When it comes to awards, it is always an enormous pleasure to reward the back-room staff. There are plenty of glamour jobs around that attract attention, even in accountancy, but when it comes to keeping the wheels turning and making sure the leg-work is done it is the people far from the limelight who are the lynchpins.
One of those people is Becky Brabrook, winner of Accounting Technician of the Year in the 2002 Accountancy Age Awards.
The criteria for this was tough and exacting. Entrants did not only have to demonstrate that they had fulfilled the requirements of their job but also that they added value in crucial areas.
Open to fully qualified accounting technicians, whether employed or self employed, the award goes to someone who has shown professionalism, used their imagination and consistently showed innovation that has led to organisational success.
Brabrook, in a competitive shortlist, is the one who showed she had made a real difference to her organisation, Office Ours Recruitment, and the clients with which it deals.
The judges, some of the most senior accountants in the country, were thoroughly impressed with her entry. One commented she had done ‘much more than just prepare the accounts’, while another was so astonished by the responsibilities she had taken on, he said: ‘She seems to have become the quasi finance director.’
High praise indeed, but there was more. The entry papers prompted the remark ‘a phenomenal achievement’ from one particularly impressed judge.
Brabrook joined Office Ours in March 2000 taking the role of finance administrator which required her to undertake all finance functions for the company, including payrolling a temporary workforce of up to 100 weekly and monthly salaries.
The company then opened another branch, which was underpinned by the cost analysis and forecasts drawn up by Brabrook to present to a bank for funding purposes. On top of this work, she has managed to find time to complete her AAT qualification and prepare company accounts for two audits. An Office Ours spokesman said: ‘On both occasions we have received glowing reports from our accountants as to the systems employed and the preparation of the accounts enabling an efficient and trouble free audit.’
Her work also impressed the company’s bank while she has also saved Office Ours money that would otherwise have been spent on accountancy fees.
If all this wasn’t enough Brabrook has also found the time to train two other members of staff in payrolling and invoicing while training a company director in purchase and sales ledger, bank reconciliation and sales figures. If anyone deserved her pay rise, and this award, it is Brabrook.
Other shortlisted candidates: