BEESTON-CLARKE ACCOUNTANTS LIMITED - Key Persons
I work with Steph and her team providing admin support. It is an honour to work with the team at Beeston-Clarke Accountants and learn about all the different charities they work with.
Having worked within a PA/admin role for over 25 years (eek, that shows my age!), helping others and seeing a job through to completion is something I enjoy and get great satisfaction from. I even love all those admin jobs others hate! You can't beat an organised office and systems.
I am also the owner of The Virtual PA, and that is how mine and Steph's paths crossed at a local network meeting and as they say, the rest is history!
When I'm not working, you'll find me spending time with my family and going out for walks exploring places of historical interest.
Job Titles:
- Senior Charity Bookkeeper
It is hard to write an autobiography without laughing out loud. Let's see: I am 41 years old, I have a Master's degree from St Andrews in Latin of all things, I used to be an actress and I have moved house nine times in the past twenty years….
In a more serious tone, since giving up treading the boards, I have spent the last 20 years managing the finance and organisation of various companies and projects, particularly within the healthcare, charities, telecoms and energy industries. I have run an events company which specialises in conferences for charities since 2010. In 2016, in response to the demands of a growing family whilst also managing a life-changing illness, I also decided to become a qualified bookkeeper and have been working with Beeston-Clarke Accountants for 18 months. In my third job (after all, who doesn't need a third job?!) I also manage a team of 30 within the Utility Warehouse, a business which saves people money on their household bills.
What can I say? I give everything a go and hope that I'm good at it. I am motivated and inspired by many things but, in particular, people who work out of the goodness of their hearts and other working parents who have become, in my opinion, society's modern-day miracle workers. I live in beautiful rural Leicestershire with my suffering husband, two amazing yet batty children and a hamster with a self-destructive despondency. I enjoy brisk walking on cold sunny days, swimming and yoga, pub lunches before the rugby, and very occasionally I manage a visit back to my favourite haunt, the theatre.
What do I bring to the team? Well, I am the senior bookkeeper so what I do affect everyone else, and I like to think that no one else could do their job without me doing mine. In truth, however, I know anyone could do it. Especially Steph of course! But I hope that the fact that I care about getting it right will mean I'll be a part of the team for a long while to come! I am also the queen of juggling many balls, both personally and professionally, so if you want a job doing, give it to a busy person - me!
Hello I'm Joy. I started my career in an Accountancy practice, where I obtained my AAT and ACCA qualifications. For many years, I then worked in the independent school's charity sector as an Assistant Bursar/School Accountant and my role involved bookkeeping, budgets, cashflows and accounts preparation. These are skills I would like to use to support other charities.
On leaving the schools sector, I knew I still wanted to be involved in the not-for-profit sector in some way and this led me to Beeston-Clarke Accountants. From the first time of looking at their website, I knew this was the place for me! I love working for Steph - she and the whole team are lovely and supportive, and it is no exaggeration to say that Beeston-Clarke has that family feel. The job is varied and I am getting to use all my different skills, which I love!
When I am not working, you can find me helping with a Mum's and Tots group and various children's clubs at church. I love spending time with family, especially watching quiz shows and various sports with my husband and kids. I am also a crazy cat lady! I have three entertaining cats, one which will often appear on the weekly team meeting.
Hi! I'm Rachel and I joined the team in June 2021. As a Charity Accountant, I am responsible for producing management accounts for our clients, carrying out Independent Examinations, helping with budgets, year-end accounts, general client support and anything else that comes my way!
I joined the team officially in October 2023 as a bookkeeper. I have recently qualified as a bookkeeper through the ICB after deciding, during my first maternity leave, that my previous career as a Personal Injury Solicitor did not fit with family life!
I have always enjoyed working with numbers. The decision between law and accountancy was close run thing, so knew that I wanted to retrain in this area; to many "I told you so" from my own mum! After qualifying, I came across the job advert at Beeston-Clarke Accountants and thought I would give it a shot, as the whole ethos and feel of the company really appealed to me! Luckily for me they thought I was a good fit and I am now so happy to be a part of the Beeston-Clarke family and am enjoying getting my teeth stuck in to putting all that learning into practise.
I am a mum to two young children who keep me very busy with activities and clubs! I love to read and bake, sometimes without either of my helpers! We love to explore the North Yorkshire countryside and would be lost without our English Heritage membership.
Outside of work I have also recently taken on the role of school governor at my eldest's primary school because who doesn't enjoy starting two brand new roles at the same time!
Steph has a tremendous ability to make an incredibly difficult job look very easy. She has magic fingers on the keyboard and calculator that seem to turn the proverbial ball of tangled wool into a beautiful jumper! Her patience with and dedication to us in the team is always apparent. Even when we make mistakes, (rarely of course!) she sees us as human beings and works with us to ensure they don't happen again. As a leader, she lays great importance on training and encouraging understanding. Even though she must have in-depth knowledge of every client, she is excellent at letting us take the reins when she feels we are ready. She questions herself continually and is always trying to do things better, either from a professional or personal perspective. I feel very lucky to be guided by her - put simply, she "gets it".
Steph is a warm, friendly and supportive person. Her thoroughness, knowledge, experience and dedication to her clients provides the example as a leader that is inspiring. I am very pleased to be a part of her team.
Job Titles:
- Compliance Co - Ordinator
Hello! I'm Yasmin and have been with Beeston-Clarke for a couple of years. My past experience of working for a charity provides me with insight into the how things work in this sector. In addition, I am able to use my accounting knowledge to support the team. In my compliance role, I ensure that the client onboarding process is a smooth one.
I enjoy baking and many weekends, I find myself making treats for the family, especially for my two children. I love travelling (although not the long haul flights so much) having visited Canada, the Caribbean and Europe.
I like to make sure things are done correctly, and I feel this is a huge asset to have when working with charities where attention to detail is particularly important. I am particularly proud that I work really well in a team and believe this is a key skill to provide the best possible service to clients.
Job Titles:
- Trainee Payroll Clerk & Bookkeeper
Hi! I'm Zak and I joined the team in April 2022 as a trainee payroll clerk and bookkeeper. I am currently involved in the payroll for many of our clients and I'm enjoying the responsibility of it - after all, everyone needs to get paid!
This is quite a new direction for me; my previous experience has been in catering having spent 8 years working in a fine-dining restaurant kitchen. After the pandemic I was looking for another position and I remembered how much I'd enjoyed working with numbers (yes you may have noticed my surname) I've always been good with numbers, it must run in the family! Mum and the team were looking for some extra support and so offered me a trainee position.
I'm really enjoying getting to know all the clients and the rest of the team even though we all work remotely. The team's ethic is to grow and support, and I'm proud to be part of that. Working remotely has its challenges of course but we all pull together to get things done. I'm looking forward to learning more and realising the progression I can make.
I like to think I bring a "chilled out" personality to the team. Outside of work I enjoy watching films, YouTube, and generally being Zen-like-Zak!