What's your job about?
KPMG provide audit and assurance services to ASX listed clients and large private cooperations. These services aim to deliver an opinion to external stakeholders on whether a clients financial statements have been presented fairly and in accordance with applicable accounting standards.
In a usual day, I will test balance sheet and income statement items to determine whether income/expenses have been recorded appropriately or assets and liabilities have been measured reliably. This may entail looking through supporting documentation such as invoices, account registers or other information. Furthermore, I am required to communicate with members of management such as CFO’s, Financial Controllers and Senior Accountants to interpret and understand information etc.
Generally, I will be working from client offices in teams of anywhere between 2-6 people.
What's your background?
I am a local Perth boy. However, I do have aspirations of travelling with work once I have reached a certain level of career experience. I Graduated from Hale school in 2019 and decided to enrol at the University of Western Australia to pursuit a commerce major. During school I thoroughly enjoyed playing footy and water polo. Currently, I am training for the Perth marathon (October 2024) with the hope to complete an Abbott World Marathon Major in the next few years. I have been working at KPMG since 2023, while simultaneously studying to become Chartered Accountant.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
I would confidently say that an individual of any background would be able to become an Auditor. The reason I say this is because I have personally worked with team members who had previously studied other disciplines such as engineering, bio-medical and other science-related degrees. These types of individuals have a very good eye for detail, embrace difficult situations and can find solutions to problems.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
The coolest thing about my job would be rate of growth that Audit offers. It’s great to be able to work with company CFOs and higher management over accounting judgements and practices. I also want to add that the opportunity to travel with work is real and achievable if you are willing to voice it as an ambition.
What are the limitations of your job?
During the end of a financial reporting period, auditors may be required to work longer hours than most. Additionally, this over-time will come with some stress. I found that personally I would have to work some weekends and stay up late during the week. This was by choice and I was compensated with KPMGs ‘revive program’ where I received 3 days of additional leave over the month of July.
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