ADVERTISING FEATURE MONEY MATTERS
Why did the accountant cross the road?
A LIFE IN THE DAY OF JACQUI BOWDEN, PARTNER AT PEARSON MAY One minute I might be dealing with a
W
e accountants are used to being the butt of people’s jokes.
Why did the accountant
cross the road? To bore the people on the other side.
What do accountants do for fun? Add up the telephone book.
And my personal favourite: How do you tell when an accountant is an extrovert? When he looks at your shoes while he’s talking to you instead of his own.
So why are accountants labelled as
boring? Yes, many of us love numbers. I for one, am guilty of that. I came to University of Bath many years ago to do a maths degree and have stayed in the area ever since. But there are many people who don’t like numbers, particularly when they also involve the taxman, so maybe it’s a good thing that some of us do! My day might start early with a
networking business breakfast. Because we’ve all been with the firm a long time, my five partners and I have built up relationships with other professionals over the years and are able to access specialist expertise when needed. I can never be entirely certain what the
day will hold for me as head of the private client department. I may have planned to do some inheritance tax planning for a client, but I may then get a phone call or email from someone selling a property who urgently needs to know the capital gains tax implications, so everything changes to meet the deadline. I deal with a whole spectrum of people and they are spread not only throughout Bath and Wiltshire, but all over the UK and the world.
widow who lacks confidence in dealing with financial matters following the death of her husband who has always dealt with the family affairs. The next minute I might be looking at tax planning for a director of a multinational company with a huge portfolio of investments and very complex tax affairs. It is a pleasure to deal with both. I enjoy it when the widow realises that, with help, she can cope and it is another step forward in moving on. I equally enjoy the difficult cases where I am drawing on many years’ experience and a wealth of knowledge which can be pulled together to resolve a problem to which there appeared to be no easy solution at the outset. I joined Pearson May after graduating and
am one of a number who have celebrated more than 25 years with the firm. We are proud of our record on staff loyalty and of course for our clients this means that they are dealing with people who have a wealth of experience and a detailed knowledge of their affairs built up over many years. Equally important is the loyalty of our clients, and it is very rewarding to deal with grandparents, parents and children of families and see careful tax planning over the years reap benefits for them. Throughout the day I will be briefed by my
dedicated team as to what is happening on clients that I look after. There may be different people dealing with different issues for a client as we have a team of people here with a whole range of experience and we try to match the work with the person who has the appropriate skills and level of responsibility. That isn’t to say that a client will have to deal with different people for different aspects of their affairs. My clients know that if they phone me I will know what they are talking about and will be able to help them. Our ethos at Pearson May is to deal with our clients’ affairs as we would our own,
Jacqui Bowden
and we like to think that our clients see the benefits in personal service, pride in our work and having continuity with their affairs. There is plenty of variety in my day and
certainly no time to get bored. I may deal with individuals with income from property; overseas income; portfolios of investments; family trusts; estates; share schemes; pensions; residence and domicile issues and the list goes on. In the private client department at Pearson May we deal with tax compliance – e.g. the preparation of annual self assessment tax returns as well as tax planning for income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax etc. I love meeting a diverse range of clients,
old and new, and helping to resolve their problems – whether it is taking away the headache of completing a tax return or helping them to cut tax through careful planning. So I don’t think accountancy is boring (but then maybe that’s because I am a boring accountant!) If you would like assistance with your
personal tax affairs then do arrange to come and see us. And check to see whether I look at my shoes or your shoes! [Memo note: buy some new shoes.] BL
Pearson May Chartered Accountants and Chartered Tax Advisers 37 Great Pulteney Street, Bath BA2 4DA tel: 01225 460491
Mail@PearsonMay.co.uk www.PearsonMay.co.uk
www.mediaclash.co.uk Bath Life 83
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