Siobhan Milnes ACCA

Company: CNG Energy Ltd

Job title: Finance Manager

Favourite food: Chocolate

Who or what inspires you:

My mum is my biggest inspiration. As a single parent she was the sole provider for me as I grew up and alongside working a full time job she attended college in the evenings to gain a qualification in her career field and to provide for us. She has taught me the importance of a strong work ethic and striving to be the best that I can be. As a mother now, I want my son to learn these same values from me as he grows up.

What was your study route:

I started ACCA’s Certified Accounting Technician qualification 10 years ago. I started at this level as I didn’t meet the entry requirements for the ACCA qualification at the time. This helped me build the foundations of my accountancy knowledge. I then applied to fast track to ACCA when I had successfully completed enough of the exams.

For papers F1-F4 on the ACCA qualification, I self-studied for these papers and then went on to do distance learning for the Tax paper. I failed this twice and this had a profound impact on my confidence and eventually resulted in me deciding to no longer pursue my qualification.

A couple of years later whilst on Maternity leave, I felt compelled to return to study and not give up. I wanted to focus on my professional development within Finance and I knew that the ACCA qualification would give me the best skills and opportunities in the future and so I decided to give it one last push.  At this point, ACCA had introduced the multiple levels of the ACCA qualification and so I set myself a target to gain the Advanced Diploma in Accounting and Business and focus on that rather than being overwhelmed by the total number of exams ahead of me to gain full membership.

I returned to work when my son was 7 months old and re-attempted the Tax paper which I failed again. A Manager at the time pointed out how to improve my exam technique and on my 4^th time I successfully passed the paper. From this point on I studied through First Intuition and successfully completed the remainder of qualification with first time passes.

What do you do in your spare time:

I love to spend time with my family and friends. I often travel back to the Isle of Man which is where I am from originally to visit my friends and family there.

Perfect job:

The perfect job for me is one where I can make a positive difference and drive change.

I enjoy problem solving and finding solutions to make things faster and more effective and so a role that enables me to combine these elements would highly motivate me.

My new role as Finance Manager and the environment within my current workplace will allow me to do each of these things and so I’m really excited for what is to come.

Career aspirations:

My promotion to Finance Manager has been a goal of mine for some time. I am excited to train and develop a team and their existing skills to improve efficiency and effectiveness. I am keen to explore business intelligence further and undertake additional courses to improve my knowledge and apply this in practice. I hope to be moving into a Head of Finance or Financial Controller role in the next 5 years.

Childhood dream job:

As a teenager I wanted to go into Advertising as I have always enjoyed being creative and enjoy photography and art however in sixth form I enrolled on the Company Programme with Junior Achievement where I worked alongside a small group of students in my school year to set up and run a company over the course of the academic year. We won at the national finals and represented the Isle of Man at the European Company of the Year competition in Switzerland. It was a fantastic experience and it was this programme that steered me towards my ACCA qualification as it helped me gain an understanding of how a business operates.

Favourite holiday destination or holiday type:

Rome is my favourite place! I have been 3 times. I love the history, food and culture and each time I have been I have learnt something new. I can’t wait to go again!

Biggest support through your studies and career:

I studied with First Intuition Yorkshire & London for the final 7 exams I had left to complete for my ACCA qualification and the tutor support and training I received during my courses enabled me to pass each of those exams first time. Prior to this, I had been struggling with exam technique and they helped me to really improve on this in each of the exams I sat.

In addition to this, study leave support from my employer, encouragement from my friends and family and working alongside some excellent colleagues during the course of my career have each contributed to the way I think and apply myself to this present day.

Advice for students going through exams:

Failure of an exam does not define you and your ability to be a good accountant. When I failed my tax paper several times, I convinced myself that I was not capable of becoming a qualified accountant and stopped studying for a number of years because of this. Try not to be disheartened by failure and learn from it instead. For me personally, it has made me much more resilient.

Find the right balance for you, I found getting up early in the mornings and studying before work when I was most productive and spending the evenings with my family to wind down yielded the best results for me. Everyone’s study journey is different so don’t compare yourself against your peers.

Raising a young child and studying for a qualification whilst working full time has been one of the most difficult challenges I have faced. I can’t say it has been easy but It has been rewarding.

The ACCA student magazine was also a useful source for industry and technical content and I referred to this each month it was published.

What is the best thing about being an acca member:

I am at the start of my ACCA membership but so far it has given me the professional and ethical skills I need to be effective in my line of work. I hope to continue my own personal development through CPD and the extensive resources ACCA has to offer.

What’s a fun fact about you:

Before moving to Leeds 9 years ago I went inter-railing around Europe for several months stopping in most of the major cities. It was one of the best experiences of my life!