What is your job about?
Here at Mazars in Brisbane, we have a vision is to make a difference. We seek to make a difference to our clients, our team and our communities by providing high-calibre services including business services (tax), audit, outsourcing and financial advice. As a graduate in the business services team, my role is to assist my team in providing tax compliance to our clients, including but not limited to: preparing activity statements, income tax returns and financial statements for entities ranging from individuals to large group structures.
Most people I speak to about my job initially think that it is purely about “crunching the numbers”, but business services go much deeper than that. Our team constantly interprets and applies tax law so that we can ensure we reach a desirable outcome for our clients in a legal fashion. Since tax laws are constantly changing, it makes the job incredibly interesting as we are always on our toes.
What is your background?
I had no idea that I would end up in business services when I was in high school. I grew up on the peninsular and attended the local college where I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to serve as School Captain in my final year which admittedly distracted me from my intentions after school life.
Near the end of grade twelve, I began thinking seriously about what opportunities lay ahead of me post-graduation. I found a junior accountant opening at Sci-Fleet Motors and jumped at the opportunity, wasting no time before starting the week after graduating. I was a bit anxious about stepping into the position at first since I did not have any accounting knowledge, but I immediately loved the role and decided to change my intended major from economics to accounting.
The experience I gained over my two years at Sci-Fleet was invaluable, and I learnt a lot about the driving forces of a commercial business (no pun intended). Nevertheless, I wanted to try my hand at public practice, which brings me to my experience at Mazars. I became a Mazarian in August 2020 as an undergraduate in their business services team and was accepted into the graduate program in February. I have loved the grad experience thus far – the learning curve is steep and the connections I have made will last for the rest of my career.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
I truly believe that someone with a different background to mine, whether that be culturally or academically, would also exceed in this job. As I mentioned earlier, pure knowledge of accounting is only one aspect of the job; there is research, client interaction and administration too. I can safely say that I have learnt and applied more in one year here at Mazars than I did in three years of university. My team and the broader firm are also very multicultural so people of all nationalities and backgrounds would feel at home in my position.
What is the coolest thing about your job?
I think that the coolest part of my job is being able to see the tangible benefit I can provide a person or business. Saving a client from paying tax or advising them on certain business decisions is incredibly satisfying as I can see the value being added and get instant gratification in my efforts. The role does come with challenges like any job; clients rely heavily on our advice, so every task must be perfect.
3 pieces of advice
On reflection, if I could give myself three pieces of advice when I was a student they would be: