Meet Josie
Name: Josie Cransberg
Job title: Senior Associate – Corporate Tax (Perth Office)
University attended: The University of Western Australia
Degree Qualification: Bachelor of Commerce, Accounting and Finance
Year graduated: 2022
What’s your job about?
As an associate, I do the initial work of preparing tax returns and advice for review. This allows me to get to know the clients and their transactions and see jobs through from start to end. As I have progressed, my exposure to complex and challenging tax issues has helped me to gain more experience and independence.
One of the benefits of working at Grant Thornton is their national work model, allowing us to collaborate with people from different offices and teams. This has broadened my knowledge of various tax issues, such as FBT and payroll taxes, which complements my core corporate tax work.
As expected, the first year on the job was a steep learning curve but Grant Thornton’s training programs helped me through this. I was involved with real client work from day one with on-the-job training while receiving formalised graduate training from different partners. Keeping up with the changing tax laws is essential for my role, and Grant Thornton’s training programs ensure that I am updated and informed.
What’s your background?
I was first exposed to accounting during high school in Western Australia when I took Accounting & Finance as an ATAR subject. From then, I knew I was interested in accounting and it was something I wanted to learn more about. As such I did a Bachelor of Commerce at UWA majoring in Accounting & Finance, graduating in 2022.
I became interested in tax during my studies, as I liked the challenge of learning new things in a dynamic field. I was lucky enough to do several vacation work placements at different firms, including one at Grant Thornton. I enjoyed seeing what the working world, and Grant Thornton specifically, was like before starting my career. I was grateful to be offered a graduate role at Grant Thornton following on from my vacation work. I joined Grant Thornton as a graduate in 2023 and have worked in the Corporate Tax team for almost a year. I have continued to learn something new and interesting every day!
What’s the best thing about your job?
The learning. I like the challenge of understanding and solving different issues daily and seeing how we can benefit our clients. I have discovered many tax issues, laws, and regulations that I did not know about before. Now, I value their importance and function within our society. We have clients from various sectors, and I enjoy learning about them and their fields, whether it be agriculture, mining or technology. I think the team has played a fundamental part in my learning pathway. They are super supportive of the learning process, helping me along the way and pushing me when necessary. I know there is always more to learn, and I am eager for the challenge ahead.
What are the main challenges for you?
Managing the busy and down times effectively and efficiently.
Sometimes, multiple clients or managers require results simultaneously and it is hard to balance which ones to prioritise and which ones to delay. Teamwork is crucial during these times. Fortunately, I can rely on my team to support and guide me during these times. In tax, we are lucky that the compliance side of our work is stable and can be planned for, ensuring that we produce high-quality work no matter the pressures.
Downtimes, where the workflow is low, are also challenging for different reasons. In these times I find it important to self-motivate. Finding tasks to help improve soft skills or revisiting issues that were unclear in past work projects are things I like to do to help fill gaps. However, our team is good at ensuring we have a balanced workflow to help minimise the amount of downtime we have.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student
- Expand your network. Your university peers could be your future colleagues, clients, or competitors, and having a large network is always beneficial.
- Gain experience. Uni does not always provide hands-on experience (especially in Commerce), so take any opportunity to acquire it, whether through vacation work, part-time jobs, or volunteering.
- Be yourself. No one wants a clone of someone else, so stop comparing yourself to others. Be authentic, trust your instincts, and pursue your goals.
