My name’s Paul Oliffe, I’m now an audit principal at the National Audit Office, I work in our financial audit support team. I’ve been at the NAO for about four and a half years now.
What attracted me to the NAO?
I was first attracted to the NAO because they obviously offered the ACA qualification, but as well as that they had a fantastic reputation for training individuals prior to becoming members of the institute.
What have been my most beneficial aspects of the training and development I have received?
I’m a little bit biased because I’m responsible for a lot of our in-house training at the NAO. You’re going to learn a lot of things at college but it’s largely about the theory of how to audit and accounting, what we are going to teach you at the NAO is how to audit in the central government sector. So, it’s going to be about how to engage with your clients, a lot of the softer skills that you won't get taught at college.
What do I enjoy most about my role?
I think the thing that I enjoy most about my role is the diversity. I’m involved in delivering financial audits, which is my primary role. As well as that I get involved in providing technical advice to other line auditors. I’m also responsible for training and I find that really enjoyable, standing up and presenting in front of people and really feeling part of their development.
