What's your job about?
Nutrien is an agricultural company that provides a whole bunch of agriculture-related products and services around the world. I work on the accounting team. I help meet various reporting requirements and prepare financial statements for our business entities.
My job is to reflect transactions in our accounting system. Book invoices, expense accruals, and non-controlling interest. I prepare documentation for our auditors and meet timelines. There is generally a patterned schedule of tasks to fulfill every month, with busier periods being every quarter and year ends. I also help facilitate compliance by making sure people meet audit deadlines and investigating accounts and journals.
There is a lot to learn, especially at the beginning. Once you start to find your footing, you begin to appreciate how everything works and how it’s all interconnected. I like how much control I have over my own work, and I find satisfaction in making my tasks more efficient every month.
What's your background?
I was born on the Gold Coast. I was the girl in class who never talked. I loved cartoons, anime, reading books, writing, and drawing. I did well in school, and the decision to become an accountant was ultimately a practical one. I found the theory interesting. They showed a list of most secure jobs in class one day, I saw Accounting and went, ‘well OK.’
So I went to university, and there I became a tax accountant. It was a good place to start. Learning how to do a tax return will forever be useful. But they forced me to log everything I did on a timesheet and limited me to a budgeted portion of ‘productive hours', and I found it impossibly stressful. That’s when I decided to transition to commercial accounting, where I have much more freedom in managing the time I spend on different parts of my work. I’ve been in this position for just over a year, and it’s been great. I can sense my development, and I can clock off at a reasonable hour and focus on my more creative hobbies.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes, I've seen it, but I would not recommend it. Knowing accounting theory helps you appreciate what you are doing from the start. Accounting makes sense, but it’s unnatural. Learning it formally is a really good stepping stone and will be applicable to your job. Unless you just really like accounting for some reason,
I would recommend conscientiousness, preciseness, patience, integrity, written communication, proactiveness, and focus. Knowing Excel is good, as are accounting systems such as Xero, MYOB, and Quickbooks for small businesses. SAP and Oracle for big companies. If not, you’ll learn on the job anyway; that’s what I did.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
The routine, the ability to help people, and the satisfaction that comes with improving processes.
I don’t mind answering simple questions. I like that I am capable of answering them or helping them. When I find some spare time, I like to take tasks from my busier co-workers.
Formatting an Excel worksheet for clarity or cleaning up aged balances in a balance sheet account. The thought that no one will ever have to deal with that thing again is a good feeling. It’s progression.
What are the limitations of your job?
If you haven’t studied accounting or did but didn’t pay attention, you will feel more imposter syndrome than a graduate who did. If you find accounting boring, figure out now if you (1) just find everything boring, so it’s a problem, or (2) need to switch career paths. It’ll save you a lot of misery.
You will have a responsibility. You will have to be an adult; admit that when you make mistakes or miss deadlines, some days you’ll have to work past 5 p.m. to finish a task. But the more responsibility you accept over time, the better you’ll feel about yourself because you’ll have respect for your own importance.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...