Julie Michels: Be Visual Co's Finance Manager

Continuing our series on supporting female entrepreneurs – our Finance Manager Julie Michels, shares some great tips on keeping the numbers in check!

Describe a bit about yourself and what you do.

I am a Mum/Business Owner/Bookkeeper/BAS Agent. I value communication, flow, efficiency and being authentic. I love that I can offer support to empower my clients to focus on what they do best. It is my intention to give my clients a confident feeling that their accounts are taken care of.

What item can you not survive your day without?

It is not an item, but I cannot survive the day without breakfast. I love a hearty breakfast.

What made you want to work in Finance?

I remember learning about Balance Sheets, Trading and Profit and Loss Statements in year 9 Commerce class. I enjoyed the numbers and it came naturally.

What do you enjoy most about working at Be Visual Co?

Everything just flows so well because we have solid processes and great communication. The information and receipts are always available when I need them, so it makes my work a joy to complete.

Where were you working when you learnt your biggest career lesson and what was it?

I was working for an accounting firm at the time and came to understand how I work best as an individual. I found that multi-tasking wasn’t the best way for me to be productive and create flow in my work. It would ultimately wear me out and I would feel like I couldn’t finish any one task efficiently. I was also a perfectionist, so I would be very hard on myself. By learning more about myself I came to understand that time blocking worked best for me. I could break down tasks so there was a clear start and finish and I would use my time effectively to be able to focus on each task to completion. It gave me a sense of achievement and flow that also eased that feeling of being hard on myself.

How do you (try to) achieve a work-life balance?

It can take some discipline when working from my home office to ensure I have switch off time and include activities that are just for me. When life is full I find it vital to ensure I have an outlet that grounds me and fills my cup. I enjoy walking, yoga, reading, creative writing, meditating and travel. This allows me to be more present with the special moments with my family too.

What has been your biggest influence (person or experience) career wise to date?

My last employer, Tabitha Tworek. I appreciated her can do and no fuss approach, she is an authentic and caring person that just knows how to bring out the best in people. I consider her a mentor and still enjoy her company today to have conversations that matter.
She saw in me what I didn’t see in myself at the time. A lot of who I have grown to be and my approach to business can be attributed to what I have learned with Tabitha.

What advice do you have for a budding Finance Manager?

– Love what you do.
– Become well educated with Cloud based software.
– Introduce yourself to the client’s accountant.
– When in doubt ask. This is where having a relationship with the accountant can benefit with increasing finance knowledge and ensuring the books are correct for your client.
– Keep it simple as over categorising accounts becomes confusing and is not the most effective application of time.