A Day in the Life Of… David Norris
We continue talking to the technical consultants that work in our Mercia business for our ‘Day in the Life Of..’ interview series.
Here we take some time out to hear from David Norris who has worked at Mercia for more than 20 years and, as Head of non-tax products and services,?is responsible for the company’s Audit, Accounts and Compliance related products and services:
Hi David, so first-up, do please tell us what a typical day looks like for you?
“The beauty of the job for me is that there is no typical day. A day could be at home writing reports, answering technical questions or preparing for a course. Or it could be at home doing client work and either presenting a course or reviewing their technical files. Or it could be a day of travel and lecturing or reviewing at a client’s premises. So the exciting thing about working for Mercia is that each day can be different with different tasks at different size clients to meet different kinds of technical issues - variety certainly keeps it fresh.”
What is an essential ingredient to making your workday feel rewarding or accomplished?
“The role that we have at Mercia is very much one of supporting firms. We are helping them prepare or deal with technical changes, perhaps also helping them with practical issues from technical standards or getting them ready for a visit from a regulator. A day feels really rewarding when a firm tells me I have helped them solve a problem or got them an answer they were struggling to find. The great thing about our role is that clients often see us as someone there to help them through difficult times or with difficult issues and for many of them we are friends and really part of their team.”
What excites you most about your work?
“What excites me most is the variety - meeting new people regularly, working in new places and dealing with different kinds of issues. It is great also to go back to clients that you’ve known for 20 years and see how their procedures are changing, how they’re dealing with things, and also having their input on the world of accountancy and the changes that they’re facing.”
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Are certain qualifications necessary for your role?
“In terms of qualifications, all of our technical team have a professional qualification relevant to what they do. The majority of my colleagues are ICAEW qualified, but we also have some ACCA colleagues and some with specialist tax qualifications.”
Have you learned anything since starting your role at Mercia?
“What have I learnt since starting the role – well the list is endless! Auditing and accounting changes happen all the time and we have to keep up-to-date with them, as well as new regulations since I joined the business (such as anti-money laundering and probate). So there’s always something new technically to learn. Also, the job has helped me appreciate the challenges of different sizes of firms and the different approaches firms have to tackling issues. It can be challenging but exciting to talk to these different firms and help them understand how they can be compliant and efficient given their own client base, staffing and IT systems.”
For anyone considering applying for a role at Mercia, what would you like them to know?
“For anyone looking to apply I’d want them to know that this is not a job to sit still and get into a rut with. We like people that are self-starters, that like to learn, and people that are genuinely interested in different kinds of firms and their different kinds of clients. If that sounds like something a person likes, we can offer them a varied, challenging and fulfilling role.”