As part of our ongoing ‘Meet the Team’ series, we sat down with Michael Williams, a Senior Executive at Bevan Buckland LLP, delving into his career progression and the scope of his responsibilities within the company.
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself.
A: I’ve been working in practice for nearly 20 years, primarily working in audits for the last 10 years. After initially undertaking education in civil engineering, I went across to the accountancy profession, initially with a small local firm, before joining Bevan Buckland and qualifying with ACCA.
Q: How long have you been at Bevan Buckland, and what’s your current role?
A: I have been at the firm for 14 years and am currently a Senior Executive.
Q: How did you first get into accountancy?
A: Whilst going into higher education, I was uncertain of the career path I wanted to take; it’s a big decision at a young age to determine what you would like to do for potentially a long time. After finding myself good with numbers and puzzles during education, I considered a few career paths and initially went with Civil Engineering.
However, I soon realised I did not have the passion for this career path’s non-mathematical and design elements and soon started looking for an alternative option. After discussing this with a family friend (a finance director of a large car dealership), I was sold on accountancy, as this was a career with numbers and required putting puzzle pieces together; it also had a clear path and growth prospects. Initially, I looked for an entry role into accountancy with a small firm to gain experience before looking to join a firm that could match my progression goals.
Q: What does a typical day look like in your role?
A: It can vary every week, but often, I spend my time at a client’s or working remotely whilst auditing. However, this is broken up by handling other clients’ emails or calls. My days will often also include client meetings for audit planning, finalisation or internal meetings.
Q: What do you find most interesting about your work?
A: One of the key aspects of working in audit is the variety it can offer, ranging from transportation and the housing sector to manufacturing; this not only means that the work itself differs, but it also gives an opportunity to learn about these sectors and their varying business needs.
Unlike pure accounts preparation, audit work gives you more opportunity to know a business on a day-to-day basis and how it operates while you are onsite. You also get to meet and build relationships with various people across a business and are not necessarily restricted to the finance team.
Q: How do you continue learning and growing as a professional?
A: Set clear goals, seek out feedback and review my progression.
Q: What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
A: Most goals do not have to take 10 years to achieve – what’s stopping you from doing it in two years? Simplify your goals and attempt to achieve them sooner.