Katherine Meredith

6.30 AM

The first thing I hear each morning is my alarm. The sun is streaming through my window, and my cat is asleep at my feet. I’ll grab my phone and do a quick check on the news in bed before I get up. The most important part of my morning ritual is my cup of tea. If I don’t have it, I can’t function. Thankfully today I am working from home so I can  drink my tea and have a leisurely piece of toast.

8.30 AM

I start work. First thing. Emails. I check through to see if anything has changed while I was away from my computer. Then I read through my list of tasks from the night before to plan my day. I check to see if my client has given us the support we requested for the audit and send a few follow-up emails.

9.00 AM

Today I am speaking with our client's payroll manager to discuss how they run their payroll system. I prepare for the meeting by going over last year’s notes and prepare a set of questions. Then the meeting commences on Teams, our videoconferencing and messaging software. We all catch up with some general chit chat before getting to the business of the meeting, and asking my questions. I get the necessary information and note down our client’s answers to update the workpaper later.

12.00 PM

I catch up with my manager and the rest of the team to give them a rundown of the meeting, mentioning any issues that I noted that we may need to check when we are doing field work.

12.30 PM

The most important part of the day. The daily lunchtime quiz. Anyone within our group can join and participate. This year I was asked to be quiz master. We always use a New Zealand quiz and we often have to rely upon our New Zealand colleagues for the answers. It’s a lot of fun and we learn lots of interesting facts. After the quiz it’s off to make myself a healthy wrap and catch up with my flatmates.

1.30 PM

After dislodging my cat from my chair it’s time to get back to work. I spend some time updating the workpaper I had a meeting about earlier by going over my notes and updating what has changed from the prior year. I spell check it and do a once over before I send a message to my AIC (Auditor in charge) to let them know it’s complete.

4.00 PM

I need to call the ATO this afternoon. This means spending some time listening to hold music until the call is picked up by one of their agents. I am following up on a previous request to check on the progress. I give them my reference number and we discuss the request. No luck today. Still not done. I send an email to my Manager with the details of the call and the reference number.

5.15 PM

Work’s done for the day. I write my list of remaining tasks, numbering them in priority. I finish off my time sheet and close my laptop. Time to relax for a little while on the couch before starting my study time for CA. I try to do at least an hour each night, so I don’t have to spend all of my weekend studying.

7.00 PM

I am called for dinner. Wasn’t my night to cook so one of my flatmates made dinner for the household – lucky me! Today it’s a chicken and apricot tagine with couscous. YUM! We enjoy dinner and catch up on each other’s day.

9.00 PM

Tomorrow I am heading into the office, so I prepare a wrap for lunch and put it in the fridge ready to grab the next morning on my way out. I pack up my laptop and make sure I have everything ready for the next day.

10.30 PM

It’s bedtime now. I retreat to my bedroom and watch some YouTube videos before I go to sleep. My cat curls up around my feet and I am rocked to sleep by the sound of her purring. So, I am ready for the next day’s work.