Summary

I am a Senior Teaching Fellow in the Accounting and Financial Management subject group and have been a Course Leader for a number of years on the Financial Management pathway. I am a Chartered Accountant (FCA) and my areas of expertise are financial reporting and taxation. I head up the level 5 Financial Reporting module and form part of the teaching team at level 6 on this core subject.

I am a Fellow of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). I am also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

I trained in a medium-sized accounting practice and later worked for a major international healthcare company. The work experience I gained during and after training was invaluable; it means that when teaching I can always offer examples of ‘real-world accounting’.

I won the Faculty of Business and Law’s ‘Best Newcomer’ award after becoming a Teaching Fellow, which led to my becoming Course Leader. I very much enjoy being part of our course team and contributing to our students’ wellbeing and academic success.

In 2020 I became Chair of our faculty’s Athena SWAN Committee, which is tasked with ensuring that we maintain high standards of gender equality in terms of representation, progression and success.

I am a member of the ICAEW Southern Committee and I enjoy staying involved in and giving back to my profession in this way.

Biography

I began working at the University in 2009, becoming a Senior Teaching Fellow in 2015 and Course Leader in 2016.

I became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2015. In 2018 I completed an MSc in Research Methods at the University, focusing on the role emotional intelligence plays within the accounting profession.

I originally trained as a Chartered Accountant whilst working in a large accountancy firm between 1999 and 2005. This gave me valuable experience of working with a wide range of clients in key areas such as accounts preparation, auditing, taxation, and payroll. During this time I gained the professional qualifications of the AAT and the ICAEW.

After my accounting training and practice I worked as a Financial Accountant, leading a team in a global US healthcare company. This role required me to use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (UK GAAP, US GAAP and other local GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards to prepare financial statements for the healthcare group. My work included handling corporate governance, ensuring compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) legislation for internal controls, corporation tax, and VAT. The role involved working with colleagues internationally. It also gave me a real insight into the experience of being audited instead of being the auditor!

I also have experience of running my own successful business and the lessons learned from that also very much inform my teaching.

Research interests

I am interested in emotional intelligence and employability in the accounting profession: understanding the personal qualities that contribute to employability and how this knowledge can support effective recruitment processes. I plan to research this area further for my PhD in the future.

Teaching responsibilities

Since joining the University of Portsmouth in 2009, I have taught on most of the modules across the subject group, including Corporate Governance, Management Accounting, Financial Management, Financial Reporting, and Taxation. 

I currently coordinate both of the core level 5 Financial Reporting modules and I am a member of the teaching team for Level 6.

I also supervise students with their dissertations on financial reporting and taxation, providing input particularly on the qualitative aspects of their writing.