Financial Controlling Intern Review

I have worked within the Financial Controlling department in Banbury, my main role is Financial reporting to firstly my department but also the management team and other departments within the plant. My main duty is reporting of Daily KPI’s based on Volumes, Turnover, Scrap, Cycle counting and also any other inventory movements. I also report the P+L daily to the team during our Finance Top-5 where I present our production performance. I am responsible for maintaining the plant Master Data as well as having an integral role in the part creation set-up. Another major duty of mine is to control all costs and hours worked by the four temp agencies we have supplying labour. I also support on month-end closing by posting Labour journals as well as controlling all Inventory including revaluation and depreciation calculations.

What I have enjoyed most about my placement is having an abundance of responsibility and challenging tasks to ensure I am always pushing myself to be better and broadening my experience. Part of this experience was being able to collaborate with other departments to solve internal issues but also taking essential measures to avoid recurrence. I was able to take part in four stock-takes, one of which I was able to take a leading role in and develop my leadership skills. A Key achievement was being able to re-construct the plants entire Master Data by organising all Materials based on Customer, Class status, supplier etc.

I have developed my IT skills and become a pro-efficient user of Microsoft Excel and SAP. Working within a diverse plant allowed me to develop my communication skills aswell as the ability to work with other people, especially within different departments. I also have developed the ability to successfully present Financial information to non-Financial audiences. I have learnt how important it is to be able to adapt to change especially in a JIT based industry and also how important it is to help others and provide support when needed, by being readily available and open to providing solutions, as well as having an optimistic approach.

The Finance team in my Plant were great for support and guidance, they were always ready to assist and help with any queries. I had the ability to work autonomously and refer to my colleagues for support when needed. There was always the ability to learn more and take part in different topics which made sure I was never bored or de-motivated. The support as a student is always there as long as you ask.

As students we were able to take part in a Charity Challenge, where we raised money for the National Autistic Society, there isn't much in terms of company events, we had a Faurecia day but as the plant is so busy there weren't many activities on the day compared to other Plants where they were able to fully enjoy the day. I commuted to and from work so did not stay in the local area.

The most challenging part of the role was probably adapting to change, since I started in August, the Finance team was going through transformation. Once the team was stabilised, I was given good responsibility and challenging tasks to keep me driven and motivated. Having a good workload meant I was able to enjoy my placement and learn about the field of work I'd like to work in after University.

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