I’ve always been comfortable working with numbers. I’m interested in how finances underpin the workings of an organisation and of course their importance in supporting business growth.
I enjoy being within a company for the long term, getting to know the people, processes and technology thoroughly, and so being able to contribute to meaningful and workable improvements. In our small team we report on our gross profit margin, analyse variances, carry out assurance of the data we use and perform ad hoc analysis. It’s important for me to have plenty of challenges and opportunities to learn and develop, and to work within a great team atmosphere. I am fortunate to have these features in abundance in my job.
The energy industry is remarkably complicated and requires an understanding of the detail
Octopus Energy has recently become the UK's fifth largest energy retailer. This is thanks to its emphasis on customer service and its own operationally efficient CRM system, Kraken. The energy industry is remarkably complicated and requires an understanding of the detail (you could never learn it all), as well as keeping an eye on the bigger picture.
As well as being a professional accountant, I also have good coding skills. I’ve found this to be a rare combination. My main languages currently are SQL and Python. I see a significant opportunity for accountants to develop their data skills further (for example, wrangling big data and using programming languages) so they can produce relevant ad hoc reports for colleagues quickly and without relying on an IT team. It means you can have greater confidence in the figures you report because you will be able to interrogate those numbers more thoroughly.
Being able to take advantage of large datasets and technology advances gives you a real competitive advantage. Without sufficient skills, accountants risk being sidelined, only recording past financial performance instead of offering all the meaningful business advice that they can.
At a previous company, I came up with a tool that moved our sales invoicing from paper-based to entirely digital. The benefits were faster invoicing (with the cashflow benefits that result from that), and time and cost savings.
Being able to take advantage of large datasets and technology advances gives you a real competitive advantage
Before accounting, I had a career in the performing arts. During this period I spoke the local language in France, Belgium and Egypt. I learnt that communication is about attitude and willingness, not about linguistic skill. It’s possible to make things happen together with someone you share limited language with if you have a desire to communicate well; it’s also possible to end up with multiple misunderstandings if two people are not invested in true collaboration with one another, however fluent they are.
In my spare time I enjoy gardening. You can also find me at the gym training for my first triathlon in May. Please wish me luck!
