What does a day in the life of your job look like?
First thing in the morning I start by replying to any emails that have come in overnight. I then open my worksheet which lists all of the jobs that I am working on, check their status and take note of what I can achieve that day. I usually spend the rest of the morning going through client files, during which, I delegate some tasks to one of the Graduates, coach them through what needs to be done and answer any questions they may have.
After lunch my afternoon could involve a number of things from attending a planning meeting with a client, working alongside my team to conduct testing balances, or checking for fraudulent activity to ensure our client's financials are true and fair. Before leaving for each day, I action more emails and update my worksheet with anything urgent that needs to be completed tomorrow.
Why did you decide on a career in Audit?
I really liked Audit as a university subject and so I accepted a Vacationer position within the Audit and Assurance division at William Buck in 2019/20 summer. The program showed me that Audit is more technical than I initially thought, however, I found looking at and assessing a set of financials from a practical point of view very interesting. My Audit subject was heavily theory-based, however in reality Audit is much more practical. The general accounting work and calculations feature more prominently than the theoretical framework. At the end of my Vacationer program, I was offered a Graduate position to start in 2021 and happily accepted straight away.
What’s something interesting about your job you don’t think many people realise?
I don’t think very many students realise how diverse the client base is at a mid-tier Firm such as William Buck. The industries and sizes can range significantly from a small, not for profit to a large manufacturing company. Everyone in the team works on a big portfolio of clients which means you can develop your skills while working on one client and apply them to many others.
What advice would you give a student looking to pursue a career in Audit?
I would advise students to undertake an internship or Vacationer program while at university to gain a better understanding of what Audit involves. There’s a lot more that goes into the day-to-day work than what you learn in your classes, with the maths and accounting aspects being a lot greater than expected. In saying that though, it is a challenging and rewarding division of accounting and advisory to work in.
What do you enjoy about working at William Buck?
What I enjoy about working at William Buck is the level of contact I have with everyone in my team. Some jobs will require just a junior team member working directly with a Director, while other larger jobs will involve a number of team members at a range of levels. Having this amount of contact with senior team members allows me to learn from their years of technical and industry experience and build up my own knowledge.
The career progression from Graduate to Intermediate to Senior and above is clearly set out and communicated for everyone to see. There is ample opportunity to develop and grow your career with performance reviews every six months to help you understand what you need to do to get to the next step and what the expectations are.
And of course, the culture at William Buck is the main reason why I enjoy coming to work every day. The whole Firm is close-knit, you can say hello and stop to have a chat with everyone you walk past or bump into in the kitchen. It makes you feel as though you are not alone, especially when starting out as a Graduate!