Amber McPhee-Cox

After graduating with a 2:1 from Oxford Brookes University in 2021, I joined Critchleys LLP as a Tax Associate. In this time, I assisted the Private Client Tax team with the preparation and submission of tax returns, CGT Property returns and Trust/Estate tax returns. I'm highly organised and my time management skills are one of my biggest strengths, which I was able to demonstrate recently having completed my ATT qualification, meaning I am now ATT qualified.

Additionally, having had several deadlines meant that I had to split up my time accordingly. I work well when under pressure, which was reflected by my ability to reach deadlines both during work and in my university studies. At this point, I would like to pursue a change in career to develop my skills further.

Tax Associate at Critchleys LLP (2021-06 – 2024-10)

• Income tax & CGT: Preparation of personal tax returns and CGT returns
• Software experience: Extensive use of both Digita Personal Tax and CCH in addition to being competent in Microsoft Excel
• Trusts & Estates: Preparation of Trust & Estate returns, as well as assisting with the Trust Registration Service
• Organisation: Being responsible for my own portfolio of approximately 50 clients, in addition to assisting colleagues with their work
• Leadership & Delegation: Passing work to more junior colleagues, assisting colleagues with technical queries and offering support during busy periods
• Written & Oral Communication: Liaising with clients, HMRC and other professionals to discuss tax affairs using technical language

Industrial placement year at Critchleys LLP (2019-08 – 2020-07)

• VAT: Preparing and submitting VAT Returns for clients
• Bookkeeping: Regular bookkeeping using various accounting software and handling client queries
• Use of accounting software: Completed training in the use of Xero and Sage 50 and used these systems extensively
• Time management: Completed client work with a tight turnaround, ensuring to stick to deadlines

Work experience placement at KPMG (2016-12 – 2016-12)

• Professional development: Attended team building and management exercises
• Oral communication: Attended conference calls between KPMG and clients
• Research skills: Researching information on prospective future clients of the company
• Tax and Audit: worked alongside the tax and audit teams and got to know how each department works and their roles in KPMG

Sales advisor at Debenhams (2015-08 – 2017-09)

• Teamwork: working as a team to deliver excellent customer service both through direct customer relationships or maintaining a professional environment
• Initiative: taking shorter breaks so as not to leave department unattended for too long in order to maintain a tidy and well organised environment for customers
• Written communication: composing emails for both other members of staff and customers. Emails to customers involved liaising with other members of my team to ensure a professional tone is used when responding to customer complaints or queries

BSc (Hons) in Accounting & Finance – Oxford Brookes University (2017-09 – 2021-06)

A levels in Law, Psychology, Maths – Oaklands College, St Albans (2015-09 – 2017-06)

GCSEs in 8 grades A - C – The Hemel Hempstead School (2009-09 – 2015-06)