Zooming in on Accountancy
Last week, Wenona hosted the final of the Wenona Alumnae Twilight Sessions, with Lara Wilkinson (2010py) speaking to students from Amsterdam, about her role as Manager, Deals Advisory for PwC.
It’s a common misconception that you need to be a mathematician in the league of Sir Isaac Newton to pursue a career in accountancy, explained Lara, when she spoke to Senior College students via Zoom last week. Expertise in mathematics is not essential, but you do need core numeracy skills, as well as the confidence and ability to communicate numerical concepts to clients. But as Lara pointed out, there are also some fantastic programs that support numeracy skills, such as Excel, Tableau and Alteryx.
After Lara graduated from Wenona in 2010, having studied Advanced English, Mathematics Extension 2, Chemistry, Business Studies and Physics for her HSC, she headed off on a gap year to “travel Europe and grow up a little bit.” She then undertook a Bachelor of Accounting at UTS, a co-op degree whereby she completed two 6-month internships with two sponsor companies. Lara worked for KPMG and NAB before going on an exchange semester to Austin, Texas, which she absolutely loved.
“My working career kicked off from this program, as I took a graduate role at KPMG, in their corporate audit division. I spent three years in Sydney learning the ropes. I then jumped to PwC into their Deals Advisory team.”
Two years later, Lara set off to Amsterdam on a secondment with PwC, arriving just before lockdown. “Despite this strange time, I am thoroughly enjoying my adventure so far,” she said.
Lara loves the scope of her role at PwC, as well as the variety it offers her. She is constantly meeting new clients and has been exposed to a wide range of organisations across different industry sectors. This has given her a first-hand view of how different businesses operate, as well as an insight into the challenges and opportunities they face, which she finds exciting.
“My job is project-based, with each job typically lasting between four to eight weeks, although some jobs can last longer. On a project, our goal is usually to investigate the target business, understand how it operates, analyse the last three years of financial data and forecast, and provide the client with all key considerations to make a competitive bid and get the best value from the deal.”
For Lara, a career in accountancy offers a range of roles to choose from, as well as the opportunity to work in a global industry. Accountancy also offers ample opportunity for graduates to rotate through different departments within an organisation, acquiring a broad business knowledge and skillset in the process.
As Lara also explained to our students, while it’s not a prerequisite to have an accountancy-related degree to join an accountancy firm, it does save you some leg-work down the line. Completing a related degree course enabled her to get hands-on experience and develop useful contacts and knowledge, all of which proved beneficial when she was ready to get a job. It was also helpful when she sat for her professional qualification as a Chartered Accountant.
Competition is fierce, particularly for the top training programs, Lara reminded students, so it’s important to work hard and make the most of your degree and seize any work experience opportunities in the industry.
Like many young people, when Lara left Wenona, she was unsure about what she wanted to do. Accountancy was an attractive option as it didn’t limit her to a particular sector. Working for global organisations like KPMG and PwC, has given her a stronger working understanding of accounting standards, as well as broad experience of business management across a range of companies and sectors, as well as ample opportunities for personal development and travel.
Lara said to succeed as an accountant you need good interpersonal skills, analytical skills, an interest in how businesses work and an eye for detail. She also said you need to be internationally minded.
Lara's final advice to students is to always be open and inquisitive. And to enjoy getting to know people as you never know who might open a door for you in the future. And above all, to always have fun along the way!
She reminded our students to make the most of their time at Wenona and to take advantage of every opportunity the School offers. Like she did. As Lara said, she still has fond memories of the School Rock Concert, Netball games, Sports Carnivals and School camps.
Director of Student Opportunity and Career Education, Ms McFetridge was delighted that thanks to Zoom, Lara was able to talk to our students at the start of her working day in Amsterdam. “We are so grateful to Lara for giving our students a better understanding about the exciting possibilities that a career in accountancy offers. She did a great job of dispelling any misconceptions about mathematical ability as a barrier to accountancy, as well as helping them to see the scope and variety that her job offers. We know from previous Wenona Alumnae Twilight sessions, that exposure to early careers advice is highly beneficial to our young people. We can’t thank our alumnae enough for taking the time to share their knowledge and expertise with our students.”