Our History
Cyril Pangbourne Bird was born on 5 April 1906 in Kalgoorlie WA. The family moved to Katanning in 1909 and where Cyril's father, Walter Bird, set about establishing his tailoring business, which prospered.
At 17 years old Cyril saw a future for himself in the accounting industry and after six months obtained articles with the accounting firm Walter Collins & Co of Perth. He set about his accounting studies and in 1927 completed his articles as well as the examinations of the Commonwealth Institute of Accountants, one of the antecedent bodies of the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants.
Cyril’s first contact with Edgar Robert (‘Bill’) Woolcott (the founder of The National Service Company, now RSM Bird Cameron) had been in about 1922 when he was attending Perth Modern School in Perth. Bill Woolcott brought Cyril Bird across to the accountancy firm on 13 March 1931, where he was given responsibility for the clients on the Midland line from Muchea up to Geraldton and Northampton and on the Wongan line from Geraldton down to Goomalling. By 1934 the management and administration of the firm was becoming too much for Bill Woolcott to handle on his own and in January of that year he transferred Cyril from the country to Perth to become his assistant.
At a meeting on 18 December 1934 he was appointed secretary of the company although he was in fact the chief executive with Bill Woolcott being absent for much of the time.
On 24 November 1941, Cyril Bird was elected a director of the company and appointed manager of the firm.
In October 1952, he was elected chairman of the company upon Bill Woolcott’s retirement. On 1 January 1955, when the partnership of C.P. Bird & Associates commenced, he became the first managing partner.
On 30 June 1968, he stood down as managing partner and Bill Lapsley was elected to succeed him. On 30 June 1969 he retired from the partnership but remained on the Executive Committee in the capacity of consultant. In April 1968, as he was coming to the end of his distinguished career with the firm, he was created a Knight Bachelor in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his services in the field of accounting.
Sir Cyril Bird passed on 19 March 1984.
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On 27 March 2007, RSM Bird Cameron celebrated it’s 85th anniversary. The firm has grown from it’s first office in Perth to become one of Australia’s largest nationally owned accounting partnership, with offices in 28 key rural centres and major capital cities across Australia.
There have been many changes throughout the years, including name changes, new office openings, office closures, becoming a core member of the sixth largest global accountancy group RSM International, and massive staff growth. As well as this, there has been dramatic changes in the accounting profession.
RSM Bird Cameron are no longer just tax accountants, but business advisers, offering advice on a range of issues from how to commence a business and run it most effectively, to how to sell a business, and everything in between.
Despite these changes, highly personalised service remains a cornerstone of RSM Bird Cameron’s philosophy