5:30am
Good morning! After hitting the snooze button a few too many times, it’s time to get going. I get ready and make an iced long black coffee with a dash of oat milk, and I’m ready to hit the road!
6:20am
I’m out the door and en route to my 6:39 am train. My commute to work is just under 2 hours door to door so I love to get some exercise in by walking to the train station (weather permitting of course!).
8:15am
After two hours of reading, Netflix and aimlessly scrolling through my phone, the train arrives at Wynyard station and I make the short walk into the office.
8:30am
My workday officially begins! My first task is to check any unread emails, which could include meeting invitations and updates from clients or colleagues. I am usually scheduled for two or three meetings per day, so understanding what my day looks like is important to efficiently organising my day.
9:00am
I catch up with my team so I can give my manager a status update and ask any questions I have. One great thing about audit is that the team I work with changes every few weeks, depending on the company assignment I am working on. This gives me the chance to work with and learn from a wide range of talented individuals within BDO and on the client’s side.
10:00am
I notice the first coffee is wearing off, so I walk into the kitchen to make my second coffee of the day. The kitchen is the most social space in the office, you can always find people from different service lines passing through and up for a quick chat.
10:15am
After getting my much-needed coffee fix, it’s time to prepare for my client meeting by compiling any questions I may have. These meetings allow us to better understand the overall company, or gain clarification on specific items. COVID-19 has changed the way we interact with clients. Instead of heading into the client’s office to undertake their audit, our communication is typically through Microsoft teams. So I pop on my headset and wait for the client to join the meeting.
1:00pm
Time to gather my team and head downstairs for lunch and fresh air. Choosing a place to eat can seem impossible because of the astounding amount of restaurants in and around Barangaroo. Most of the time, sushi is the crowd favourite, the only issue is choosing which sushi restaurant to order from!
2:00pm
I’m full, I’ve caught up on any recent events in my colleagues’ lives, and I’m ready to get back to work. This afternoon I am prioritising the audit’s Cash section, which involves requesting bank statements from the client and confirmations from the banks they use. When these documents eventually come through, it’s my responsibility to ensure they reconcile to the trial balance and document this in a clear way in the audit file so my manager can review them.
5:00pm
My workday has officially ended, and now it’s time for the train ride home. I walk back to the station and catch the 5:15 pm train home to Wollongong.
7:00pm
I get home around 7:00 pm and if it’s a nice day I head straight for the beach (which is only two minutes away) for a walk and a swim. On return I make dinner, catch up with my housemates and iron my clothes for work tomorrow.
9:00pm
After an hour or so of watching a new show on Netflix, it’s time to call it a night.