25 February 2022

After spending ten years working as an electrician, I started with Findex in March 2020, two weeks before the pandemic sent us home to work.

I loved many aspects of being a tradie, but I was searching for a different challenge and to further my interest in finance. So, after completing a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance), I was lucky enough to gain employment with Findex, who gave me the full support with the career change I was searching for, helping me to build the skills that will provide me with a career of knowledge and opportunity for the coming years.

As soon as I met my new manager and team, I felt at ease immediately and I knew that Findex were going to back me as a person, no matter the path I had taken to get the role. This feeling I had of a company who is fully supportive of its people and its clients has been completely validated over the last 18 months with the tools, skills and support offered by Findex to enable us all to fulfill our potential working dynamically.

My role is in the Financial Control Team of Findex and it is our job to ensure the company’s financials are recorded correctly and accurately each month, across all of Australia and New Zealand, as well as other critical tasks supporting the Accounts Payable and Business Performance teams. There is a blend of daily, weekly and longer-term tasks/projects in our team which means no two days are ever the same.

Our team’s end goal on a month-to-month basis is to enable the production of accurate balance sheet reporting. We enable the business performance team to create the monthly reporting of results for each area, service line and division, all the way down to the Key Relationship Manager’s individual results.

My personal task list varies from day-to-day depending on time-specific tasks or larger tasks that have differing due dates, importance, time needed to complete and complexity. An example of some time-sensitive tasks are:

• Posting of all staff’s time sheets

• Organising and processing Trust Account pay runs

• Maintaining our firm’s Vendor file to allow Accounts Payable to pay our suppliers accurately and on time.

Other tasks I am responsible for include the bank account reconciliations for all accounts held in Australia and New Zealand to ensure our accounts balance and all payments and receipts are allocated to their correct accounts in the General Ledger (GL). Larger tasks throughout the month involve working on and maintaining many of our GL accounts and Balance Sheet requisitions so the company can keep a firm grasp on and account for all variances which may occur. This allows for any items in the balance sheet to be looked at in detail and tells the story of why a certain account balance is showing a certain figure at any point in time.

One of the great aspects of being in the Financial Control team in the Corporate division is that we get to build and maintain relationships with staff from all levels, in every division and every location within Australia and New Zealand. We are constantly working with our people, either providing support and assistance to them, or on the flip side, requiring their assistance in our own decision-making. I love being able to communicate with our people to learn about their roles and challenges and build strong working relationships and become a trusted adviser to our own employees.

There is always something new to learn, a more complex task or project, plenty of chances to show initiative and dive into issues that need attention and effort. The Findex team has been brilliant in the support provided, not just from my own team members and managers, but firm wide. I have found that people are very generous with their time and advice, always willing to help as we work together to our end goal of helping our people, clients and communities and ensuring they are better for having known us.

Embark on a career journey that transforms and grows as your ambitions do

Findex is looking for graduates across a number of professional disciplines including Accounting & Business Advisory, Tax Advisory, Finance, Digital, Superannuation, Wealth Management, Audit & Assurance and Consulting.

Visit our Graduate Careers page to find out more about the opportunities available.

- Article by Dominic Paynter (Graduate Accountant)