Northern Society of Chartered Accountants Ceremony

Sarah Farquhar and myself recently travelled across to Newcastle to attend a ceremony at Newcastle University.

The ceremony was held in recognition of individuals who had completed their Association of Chartered Accountants (ACA) advanced stage and becoming fully qualified Chartered Accountants as well as individuals who received prizes for the professional and advanced stages of the ACA for high marks in exams. In total, there were 116 students as well as a number of guests.

The day started off with all students meeting across the road for food and drinks before all the guests being called to take their seats in the hall. The students were called out in alphabetical order to ensure all our names were in the right order for the ceremony. Students were then led into the hall and remained seated awaiting the ceremony to commence.

Robin Fieth who is the executive director of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) gave the opening speech. Then the President of the Northern Society of Chartered Accountants, Mike Ranson and the Chairman of One North East, Margaret Fay said a few words.

We were all called up to the front individually to receive our certificates and to get our photos taken. At the end of the ceremony there was also a group photo of all the students.

The only set back to the day was the poor weather meaning all outdoor photos which were planned had to be cancelled.

Overall, we both thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Ricky Taylor

World Skills Team Work

On Tuesday, John Pinske, Fiona Steel and myself went to the World Skills Competition at Northumbria University in Newcastle.

After a small problem with security letting us into the car park we found our way to where the competition was being held which was in the private study area of the business and law school that had been cornered off for us. Being in this area was something that not all the students were too happy about as they had a 10,000 word dissertation to hand in that week and they were unable to use the computers!

Along with us, there were about six other teams from right across the north of England. Each team had one computer between them, and the competition involved a lot of teamwork as well as creating an accurate set of accounts. We were given three hours to complete a trial balance, with various emails given to us throughout the morning, which contained information that changed the accounts slightly and we had to deal with this accordingly.

Whilst the competition was underway, the three judges made there way around each of the teams observing what was happening and making notes which added to the pressure. With five minutes to spare, we had completed each of the tasks and we worked well together as a team but most importantly our trial balance, balanced!

Afterwards we enjoyed a nice lunch with the other teams whilst the judges began marking our work, before making our way back to Carlisle.

Overall, it was a really good experience.

Sophie Waugh