After high school I chose a career in accounting as it seemed to me the most applied and practical field. At college one of my professors convinced me to become a financial auditor, which she described as the ‘peak of excellence’ of the accounting profession.
In 2004, my first job was in audit with Deloitte Romania, after which I moved to a Romanian-owned firm, Soter & Partners, where I’ve worked since 2009. My years spent with Deloitte helped me gain an abundance of technical knowledge and practical experience in a relatively short time, which was invaluable moving forward.
There is a sense of personal accomplishment in helping others develop their professional horizons
I am a loyal person in pursuit of stability, so the opportunity at Soter to build the audit department alongside the audit partner allowed me a different experience. This helped me to develop in different ways, especially with mentorship. There is a sense of personal accomplishment in helping others develop their professional horizons and achieve their potential, and there are significant advantages in selecting and growing one’s own team. However, this is a long-term process with many challenges requiring effort, which doesn’t always work out as expected. It’s a learning journey that entails the furthering of one’s own personal development and self-awareness.
Romania has seen substantial development recently, as new generations of professionals and entrepreneurs have entered the market, creating innovation across several sectors. For auditors, the ever-present challenge remains making clients perceive the actual added value of the audit process, beyond compliance with the regulations. Often, companies focus on sales and production, while accounting and finance professionals are considered ‘non-productive’, only having a limited contribution to the business itself, with many clients avoiding investment in either digitalisation or hiring sufficient staff. This is especially true of smaller businesses with more informal internal controls.
I enjoy discovering the ‘cogwheels’ of a business when getting into the specifics
The best part about my job is learning new things, which is both a challenge and an opportunity. I enjoy discovering the ‘cogwheels’ of a business when getting into the specifics of a certain industry or production process, then creating reporting templates and learning along the way. New experiences always make me feel young and energised.
A quote I find very inspiring is: ‘It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.’ I believe growth can only be achieved by having the courage to step out of one’s comfort zone, which is something I have often found to be challenging.
I consider obtaining my membership of ACCA and the Chamber of Financial Auditors of Romania to be my biggest professional achievements. I am especially proud of becoming an ACCA, as I took all the exams while working in a demanding job but managed to maintain my motivation throughout.
I believe education is one of the key fundamentals of society, so if I had law-making powers I would like improvements to the education system. We need more genuine value creation and development, while offering increased support, feedback and guidance to young people.
If I wasn’t an accountant, I might have had a career as a coach or neuro-linguistic programming practitioner. People skills have always interested me and are something I find useful in my current work, especially building relationships with clients and mentoring junior staff. However, I consider myself better applied to numbers and Excel sheets.
Having a creative outlet aside from my demanding office life has always been important to me. In my free time I enjoy digital painting and I also like experimenting with new cake recipes.
