Turning to taxation on my career path

Currently I am working at an accountancy firm called PKF Francis Clark which is South West based. I am in the corporate taxation advisory team and currently working towards my ATT and CTA qualification to become a Chartered Tax Adviser. I work with a variety of clients and I have loved my time at the firm so far.

I hope to be fully qualified by 2025 and working on furthering my career. Furthermore, in the next few months I have the opportunity to rotate departments in my office to work alongside the insolvency team. This is a great opportunity to gain knowledge and experience from a new team.

In my first year we had a little day trip to a forest, the whole day was so much fun. As it was earlier on in the course it was a great way to get to know your peers. We spent the day doing various activities like mindful meditation, fire making and team building sessions. This is where I bonded with course friends who are my best friends to this day.

As part of the course I participated in a team project where we had to present to the whole class and to a Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) employee. My team won!

All the lecturers were very lovely, they all supported me throughout my university career. Lecturers were happy to meet both one-on-one or in smaller groups to explain things further or run through any subjects I found particularly tricky. I really appreciated everyone for taking the time to help me.

I really loved my time in Plymouth, it gave me the opportunity to try so many new things, one being surfing. I now love surfing and try to go every time I get the chance. Also I spent so much time going to Plymouth Hoe for a swim and a skate.

The qualifications to become chartered after university are not easy. It can be intense juggling revision and work, however I found studying my degree really helped me to prepare for it more. My advice to anyone considering a career in accountancy would be to make sure you look into the different qualifications you can do in depth so you make sure you choose the right path for yourself.

I chose to specialise in tax because it is an ever changing area of accountancy; with new legislation coming into force you are constantly learning and developing in your role. The complex and diverse nature of taxation means that tax professionals can rapidly develop areas of specialist knowledge. It involves managing the needs of a client and you’ll find yourself meeting different challenges, creating opportunities and problem solving under pressure. You’ll rarely be doing the same thing from one day to the next.