Qualified Assistant
Blair Davidson
Qualifications
Chartered Accountant
Bachelor of Accountancy degree from Dundee University
Current role
Most of my day to day work involves carrying out audits on a wide variety of our commercial clients, along with occasional charity audits and accounts preparations for our smaller clients.
Why I’m with Henderson Loggie
To be perfectly honest, I’m here because Henderson Loggie was the first firm to offer me a job prior to leaving university! However, I will quickly add that they were always my first choice and I wanted to stay in the Dundee area. Now that I have completed my training contract, I want to spend a year or so just consolidating my knowledge and skills before looking to do something besides auditing. I know that Henderson Loggie can provide me with opportunities to work in other forms of accounting due to the wide variety of work the firm carries out.
Never a dull day
One of the major plus points of carrying out commercial audits is that you are very rarely in the same place for more than two weeks at a time and the weeks spent working in the office are now becoming more and more infrequent. Due to the variety of clients we have, there are opportunities to work all over Scotland, occasionally down in England and if you are lucky even abroad, so you will never be bored as you are continually encountering new faces and tackling fresh challenges on a weekly basis.
A genuine interest in our clients
During the course of my three years with Henderson Loggie I have encountered many different clients in a variety of industries and there are times where I have learnt things, that prior to doing this job I would have been ignorant of. Clients are often very keen and proud to show you what they do and visits to the ‘shop floor’ can often be quite interesting.
Becoming a trusted adviser to clients
As part of the commercial audit team it is normal to be involved with the same client for two or three years. This continuity helps both you and the client as it allows relationships to be built which enable you to obtain a greater understanding of the clients business, which will eventually allow you to carry out a more efficient audit.
Getting more responsibility
At Henderson Loggie you never get ‘pigeon holed’ into one department. From quite early on in your contract you are encouraged to tackle more complex areas of the audit file with a view to senioring a full audit early in your second year.
My ambitions
I do not plan to stay in audit forever and I hope to move into a different field of accountancy within the next couple of years. The fact that we’re a larger firm, with four offices, providing services which include more specialised areas of accounting, will hopefully allow me to achieve this.
A good day is when …
Good days are generally when you are working for a client who you have a good relationship with, the job is running smoothly and little or no overtime is required.
A bad day is when …
Basically the opposite of the above!!
Advice for someone joining the firm
Don’t worry if you feel you know absolutely nothing. Henderson Loggie is a training firm and there is always someone available to help and direct questions to. At the end of the day nearly everyone in the office will have been in your shoes at some point and will appreciate exactly what you are going through.