Organisation: Justice and Attorney – General
Job Title: Finance Officer
Word Limit: 3 pages
Location: Brisbane CBD
Dear Panel Members
I am pleased to be able to submit my application for the Finance Officer position that is currently advertised. After reading and evaluating the requirements of this opportunity, I am sure that I have the relevant experience, determination and required abilities to successfully carry out this role.
- As a recent graduate of the Australian Catholic University, with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree majoring in Accounting, with a GPA of 6.0, I have gained significant theoretical knowledge of Management Accounting and Reporting practices with demonstrated on the job experience gained with the Supreme Court Library. Referees will confirm that I am a strong, resourceful and resilient with the ability to communicate at all levels and achieve organisational goals whilst concurrently fostering a genuine sense of teamwork.
Within the role of Assistant Accountant/Office Manager with the Supreme Court Library, I demonstrate my on-the-job experience in performing duties in the area of Management Accounting and Reporting, as I was responsible for assisting in the preparation of cash flow statements, end of month Business Activity Statements (BAS) and Instalment Activity Statements (IAS) and assisting in the budgeting process for the Supreme Court Library Committee.
As the Assistant Accountant, I was appointed the task of managing the budget and payment details for the Sir Harry Gibbs Legal Heritage Centre, a state-of-the-art exhibition space located in Brisbane, open to the public. I liaised and negotiated with staff members and stakeholders to the organization including management, creditors, Government staff and Library committee members within this role, I produced complex budgets, reported on actual vs. real time expenditure and prepared month end, quarterly and yearly reports.
When I commenced in this role, my predecessor had left the department and there were a number of incomplete projects. I was allocated one project of great significance, in locating a large sum of money that had not been received through an inter-departmental transfer. By liaising with three Government departments namely; Supreme Court Library, Justice and Attorney-General and the Supreme Court, completing analysis and extraction of information from the fiancé system and holding a number of meetings, I was able to determine that the payment had not been made resulting in the money being paid immediately by the offending department. I take personal responsibility for my work, completing it to a high standard while meeting agreed timeframes. Due to this commitment, I achieved a quality outcome and saw the project through to completion. I consistently displayed balanced judgment, focus and adaptability to complete this project in the required deadline with the required outcome.
An excellent problem solver, I undertake routine problem solving and troubleshooting activities on a daily basis, and possess a keen eye for detail, an understanding of how processes work, and how to quickly and efficiently resolve problems through process analysis and systematic thinking. I always endeavour to find and implement a resolution that is beneficial to both the organisation and stakeholders involved.
During my time with the Supreme Court Library and throughout my studies, I developed a thorough understanding of Public Sector Accounting Practices and Procedures and Accounting Standards and Legislation and put them into practice in real life scenarios within the workplace. As part of this role I was tasked with processing staff payroll for over 30 people which involved interpreting awards, determining and explaining entitlements such as annual leave, sick leave, long service leave and superannuation and preparing staff termination pays for staff ceasing employment with the library.
I demonstrate my ability to rapidly acquire knowledge as demonstrated in my role as Assistant Accountant at the Supreme Court Library, where an employee was successful in obtaining a permanent position with the Department and had been a casual for many years. The casual employee had previously received long service leave on one other occasion and through my in-depth research of the award I determined that she was not entitled to accrue long service leave as a casual employee, it was agreed that she was not required to pay back monies previously paid. During this process judgement, common sense and integrity required to ensure conversations were captured appropriately and to ensure confidentiality of the matter resulting in a new contract issued for her permanent role with the department.
Previously in my role with McClelland and Associates, as an Assistant Accountant/Bookkeeper, I demonstrated my knowledge in Financial Accounting legislation as a registered BAS Agent where I collated, prepared and processed information for a number of Client’s BAS statements. More recently as an Indirect Tax Advisor with Rio Tinto, I was involved in completing monthly GST and Fuel Tax Credit Excel Workbooks. This data was then transferred to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Portal for BAS Statement completion. Within this role, I had to interpret GST Legislation across a number of different areas.
