PKF

What's your job about?

In Restructuring Turnaround and Insolvency (“RTI”), we assist businesses in financial trouble by providing solutions to their debts. My role in a general sense consists of assisting senior staff with day-to-day tasks required in managing the affairs of an externally administered company. My workload and tasks change each week given the nature of the work we do, some common tasks I engage in involve reporting to creditors, recovering assets, and conducting investigations. More recently, I have been assisting with debt restructuring for several small businesses to enable them to continue to trade. The Small Business Restructuring (“SBR”) process involves determining the eligibility for a company to participate in an SBR, receiving and recording the debts of the company, preparing a report and plan setting out how the debts of the company will be dealt with, and monitoring the company’s ongoing compliance with the plan.

What's your background?

I was born in Belgium but have lived in Australia since I was 3. I started school at Ivanhoe East Primary before completing secondary and tertiary studies at Ivanhoe Grammar School and RMIT University doing a Bachelor of Business specializing in accounting. My university course was structured so that my third year was completely industry placement at my chosen place. I started the application process a bit later than I should have but still managed to snag a spot at PKF in the RTI division. Last year I continued at PKF in a part-time capacity whilst I finished my course, now that I’ve completed my degree, I’ve started as a full-time graduate in the team, whilst I complete my Chartered Accountancy course. Aside from work, I recently moved out of home and into a shared house with some old primary school friends and two dogs. I play basketball weekly and recently won a premiership in C-grade amateur football.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes, I think that if you are willing to work hard and embrace the sometimes chaotic nature of this industry you will do fine in a role in insolvency. Insolvency comes with a steep learning curve for most people as it is only briefly covered in most business-based university courses. Despite this, I have found that everyone in the division sympathizes with the learning adjustments, as they’ve gone through similar experiences in their careers. As long as you are committed to learning and willing to make a few mistakes along the way, there won’t be any issues with someone undertaking this role with a different background.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

My favorite part of my job is getting to conduct thorough investigations into the affairs of a company. Delving deep into the financials of a company to locate abnormalities in the financials or locating potential avenues for asset recovery can feel almost like putting a puzzle back together. These tasks can be very rewarding and are something that I always put my hand up for. I also look forward to the end of monthly drinks that we tend to put on as an opportunity to unwind and get to know your colleagues a bit better outside of a work setting.

What are the limitations of your job?

The ebbs and flows of workload are something that can take a bit of getting used to. When we get freshly appointed to a new job, it is generally pretty full on trying to meet statutory deadlines and ensure everything gets out on time.  Unfortunately, appointment dates are essentially out of our control, so there are phases where you can get 2-3 jobs started in the same week, and then there are other times where you don’t work on a new appointment for a couple of months. This fluctuation means that you have to manage your time as effectively as possible.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

• Enjoy your time as a student before you begin full-time work, and don’t stress too hard about your career, a university degree isn’t necessarily the only pathway into your chosen job.
• Put effort into building connections. It makes university life so much easier when you have a competent group partner. It may also help you down the line in your career.
• Get familiar with Microsoft Office programs. Almost every job uses at least one program, whether it be Word, PowerPoint or Excel. Knowing the shortcuts and other tricks will make your life so much easier.