Women In Finance 2020, Accountant Of The Year
This year, I decided I wanted to spread my wings and enter a few business awards. It is not normally something I do, being an accountant, I am used to being in the background. I entered the Women in Finance 2020 and won Accountant of the Year. With the world changed because of COVID, the ceremony was virtual and it was all a bit strange to have a small gathering of people in another room watching the ceremony on delay while I was in another room accepting the award. I am so honoured and proud to be recognised by the finance industry in this way and this is why…
All of my life I have been one of a few women in very male dominated domains. It always felt like it was me against them. At school, I was the only girl in my technical drawing and woodwork classes, and I was good at it. The boys didn’t like it when my work got better marks than theirs and they let me know about it. I was headstrong, firmly believing in gender equality and was not going to be put off by their antics. At times it was really tough, but I loved these classes as they appealed to my mathematical and structured side as well as my creative side so I wasn’t going to give in. I am now grateful for that experience as it was a good training ground for what was to come in my career.
Back in the early 1990s, when I was at university at least half of the students studying commerce were women. This is nothing too remarkable, given that roughly 49.6% of the world’s population are women. But as I progressed through my career there were fewer and fewer women at my level. In the 2 accounting firms where I was a partner, prior to starting Accounting Heart, I was the only woman at the boardroom table. This is not uncommon. Only 15% of the partners in accounting firms are women, I was not alone. However, I felt like I was right back in high school where my views, opinions and ideas would never be heard by the boys club. I knew in my heart that there was a better way of doing so many things.
Working in the accounting industry, I got used to hitting my head against a brick wall, trying to change things, no one really seemed to want to change. I knew if I wanted to see change, I had to be the change. Change was not going to happen staying where I was or by joining another accounting firm. When I did go looking for my dream role, the look on the recruiter’s face when I presented my wish list for my next role, told me I was dreaming. If I wanted my dream job, I was going to have to create it.
Just over four years ago I started working with the inspiring Maria Cook to map out what my accounting firm would look like. This is what I’ve achieved:
When I started out on this journey, I was so low in B12, it was hard to write down phone numbers. I got my health back on track after the B12 deficiency was rectified and two major eye surgeries (phew!). Starting my own business gave me time to work on my health. I no longer had to justify time out of the office for medical care. Gone were the days when I had to justify working from home. When I was working in a partnership, I remember a day I emailed my male business partners to let them know I was working from home that day (I had to see my GP and didn’t want to lose several hours of work in travel time). I’d barely hit the send button and my phone rang asking if I had enough work to do. Even at management level there was no trust for working from home.
Secondly I have created an accounting firm that:
is heart centred and values based. This is at the core of everything we do. We are a firm of people who help people. People are emotionally based not rationally/numbers based. The firm’s values are:
Championing financial confidence – we encourage people to ask questions to improve their financial literacy.
Create holistic financial habits – your financial situation impacts other aspects of your life, we look at the whole picture.
Exceed potential – together we can achieve more.
Respect and collaboration – we work together.
has a team of highly skilled, talented and dedicated professional women, all of whom work part-time and are offered flexibility around working hours so they don’t have to make a choice between attending school events and a career. Accounting Heart would not be where it is without these awesome women.
has 2 of its 4 person team working remotely. When 2 of the team decided to leave Sydney they were able to continue to work for Accounting Heart, meaning firm and client knowledge was retained.
a work environment is built on trust and an unspoken culture of having each other’s backs. Employing highly qualified and capable individuals, they confidently manage client relationships with autonomy and without the need for micromanaging. This trust extends to a timesheet free work environment, which is still not all that common in professional services firms.
is highly automated and efficient. We use programs like Xero that are designed with automation and collaboration in mind. If there is a program that will speed up business processes from document management and electronic signatures to cash collections, it is likely we have it.
is paperless, therefore eco-friendly, and can be operated from anywhere in the world. I have tested this on 2 overseas trips. I was laughed at by a male business partner when I suggested that this is something that I would like to work towards. This paperless and cloud based strategy served the firm well in the recent COVID-19 lockdown where it only cost us $30 for a computer connection to have all team members working efficiently and effectively from home. There was no down-time organising the team to work from home.
has clients located around the world, including France, United Kingdom and Singapore all facilitated by the technology we use.
has a growing client base of micro/small businesses, predominantly in health/fitness/wellness and professional services industries as well as high net worth clients.
has minimal overheads. Accounting Heart operates from a co-working space at Miranda in Sydney’s southern suburbs. Not only are we not paying big city rents but the shared space means that we have less of an environmental footprint.
on the bottom line is profitable. While being heart centred is that the core of what we do while being environmentally conscious, being profitable is essential and (as an accountant I think it) goes without saying.
Without winning the Women in Finance Award, 2020 Accountant of the year, I wouldn’t have shared my story so publicly – who am I to judge what I am doing as if it even matters? Having my efforts recognised by my peers is extremely gratifying. I’m extremely proud about what I have created. This award means a lot to me. Four years ago, I could have shrugged my shoulders, saying change was too hard, and go quietly back to work.
I would like to make it very clear I do not hate men. The boys I went to school with and the men I have worked with are decent men. They are just comfortable with the status quo and their view of the world. I would like to encourage all women to disrupt the status quo and be the change they want to see in the world. Showing we will have a voice, a voice that is willingly invited to and heard at the boardroom table.
If you would like specific advice tailored to your business and circumstances, Accounting Heart offers affordable service packages where you can work with Sonia one-on-one to help you get with your business. Book your FREE Discovery Call to find out more.
Disclaimer: This is general information only and is not advice of any sort. No warranty or representation is provided by Accounting Heart Pty Ltd as to the accuracy, currency or completeness of the information contained in this blog. Readers of this blog should not act or refrain from acting in reliance upon any information contained herein and must always obtain appropriate taxation and / or other advice as may be appropriate having regard to their particular circumstances.