Inky's Story

Inneka's Story

How did you find Haines Watts?

I’d not long finished sixth form and I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do. I had a couple of offers from universities but none of them really felt right for me so I started to look for apprenticeships and I found the role with Haines Watts on the government apprenticeship website.

Tell me about your role and career path?

I started off with an apprenticeship in VAT, a couple of people in the VAT team then left and I wasn’t really trained enough to take over on my own. I was then moved into the R&D team in the Wolverhampton office, I found out that R&D wasn’t really for me - it’s very niche!

Tamworth was where I had initially started my VAT apprenticeship and the former partner at the Tamworth office sent me a message on Linkedin and asked me if I wanted to go back there to do personal Tax, so I just kind of fell into it really!

What does a typical day look like for you?

A typical day for me at the moment is tax returns. I talk to clients, get their information, prepare the tax return and then give them the returns with tax payment advice. As the year goes on I’m going to start some training on wills and trust, I haven't done any of that yet so that will be interesting to move on to after all of the tax is out of the way! In June / July we have all of the P11D’s to do and then it’s straight back to tax returns.

What is the most enjoyable part of working for Haines Watts?

The people for sure, they’re really great to work with and work for. I left for a short time last year and worked for another accountancy firm for four months that was closer to home as Tamworth is quite a distance from where I live. I ended up coming back to Haines Watts because you can’t beat the people!

What is your work/life balance like?

Really good, because of how far away I live from the Tamworth office they’ve been really great and flexible with allowing me to work from home for 2 days a week and going into the office 3 times. So that’s perfect for me, being at home means I get to walk my dog in the mornings and also take him out again during my lunch. It's really lovely to have the flexibility that working from home brings.

Are you studying?

I did my ATT when I first started, I finished that around a year and a half ago. Next would be my CTA, I’m not sure when I will start that but I am keen to complete it at some point.

What has been the most challenging part of your career?

Probably my first Tax season, before that I was always in jobs that were pretty constant throughout the year. In personal Tax, February / March is really quiet and you don’t have a lot to do but January is insanely busy! So I would say adjusting to that was the biggest challenge.

What are some of your career highlights?

I would say that completing my ATT is probably the biggest highlight of my career so far.

How is Haines Watts helping to manage study and work time balance?

I was on an apprenticeship contract so I had one study day a week, when you’re an apprentice, your time is split 80% / 20% between work and study. I also had a week off before any exams to prepare myself and get in some more revision.

What are your goals within Haines Watts?

I definitely do want to do my CTA sooner rather than later. I’m also really keen to learn about doing the wills, it’s something that they want to add on to their personal tax service so I’m excited to learn all about it!

Why did you choose to work for Haines Watts?

I wasn’t really looking for a specific role in an accountancy firm as I wasn’t 100% on what I wanted to do but you don’t really see many VAT apprenticeships so it really stood out to me. The VAT manager at the time also just really sold the role to me!

What do you like to do outside of work?

I’ve got 2 labradors so I’m out and about a lot going for walks. My partner is a farmer so I spend a lot of time on the farm, we also do a shoot at home so the dogs work as gun dogs for the shooting season.

What is your favourite part of your role?

I love speaking with the clients, they’re all surprisingly nice and grateful considering I’m telling them how much tax they’ve got to pay at the end of the year which is never a nice job! All of my clients and really lovely so that makes a world of difference.

If you weren’t a Personal Tax Senior what would you be doing?

My friend is an interior designer and she’s just started her own company, all of her work is amazing and I love what she does so I think I’d probably go and join her.