Bush & Campbell Ground-breaking Director Retires
From the first female trainee here at Bush & Campbell, to 18 years as a Director, Amanda Powell has had a trailblazing career in the finance industry.
After a 43 year career, Chartered Accountant Amanda Powell has called it a day on her time in the accounting profession.
Having grown up in Wagga Wagga, Amanda began as a cadet with Bush & Campbell in 1981. It was a time marked by plenty of chequebooks, bank statements and manual accounting processes. These were the days before computer accounting packages like Xero, MYOB and Phoenix; before Capital Gains Tax, Fringe Benefits Tax and the GST had been introduced.
Like the other accountants in town at the time when Amanda commenced in the profession, she would work all week and study part-time, attending lectures and tutorials at night.
“When I first started, I wasn’t aware of too many other female accounting trainees in Wagga. There were a couple of women accountants, like Jean Haste. A girl being a trainee accountant wasn’t the done thing back then, but when the roof didn’t fall in, I suppose the industry knew it could work and they became more relaxed about putting ‘girls’ on.” Amanda believes that it was with the support of Bush & Campbell that we were able to change the profession for the better.
Amanda took to the industry with ease and was able to fast-track her degree by picking up extra subjects and became a chartered account before the age of 24. She became a director in 2006 and is proud of what the firm has been able to achieve in the years since, including bringing new clients in from across the country and the many professional contributions staff have made locally to sporting groups, clubs and charities.
When asked about her legacy, Amanda hopes she is remembered as someone who helped break the glass ceiling in accounting but, more importantly, always put her clients first.
“Now that I’m retiring, I think back on some of the things I’ve done to help people and I’m proud of them. Whenever I thought one of my clients was being disadvantaged or not treated fairly, I would take it to the max for them, including taking cases to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Some of my clients have been asking if I can stay or still help them after I retire and that makes you feel like you didn't do too bad a job. I hope that my clients remember me as someone who was on their side and that I tried my darndest to help them.”
According to her colleagues, Amanda can retire rest assured her legacy will be exactly that. Having first worked under her guidance, newly appointed Director Alex McCormack says he’ll miss Amanda’s passion for achieving the best outcomes for her clients.
“Amanda absolutely goes in to battle for her clients. I've seen her go into bat for them on a number of occasions, and believe I developed a lot of those skills from experiencing the way that she approached every problem. She's been a fabulous asset to the firm and has a wealth of knowledge. I heard someone recently say they were speaking to a client who was in tears about Amanda retiring. That's just the sort of impact Amanda has had on every single client.”