Alante Kreis

Associate – Audit & Assurance
Masters of Professional Accounting at Murdoch University

What’s your job about?

I work as an Associate for Grant Thornton in the Perth Audit team. As auditors, our job is to review the financial accounts of our clients and provide reasonable assurance over the balances presented in their financial statements.

At an associate level, this means being able to analyse data, critically evaluate information, and consider how what you see does or does not meet requirements, with plenty of help from your team along the way! It may mean researching a company and their board, sampling balances to check they tie to relevant documentation, or reviewing documentation for accuracy. You may find yourself reviewing ASX announcements one day, and then discussing an account item with a Financial Controller or a CFO the next. Ultimately, everything you and your team do provides information that assists the audit partner in forming an audit opinion.

What’s your background?

I have come to audit as a career change. I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I finished high school, but I knew I loved learning about people, so my first degree was in culture and history. I then spent the better part of 15 years in the travel industry, working both as a travel agent, which took a lot of planning and attention to detail; as well as training, mentoring, and managing teams to achieve goals and provide exceptional service to their clients. Oh! And of course, travelling the world myself!

After becoming a Mum at the start of 2020, and the onset of Covid shortly thereafter, I finally took the leap and returned to university to study accounting. During my studies, I had the opportunity to join Grant Thornton on the Vacationer Program and was lucky enough to be offered a role as an Undergraduate Associate while I finished my studies. This led to a graduate role, and I haven’t looked back! It has been the most incredible learning experience.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Absolutely! An accounting degree gives you the basics, but life experience gives you the skills you need to interact with others and build relationships. Much of the job is about being able to listen, engage and critically evaluate what is presented to you. I might not know the accounting standards and reporting requirements inside out just yet, but, my travel background has given me both interpersonal skills and a business management acumen that has been invaluable to me as I build my new career.

What’s the coolest thing about your job?

The ever-changing nature of the work. Every client is unique, and each engagement only lasts for a short amount of time, which means no two weeks are the same. I meet people from all walks of life and am learning about such a diverse range of industries, all whilst being in one role. There is such a diverse experience to be gained from the audit sector.

What are the limitations of your job?

As an associate, sometimes you can feel limited by your knowledge or lack thereof. Adding to this, the nature of Audit is that it is cyclical, with busy periods, where you might have engagements overlap whilst still trying to meet set reporting deadlines, and quieter periods, where there is more opportunity to hone your skills and build upon what you learn during the busy season. For me, coming from a background where I had many years of experience in my industry, this has meant that during my first busy season when the pressure to complete tasks in a timely manner felt greater, I found myself feeling frustrated by the limitations of my knowledge.

I have such a great team, and the support I received and continue to receive has really helped with this. We are all working together towards a common goal, and I haven’t worked with anyone who wasn’t willing to help me learn and develop. It’s wonderful to look back on my first year in audit and see just how far I have come.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student:

Focus on one thing at a time

Trust the process

Know that knowledge and skills are built upon, so even the learnings that feel most insignificant will help to get you where you want to go

Josie Cransberg

Associate – Corporate Tax
Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance) at the University of Western Australia

What’s your job about?

As an associate, I do the initial work of preparing tax returns and advice for review. This allows me to get to know the clients and their transactions and see jobs through from start to end. As I have progressed, my exposure to complex and challenging tax issues has helped me to gain more experience and independence.

One of the benefits of working at Grant Thornton is their national work model, allowing us to collaborate with people from different offices and teams. This has broadened my knowledge of various tax issues, such as FBT and payroll taxes, which complements my core corporate tax work.

As expected, the first year on the job was a steep learning curve but Grant Thornton’s training programs helped me through this. I was involved with real client work from day one with on-the-job training while receiving formalised graduate training from different partners. Keeping up with the changing tax laws is essential for my role, and Grant Thornton’s training programs ensure that I am updated and informed.

What’s your background?

I was first exposed to accounting during high school in Western Australia when I took Accounting & Finance as an ATAR subject. From then, I knew I was interested in accounting and it was something I wanted to learn more about. As such I did a Bachelor of Commerce at UWA majoring in Accounting & Finance, graduating in 2022. 

I became interested in tax during my studies, as I liked the challenge of learning new things in a dynamic field. I was lucky enough to do several vacation work placements at different firms, including one at Grant Thornton. I enjoyed seeing what the working world, and Grant Thornton specifically, was like before starting my career. I was grateful to be offered a graduate role at Grant Thornton following on from my vacation work. I joined Grant Thornton as a graduate in 2023 and have worked in the Corporate Tax team for almost a year. I have continued to learn something new and interesting every day! 

What’s the best thing about your job?

The learning. I like the challenge of understanding and solving different issues daily and seeing how we can benefit our clients. I have discovered many tax issues, laws, and regulations that I did not know about before. Now, I value their importance and function within our society. We have clients from various sectors, and I enjoy learning about them and their fields, whether it be agriculture, mining or technology. I think the team has played a fundamental part in my learning pathway. They are super supportive of the learning process, helping me along the way and pushing me when necessary. I know there is always more to learn, and I am eager for the challenge ahead.

What are the main challenges for you?

Managing the busy and down times effectively and efficiently. 

Sometimes, multiple clients or managers require results simultaneously and it is hard to balance which ones to prioritise and which ones to delay. Teamwork is crucial during these times. Fortunately, I can rely on my team to support and guide me during these times. In tax, we are lucky that the compliance side of our work is stable and can be planned for, ensuring that we produce high-quality work no matter the pressures. 

Downtimes, where the workflow is low, are also challenging for different reasons. In these times I find it important to self-motivate. Finding tasks to help improve soft skills or revisiting issues that were unclear in past work projects are things I like to do to help fill gaps. However, our team is good at ensuring we have a balanced workflow to help minimise the amount of downtime we have. 

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student

Expand your network. Your university peers could be your future colleagues, clients, or competitors, and having a large network is always beneficial.

Gain experience. Uni does not always provide hands-on experience (especially in Commerce), so take any opportunity to acquire it, whether through vacation work, part-time jobs, or volunteering.

Be yourself. No one wants a clone of someone else, so stop comparing yourself to others. Be authentic, trust your instincts, and pursue your goals.