A Day in the Life: With Finance Manager Zach

Describe a Typical Day for You
There isn’t a typical day; depending on the time of the month I’m always doing something different. This usually starts with lots of reporting work moving to reconciliations and project work at the end of the month.

What Is One of Your Biggest Challenges?
There are some things that are out of our hands so the most important thing to re-port on is the numbers that we can control. The foam industry is very utilities heavy, which has been one of our toughest struggles over the past two years so from a financial perspective, there is sometimes a pressure on our financial reporting to make sure people can see our underlying business is a good one and represents everyone as a whole.

Where Did Your Interest in Finance Come From?
My father is also an accountant so growing up I had always thought of going into it. Doing theoretical physics at university, maths has always been my strong point.

There have always been clear steps for me working here. I knew I would do my apprenticeship, get qualified and step into the manager role. Over the three years, I had been working towards it so I didn’t feel a huge shift going into this position. There were some areas I was thrown in the deep end, but you must start somewhere. Over time you build up knowledge.

What Motivates You?
I just enjoy getting something right – the end result of doing a good job gives me satisfaction. That is what I like about math in general, there is generally always a right answer.

Favourite Aspect of Your Job?
What I find most interesting is when I get to do some detective work. I like when someone will come to me with a problem and I get to find a solution. Sometimes it can take hours but when you figure it out there is a real sense of achievement. In some cases, I get to work with other departments which has become a larger part of my job since becoming manager.

About Your Team and Mentors
Even though I have my own office I have always left my door open. As a manager I have a team and I want them to communicate with me. Our team is wonderful so there is always an interesting conversation going on. We do have our daily routine of a quiz, I’m not very good at it but it is fun and a nice break.

Andrew became a mentor as he was very knowledgeable and always made time to discuss things with me. Adam from the beginning has been very supportive as he also understands what it’s like to go through accountancy exams. Even though my apprenticeship is over it doesn’t mean that there isn’t stuff I could be learning.

What Are Your Outside Interests?
With the birth of my son, I enjoy playing with him as he’s getting to that age where he’s starting to laugh. But when I do have the time, I enjoy playing the piano and guitar. I like to read, specifically fantasy or non-fiction as I like to learn new things. I play videos games as well as chess online. I also have a Star Wars comic book collection with over 600 comics.

How Has Your Time at EFP Been?
Over the past four years I’ve enjoyed the problem solving nature of my job. I love finding a solution and representing the business through calculated numbers. I am looking forward to many more projects in the future.

Join the EFP Team
Explore our current job vacancies and career opportunities and learn more about working for EFP by visiting our Careers page today!

Tags: Careers