased to announce that Ian Burford has entered the next stage of his career and now becomes a consultant within Hood Sweeney.  Ian has now stepped down as a Director and Shareholder of the Hood Sweeney Group and maintains his close ties with the business and clients by remaining with the Hood Sweeney team as a consultant.

It has always been Ian's goal to retire by the seaside in his dream home and when the opportunity arose for him to realise his equity in the Hood Sweeney group and set himself up for retirement he took it.

Ian first joined Hood Sweeney on 6 November 2001 as a Manager.  When founding partner, Peter Hood retired on 30 June 2004, Ian became a shareholder and Director of Hood Sweeney.  It has been very rewarding for Ian to be part of the reformation and growth of the firm and he has seen the firm virtually quadruple in size.

Ian will continue to head the Technical & Assurance Team in the CPA division on a full time basis.  In future, Ian will look to more flexible working arrangements so he can go sailing and travel overseas.

Evolution of Hood Sweeney

Hood Sweeney has evolved from PJ Hood & Co in 1976, towards a partnership model in 1989, and then to a Board committee model in 2004.  The shareholders of Hood Sweeney recognise it is time to run the business under a corporatised business model and that we have leaders within the business that are charged with the responsibility of achieving our vision for all stakeholders.

There will now be three leaders within the business as appointed by the shareholders and as unanimously appointed by the Board of Directors.

Gerry McGuinness continues, with the full support of the Board, as the Chief Executive Officer of Hood Sweeney Technology.

Matthew Fox will now become the Managing Director of the CPA Division.

Matthew Rowe will now become the Managing Director of all other parts of the Hood Sweeney Group including Hood Sweeney Securities, Hood Sweeney Finance, our Whyalla Division and the Operational Divisions in the Group including Human Resources, Finance, Information Systems and Marketing.  Matthew remains the Chair of Hood Sweeney Technology working in unison with Gerry McGuinness and Graham Wadsley.