With extensive experience working with spreadsheets to an intermediate to advanced level demonstrated throughout my career, and at University. Within the Advanced Diploma in Accounting, I completed a subject dedicated to Spreadsheets and gained a thorough understanding of pivot tables, VLookup and complex formulas. Over the years, I have worked with a number of different financial systems including SAP, Attaché and MYOB. Whilst employed at Rio Tinto, I utilised SAP financial software packages and other more generic systems such as Microsoft Office Suite on a daily basis. As Indirect Tax Advisor with Rio Tinto, I was required to apply my knowledge and skills of computerised finance systems to complete monthly exception testing, fuel tax credit workbooks and GST workbooks. I have a good general knowledge of many software systems and am quite adept at using computer systems. I function well with computers and am a quick learner of new ones.
Throughout my career, I have gained experience in researching and analysing financial data in various roles including Bookkeeper, Assistant Accountant and Indirect Tax Advisor. As a Bookkeeper with McClelland and Associates, I worked across a number of clients that varied from a Truck Driver through to a large Café Owner. Within this role, I demonstrated my ability to complete financial statements, investigate issues and risks specific to their industry and provide financial advice. One example of this was evidenced when one of our clients, the truck driver approached me about purchasing an additional truck to generate further income for his business. I analysed his current debts, turnover, repayment ability and estimate income from the purchase of an additional truck and advised him against purchasing another truck at that point in time as he still possessed a large debt with limited income from the one truck he already owned. This advice resulted in a delay in the client purchasing another truck.
Throughout my career, I have demonstrated outstanding communication skills, both written and oral, with highly developed listening skills and the ability to appropriately respond to stakeholders, Management and team members. I am committed to ensuring accurate management of information including briefs, reports, files and sensitive information. I focus on delivering a high standard of customer service in my role. I do this by providing a professional approach to each interaction using my superior communication, interpersonal and engagement skills.
Previously as the Indirect Tax Advisor with Rio Tinto, I engaged with various mine sites, other departments, supervisors, executive management and financial accountants in a multi level, multi site organisation. As Assistant Accountant/Office Manager with the Supreme Court Library, I dealt with a wide diversity of people internally, as well as with a range of external stakeholders including contractors, consultants, Government auditors and other staff members from other Government agencies. I regularly communicate with team members, contractors, Finance and Procurement teams and other key stakeholders, demonstrating outstanding interpersonal skills, listening and appropriately responding to stakeholder, Management and staff enquiries. I am committed to ensuring the accurate management of financial analysis, coordination, and reporting.
To ensure that information is conveyed in a logical order and is appropriate to the audience, I structure my written and verbal communications appropriately. I have demonstrated my extensive written communication responsibilities through my role as Assistant Accountant/Office Manager with the Supreme Court Library by providing monthly financial information for the Senior Executive Board Meetings
When providing verbal advice to internal stakeholders I follow up with written correspondence to confirm the agreed outcomes. I convey my analysis and provide advice in language that is appropriate to the audience’s level of technical knowledge. I always convey information succinctly, unambiguously and with appropriate use of technical language to eliminate the risk for misinterpretation. I identify relevant information, focusing on communicating with purpose and considering their information needs.
An analytical thinker who has good problem solving skills and an innovative approach to key stakeholder engagement, proven through my track record of building and developing productive working relationships within the team and with senior management. With a continuous improvement mentality, I have successfully led a variety of projects and company-wide initiatives, all of which make me an excellent candidate for your organisation.
To date I have completed a Bachelor of Commerce Degree majoring in Accounting, Advanced Diploma in Accounting and a Diploma in Management and have future plans to obtain a Certified Practicing Accounting (CPA) qualification in the next 12 months. I also have a desire to continue my university studies, gaining further specialised postgraduate qualifications. I believe that teaching and learning are an important part of growth and would enjoy training more in the future.
I hope you find my application to be suitable for the position and I look forward to I look forward to the opportunity to discuss further my suitability for this position in an interview setting.
