Joe Laird

Becoming an audit and accounts manager was a very proud moment for me in my career. It was very different from the previous roles I had at Prime, at it stepped away from doing the bulk of the audit work, and instead focused on both people and client management.

It is a much more client-facing role, and has helped me to become more confident when discussing accounting matters with clients. It comes with a great deal of responsibility, as you effectively become the link in the chain between the audit/accounts team and the director. You have to take a draft product prepared by the audit seniors and/or trainees, review it for accuracy and interrogate the work that has been performed to ensure it is to a high standard, and then deliver a finished product to the director.

One of the benefits of being a manager for an independent firm such as Prime, is that you get to see not only the larger audits, but also manage some the smaller accounts preparation jobs. I also seek any opportunity to further my knowledge, and have undertaken training to be able to take on more niche work, such as due diligence, solicitors audits, estate agent audits and pension audits.

I started my journey at Prime as part of the graduate intake. I have always thrown myself completely into a job, and since the very start of my time at Prime I have been involved in both the charity and social committees. My belief is that as we spend most of our time at work with the colleagues around us, I like to contribute to the culture of a workplace, and create a sociable environment that is enjoyable and helps form strong bonds between staff.

I started out with very little accounting knowledge. I did economics at university, and had always been good with numbers, so I managed to pick it up fairly quickly. Prime are very good at supporting staff when they want to develop further, and as I had to take a break in my exams due to Covid, despite not yet qualifying, they made me an audit/accounts senior.

This formed the basic training needed to move into the managerial role I am now in, as you have to lead a small team when carrying out larger accounts work or auditing. You also cover a lot of different aspects of practice work, working on management accounts, VAT work, as well as personal and corporation tax preparation.