Naïm’s career path as a Bookkeeping Consultant

After finishing high school, Naïm worked for a few years as a bus driver at De Lijn. In addition to working, he attended night classes and remote learning programs to earn a postgraduate degree in Accounting Administration and a Bachelor's in Accountancy-Tax. This led him to find a new destination as a bookkeeper.

"My second career started out in an accounting firm. Later, I moved to an engineering company's internal bookkeeping department, where I was able to see end-to-end bookkeeping from a wider angle. Since the summer of 2022, I’m now working as a Bookkeeping Consultant at TriFinance. If I could redo the journey, I would opt for a consultant job sooner."

"When I received a message from Monika, one of the recruiters at TriFinance, on LinkedIn, I felt drawn to the opportunity to shape my own path and expand and deepen my knowledge," says Naïm.

The diversity of projects and extensive training opportunities align with Naïm's ambitions. "I want to continue expanding my expertise in financial controlling in the coming years. My ultimate goal is to transition to a freelancer status. TriFinance is very important to my development. Apart from the plethora of online courses and classroom trainings accessible to all consultants, I also got the chance to enroll in the Finance & Administration Academy." This Academy is a two-year program designed to accelerate participants' advancement in financial controlling. It consists of a combination of hands-on training sessions, carefully chosen projects, and information sharing within a network of colleague-consultants. "The dynamic nature of diverse projects combined with guidance from the internal BaseCamp team, tailored training sessions, and interaction with colleague-consultants is what makes a job as a project consultant so captivating for me."

Apart from the actual bookkeeping work and realizing process optimizations as ‘the one thing more’ in each project, Naïm views fostering a strong team atmosphere at the client’s as an essential part of his project consultant role. “Working as a consultant, you frequently join teams that have been struggling for a while because of backlogs, heavy workloads, transformation projects, or the absence of regular staff members. Being able to bring the necessary calm to the team at that moment, generate a positive dynamic, and provide real added value in the short term is something for which I always receive a lot of appreciation."

Anyone who thinks that as a consultant at TriFinance you are entirely on your own with the client is mistaken, Naïm explains from experience. "I think working together is crucial. Both with the team at the client's location as with my TriFinance colleagues. There is always a fellow consultant with in-depth expertise in the topic where you could use some support. Additionally, on every project, you have a mentor with whom you can bounce ideas about your project."

In addition, Naïm himself mentors a few freshly graduated consultants who are taking their first steps in bookkeeping projects. "Making them aware of the opportunities to improve the Accounts Payable process at the client's site gives me a lot of energy. By sharing my experiences, I not only help them become better at their role but also develop a keen eye for identifying and exploiting optimization opportunities."

"For me, the main distinction is the chance to advance. Consultancy offers you the chance to develop professionally, both in terms of technical bookkeeping skills and soft skills. And this certainly does not have to come at the expense of a balanced work-life balance." You don't have to give up good relationships with colleagues either; on the contrary. "Over the past year and a half, I have not only built valuable professional connections but also friendships that extend beyond the work environment. TriFinance regularly organizes sporting, informative, or fun events, which helps with that. For me, working at TriFinance means significant professional advancement in a stimulating work environment with the necessary support, collegiality, and fun."