1 August 2022

James is a Graduate in Tax Advisory, working in the Sydney office. James studied a Bachelor of Business majoring in Finance and Business Law, and when he graduated, started as an Intern with Findex, transitioning into a Grad role in September 2021. 

I work from home most days, so I wake up around 7:30am each morning. My morning routine usually starts with a short walk before and finishes with me making my morning coffee. Then I log in for the day. 

8:30am is usually a relatively calm time to catch up with any emails, team messages or financial news that has come in overnight. My housemate Josh is also a Findex graduate, so we head into our home office together and generally stick to the same schedule throughout the day.  

I started my role in Sydney’s lockdown so my whole induction was done online and for the first two and a half months of my role I didn’t go into the office. Now we have a team connection day on Fridays, and I try to go in at least twice a week.  

9:30 is around the time that I would take any calls with my managers/team regarding any of the diverse projects we are working on to either find solutions or receive review comments from my manager. More recently, I have been using this time to help develop my Findex ‘buddy’ with any questions they may ask.   

Every day is different at Findex, I can be working on an array of different projects. Lately, I’ve been working on corporate income tax matters which is comprised of both advisory and compliance work, and dealings with international clients in the transfer pricing space.  

Come 12:30, Josh and I have our lunch break together. This can be making lunch at home, going to the gym, or sometimes we get sushi from our local sushi shop.  

When I log back on from my lunch break, I check in on emails again and then get back into client work. I might get a brief from my manager that requires me to spend a bit of time researching before beginning any work preparations, or I continue from work that I had previously engaged with.  

3pm rolls around and I check in with my manager for feedback on any drafts I have created, and we spend some time going back and forth to correct the piece before sharing with the Partner. I have meetings with the team throughout the day to get updates on clients or briefs that I have been working on. 

Every week on a Thursday we have a call with our UK client, with the time zone difference we need to have it late in the day. So, at 5pm we jump on our weekly call, which usually goes for around 30-45 mins. From this call I take notes and save it all so it is organised for the following day, and I can pick it up first thing with a fresh brain.  

Come 6pm, if my housemates and I didn’t go to the gym at lunch, we head to the gym now. As for dinner, I’m usually the cook in the house and we try and sit-down together for dinner most nights. We finish the night by winding down with a movie. 

Head to the Findex website for more information on the Findex graduate program and to apply.