Surface would not be the company that it is today without its employees. To give you a glimpse of the team behind the scenes, we’re continuing our ‘meet the team’ series!
Next up is our Accounts Assistant, Jade Magee, who has been with Surface Corrosion Consultants for 2 years.
What does a typical day look like for you?
No two days are exactly the same and my work pattern has a bit of a monthly routine. At the end of the month once the coatings inspectors have submitted their timesheet to me, I use these to formulate our invoices for inspection work. I send these invoices out to our clients once they have been verified internally. For SAM™️ I invoice as soon as we have received a PO so that can happen at any point in the month. Once an invoice is approaching its due date, I send payment reminders out to our clients and enquire if payment is late. Monthly I check and process any expenses accrued by our staff. We have regular head office team meetings during which I take note of any new jobs that are starting so I know in advance what I will be invoicing for. When I am on top of all of the above, I assist with book keeping.
What’s one thing you wish you’d known when you started working at Surface or what advice would you give to a newbie?
Like all new jobs you will grow into it. I am a lot more confident in my role now than I was when I started; but that confidence can only be gained through experience and establishing good working relations with colleagues and clients’ overtime. We have a really solid core team here at Surface; everyone mucks in and makes each other laugh. Anyone is lucky to have that in their place of work.
What’s a work-related accomplishment that you’re really proud of?
When I first joined Surface, I was only brought in for few hours a week to process the weekly wages and subsistence. They saw some potential in me so grew my role and hours to what it is today. Previously the invoicing process had been completed on a separate software. Now I have streamlined our invoicing process, so it is all happening on our main accountancy software. As this was a new process; I had to go and figure it out myself. There were some teething problems at the beginning but now it is a well-oiled machine.
How does your current role as an Accounts Assistant differ from your previous one in Health & Wellbeing?
When I used to manage a Holistic Health Centre a lot of my role was communicating with the public. Surface is B2B so I liaise with fewer individuals. There is still an overlap; at the end of the day your clients are your clients, whether they are individual remembers of the public or businesses. I have always prided myself in developing a good rapport with my colleagues and clients/customers in every place of work I have entered.
What led you to this career?
To be honest it was chance. My former place of work is next door to Surface’s head office. When the COVID-19 lockdowns began I was put on furlough as the Holistic Health centre was not classified as an essential business. I was chatting to Jenny, our Financial Director, in our shared carpark and she mentioned they could do with someone coming in and supporting the accounting side of the business as her work load had significantly increased. I offered my assistance, and my role has grown from there.
What’s the biggest misconception people have about your position?
I suppose the title ‘Accounts Assistant’ might imply that I assist other colleagues. While we all work well as a team here in Surface; really the majority of my role is self-led.