We're taking you behind the scenes in a new series of Q&A blogs so you can meet the team, find out more about them, their role and interests!
First up is Charlie Griffiths, Tax Accountant here at Blu Sky! Charlie has been with us for a few years and started out as a cloud accountant.
Tell us about your role
My role has changed a little recently, I do all the usual tax stuff, like compliance and returns. But now I have more time to specialise in SEIS, EIS, and personal tax as there have been a few exciting changes and we’ve brought in a new team member who’ll focus more on corporation tax.
I now spend more time doing the advisory work and I really enjoy it, we’re using a new platform, Diagnostax, to do really in depth planning and analysis to set goals for our clients. I’m able to help clients figure out when and if they can afford important life and business events, an example being, I recently helped a client figure out when they’d have the funds available to relocate to another country.
They’d thought it wasn’t going to be achievable for a fair few years, but from doing tax analysis and planning, we’ve figured out that they’ll be able to move within the next couple of years which is exciting.
What made you want to be an accountant?
From a young age I’ve enjoyed maths, so I knew I wanted to do something with this topic. I’m a huge empath as a person, I love doing work that has value and work that will really help someone. I knew that I needed to do a job that would combine maths with wanting to add value and help.
Business owners are experts in their field, they know what they’re doing, but they don’t always understand the financials, tax, and accounting, so they need help and that’s where accountants can step up. I love that we can fill the gap and work together with people. You don’t have to be on your business journey by yourself, you can ask for help and I like that I can help.
What made you want to specialise in tax?
I studied accountancy and finance at university, and the parts that made sense straight away and stuck out the most were tax and law. When I started at Blu Sky, I was a cloud accountant so I was able to do a little bit of everything. There was then the opportunity to join the tax team and make the role their own so I jumped at the chance. It was the right move for me and I’m still making the role my own two years later.
What is your favourite part about working at Blu Sky?
I love my basic job, but what I really enjoy is the fact I’m part of a bigger team who I get to work with every day and support. My role also involves looking internally at the people, I get to do a lot of work with the wider team to encourage us to work as one unit, and with one shared end goal. I do a lot of speaking with people who’re working remotely, to help the team feel more supported and I also enjoy finding out how we all work best. I get involved with planning events, networking, and socialising as I enjoy learning and getting to know people.
What is the best lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
It’s okay to not know everything at once. Historically I assumed that if I didn’t know something, I couldn’t be involved with it, which isn’t true. Not having the answer or knowledge, shouldn’t hold you back from being involved.
You shouldn’t limit yourself because you’re still learning, or because you’re still not fully qualified, if you want to learn about something go for it. There’s absolutely no harm in explaining that you’re not sure and that you’ll research, read into it and get back in touch if you’re asked a question you can’t answer on the spot.
Tell us some fun facts about you that people might not know?
I used to do pole fitness and I loved it. I am a massive oversharer and I’ve invested an incredible amount of time into DDR, I’m stupidly good at it.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone who’s considering becoming an accountant?
Don’t be put off if you’re not great at maths it’s helpful to grasp it, but it’s not the be-all and end-all, we do have calculators and there are so many aspects to accountancy and trust me it isn’t boring.
Stay tuned for the next team spotlight
We’ll be back with another instalment soon, in the meantime you can see more behind the scenes content over on social media!
