Sarah-Jane Nicholls, CA student (TPE)

PKF (UK) LLP

Initially accountancy seemed like a natural progression for Sarah-Jane as she’d always had an aptitude for numbers. However, once she began researching graduate programmes in accountancy she found that it was more than just numbers; it was an opportunity to work in more than one business sector and work amongst varied teams. Sarah-Jane currently works within the assurance and advisory department within PKF and has completed two years of her training contract. Her role as a trainee business advisor is focused on contributing as a team member on corporate, charity and public sector audits.

What has being ICAS trained through the Ernst & Young degree meant for you?

The CA qualification has provided me with a greater understanding of the profession from a technical and practical perspective. Whilst the exam and requirements of the course are challenging, there is a great sense of achievement once each stage is successfully completed. Having the exam periods spread over three years in focused time frames ensures individuals have to concentrate on their exams and day-to-day job simultaneously and not collectively.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

The most enjoyable factor of my job is the diversity of my work as it means that no two weeks are ever the same. There is such a range of clients, locations and team members which contribute to making the work more interesting. I also thoroughly enjoy the client interaction aspect of my job; a large element of my work involves speaking with clients. From day one PKF has given me the exposure to interact with a variety of clients throughout different stages of the audit process. Given that I have been able to work on the same clients over the past two years, I have been able to build up good relationships which makes the work much more fun.