Organisation: Banyule City Council
Job Title: Revenue Services Coordinator
Word Limit: 1 x 3-page Cover letter addressing 8 x points
Location: Banyule, Victoria
To whom it may concern
Please accept this as my application for the position of Revenue Services Coordinator with the
Banyule Council. As a highly committed and passionate finance professional with over ten years of
experience managing the Rates Department of a local city council, I have achieved a high degree of
expertise and business acumen in the financial field as well as advanced leadership and
interrelational communication skills with customers and key stakeholders. Following are my
responses to the selection criteria.
Degree or Diploma in business Administration or similar qualifications in a business, accounting
or technical discipline with several years of subsequent relevant experience or higher formal
qualifications with a few years of relevant experience
My qualifications for this position include a Bachelor of Accounting; a Master of Entrepreneurship
and Production; Postgraduate Studies – Accounting and Financial from the Poznan University of
Economics, Poland; an Accounting Specialist Certificate; and completion of Bookkeeping and
MYOB courses at the Point Cook Community Centre. I am fully familiar with Microsoft Office suite,
including Word, Excel and Outlook and various propriety software. In addition, I am currently
undertaking an Income Tax Training Course with H&R Block. My experience and commitment,
together with my passion for numbers, make me the ideal candidate for this position.
Experience in managing the day-to-day operations of a business unit, including leading and
developing teams
My experience includes leading and developing teams as exemplified when I carried out an
internal audit of the department, training and mentoring a team of five with varying levels of
experience to achieve positive audit outcomes. I annually reconciled the accounts receivable
ledger for over 5,000 clients to ensure that all payments are accounted for and properly posted, all
the while successfully managing competing and conflicting timeframes to ensure that deadlines
were met and expenditure was within budget.
Re: Revenue Services Coordinator
Understanding that one of the main objectives of city council is professional customer service, I
treated all customers with respect in a professional yet friendly way. This included answering
questions and queries and assisting customers in understanding the appropriate local legislation in
a clear and concise non-technical manner to ensure customers understood and were able to fill
out the appropriate forms.
Highly developed technical skills and knowledge of relevant legislation within area of expertise
My technical skills and knowledge of relevant legislation is well illustrated when a rate payer came
to the department and insisted he was exempt from paying rates for his property. He had filled
out the appropriate forms but insisted he should not pay rates. I checked his paperwork against
the prevailing legislation and also some court judgements to locate a similar situation for any
precedents. After my research I found there was no justification for giving him an exemption and
explained that to him clearly and precisely in a polite manner. He still insisted, citing his friendship
with the mayor, so I went to see his property to verify that it was liable for rates by law and found
that it was. His friendship with the mayor notwithstanding, he was liable for a rates assessment
according to the legislation and, after explaining that to him, he then agreed and paid his rates.
I enhanced my knowledge and expertise with continual study and organised my team to do the
same, attending many workshops in order to update our overall knowledge.
Well-developed communication and problem solving skills
During my career I have demonstrated my influential communication skills along with the ability to
ensure understanding from all parties. Within these roles I communicated on a daily basis with
customers in relation to their financial position. Most of these customers were non-accounting
people and I ensured I translated any technical terms in ways they could easily understand.
Currently, I see my role as not only ensuring the accounts are accurate and correctly managed, but
also to inform others around their responsibilities. In providing direction, I make sure that all in my
team understand basic concepts and are committed to adhering to budgets, and equipped with
the required information to ensure smooth processes and functions.
Sound knowledge of financial, people management and governance principles
In Poland property rates are paid quarterly. In one instance, one of my employees discovered two
payment slips with the same name and amount on them. As there was only one customer in our
database who fitted those details, I realised something must be wrong. I organised another team
member to investigate but she could not find anything to explain the mistake. I then called the
bank and discovered it was an error on the part of the bank. As this was confidential information, I
had to go to the bank and collect a new payslip with the right details
In another example, one of my tasks was to reduce overall debt and I was given permission to
apply enforcement to some very backlogged accounts. My team prepared around 300 documents
every six months and I would check them and sign them off. These documents were then sent to
the tax office, which was entitled to deduct funds from people’s tax return, bank account and/or
salary. In one instance a customer had paid his debt but the tax office was not informed, so when
an additional amount was deducted from his account, the customer became extremely angry and
upset, abusing my team member. I intervened, listening to him carefully and allowing him to calm
down. I then explained how we would solve his problem and provided a solution.
He apologised for shouting and I apologised for my team member’s error. Happy with the solution, he then left
and I counselled the team member to ensure this type of incident did not recur.
Demonstrated ability to work as an effective member of a multi-disciplinary leadership team
Throughout my career, spanning the past 12 years, I have utilised my interpersonal skills every day
to communicate and interact with other people, both individually and in groups. Over the years, I
have worked on developing strong interpersonal skills in my educational, professional and
personal life, through communication, listening skills, negotiation, problem solving, decision
making and assertiveness.
In my professional life, I continue to demonstrate excellent use of interpersonal skills through my
ability to communicate effectively with colleagues, customers and management, approaching each
interaction using my superior communication, interpersonal and engagement skills. Throughout
my career, I have demonstrated outstanding communication skills, both written and verbal, with
highly developed listening skills and the ability to respond appropriately to stakeholders,
management and team members. Over the past five years, I have interacted with a broad range of
diverse cultures and backgrounds. My ability to form respectful relationships with senior
management and staff has been at the core of my success, as well as a natural ability to
communicate complex financial information with non-financial stakeholders.
Experience in consulting with stakeholders to analyse and develop solutions
On many occasions I have liaised with stakeholders such as vendors, debtors, legal professionals
and councillors regarding various matters. In the area of overdue debt, for example, I liaised with
the debtor to find ways of reducing the debt by going over their financial situation and negotiating
a debt repayment plan. I also discussed with property owners possible local rate exemptions,
investigating the property, the circumstances of the property owner, and relating that to the
legislation. Additionally, I presented drafts of local rates Acts to council for discussion during
council meetings and provided explanations regarding where the numbers came from, how they
were calculated and what rate increases could be expected over the coming rate period.
Proven ability to meet deadlines, manage workflows and work on multiple projects concurrently
As a manager, I multitask; organising and prioritising tasks as needed. Tasks such as reconciliation
was a vital part of my position within the council finances, resulting in over 5,000 financial
decisions that had to be made to ensure that the finances were correct and up to date, and that
funds due to the council were forthcoming and on time, so the council could run smoothly and
efficiently. At the beginning and end of the financial year I reconciled all the account receivables
and payables and then had to check the thousands of financial decisions that had been made and
sign off on them. I was also responsible for signing off applications collected by another
department so I would check them to ensure accuracy.
I am confident in my suitability for this role and excited to bring my knowledge and experience to
this position. Thank you for your time in considering my application.
