Rachel Newton

6.30 AM

After snoozing the alarm a couple of times, I get up and go for a run or walk before work. This doesn’t happen every day, but it is a nice start to the day!

7.10 AM

After getting back home, I have a quick shower and get ready for the work day.

7.45 AM

I walk down to the train station to get the train in to work.

8.15 AM

After getting to the office, I get a small skim cappuccino from the café at the bottom of our building (and perhaps an apple and cinnamon muffin) and head up to level 13.

8.30 AM

I settle into my desk and check through my emails to see if there are any items that need my attention and make a list of what I would like to get done in the day.

9.00 AM

I begin preparing an income tax return workpaper for a company that I am working on. To begin with, I look through the trial balance that the client provided and highlight any accounts that we need to get clarification on. Afterwards, I prepare a list of queries to be sent to the client and begin making the relevant tax adjustments. I then send the workpaper to the manager so that they can review the queries before sending them to the client.

11.30 AM

One of my clients had replied to my queries for their fringe benefits tax return, so I am able to update their FBT return accordingly and send it for review. Finalising the return involved updating our workpaper (which records our internal analysis), inputting the data into the software we use (which generates the form) and preparing our management letter (which provides the client with a high-level overview of the return and any tax risks or elections we have made).

1.00 PM

I went out for lunch with a few friends.

2.00 PM

After making our way back into the office (and getting a second coffee along the way), I start the afternoon off by sending out emails to various clients asking for information to assist us with preparing their business activity statements.

3.00 PM

I prepare for and attend a client call with one of the tax partners. After the meeting, we have a quick debrief about the call and the next steps. In this case, as a result of the call, we arranged to review our clients historical Australian tax returns to check for any irregularities.

4.00 PM

To wrap up the day, I went through the review points that a manager provided for another company tax return which I had prepared previously. After updating all the files for the relevant adjustments, I send the document back to the manager for them to approve and pass on to the Partner for final approval.

5.45 PM

After chatting with other people in the office for a little bit, I log off for the day and make my way to the train station.