Think men do better in financial services? Now’s the time to reconsider.
A uniquely all female accounting firm, Healthy Business Finances, has claimed the top gong for bookkeeping at the 2017 NAB Professional Services Awards.
The firm’s founder and principal accountant, Stacey Price, said the accolade was a huge achievement and a symbolic one.
“This is an award for all of us, it’s a real team effort,” she said. Price founded the firm in 2013 and has since expanded with two additional bookkeepers and an administrative assistant. “I’m really proud that I have such an effective team that care so much. It’s amazing to be recognised for what we’ve achieved.”
It’s no shock to learn that Healthy Business Finances definitively bucks the industry trend through its employment of only women. All four staff, including Price, are also mothers who work part-time and flexibly from different home offices around Victoria.
“You might say I have this hidden agenda to support working mothers in the accounting and finance industry. I want to support women who want to work and love what they do,” said Price last night.
The success of Healthy Business Finances stems from Price’s implicit trust and regard for the people she employs. Micromanagement is clearly not her modus operandi.
“We work in the cloud,” said Price. “I trust my staff to do work at times and in locations that suit them. As long as they’ve got an internet connection, they’ve got an office.”
And with a number of big-name clients (over 50 in total) stretching across industries, it’s clear that this model (and a remit for fun) works well for the business.
“Yes, we’re accountants and yes we’re dealing with numbers that sometimes make people ill just by looking at them,” says Price, “but we try to simplify the technical stuff and speak plain English to our clients, and we try and make it fun.”
Price said winning the NAB Professional Services Award for Best Bookkeeping Firm was just the beginning of continued growth and a bright future for Healthy Business Finances. It is also assurance that more women in financial services is a mammoth social asset.
“This is a real opportunity to show the financial services world that women working part-time are just as efficient and productive – if not more so – as anyone working full-time. I’m really proud of that.”
This article was first published by Women’s Agenda.
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Tarla Lambert is a commercial manager with Private Media, and an editorial contributor to The Mandarin and Women’s Agenda.
