A vital member of our back office team, Courtney Cooper’s is primarily responsible for the purchase ledger side of the business – but her role is much more far-reaching than this.
Read on to learn more about Courtney’s background, what she’s enjoyed the most about her time at A.W. Hardy, and the biggest changes she has experienced in our company and our industry.
Tell us a bit about what you do, Courtney
I am an Accounts Admin Clerk and my job includes dealing with the invoices from the moment they land in the office up until when they are paid out of the bank. I also take on a variety of admin work as well, such as answering the phone, monitoring the accounts email, sorting the post, and filing paperwork. When required, I also help out senior management with various administrative tasks; I often type letters for Dave and Peter, or print tenders for Tim.
What has your journey at A.W. Hardy been like so far?
I will have been at the company for 8 years in January. When I started, I was an apprentice, so I learned the basics that were needed to support my other colleagues, such as answering the phone and matching invoices to delivery notes. As the years have gone on, I have been handed more responsibility, which now includes managing the purchase ledger and given access to the company’s bank account to make payments when instructed to by a director.
Prior to working here, I had no work experience at all. I started as an apprentice almost 8 years ago and everything I know today I have learned since being at the company. I gained a Level 2 and Level 3 NVQ in Business Administration during my apprenticeship and then went on the complete AAT Level 2 and AAT Level 3 in Accountancy.
What do you enjoy the most about working here?
Although I do enjoy the work, the best thing about working at the company is the people. Everyone is friendly and no one takes themselves too seriously. I especially like working with my fellow accounting colleagues Connie and Natalie.
What are the challenges of working in our industry?
One of the main issues we’ve come across is that phone calls and emails are becoming increasingly more fraudulent. It’s not something that you might think too much about unless you are dealing with sensitive information day in day out – but scammers are getting smarter, and you have to be really careful and vigilant when arranging payments.
What has changed the most?
During my time here, we have definitely taken steps towards trying to become more environmentally friendly by using less paper. We used to pay suppliers by cheque on a monthly basis, but now pay all of our suppliers by Bacs. Also, wage slips used to go out every week, but since the Sage HR portal was introduced, we have drastically cut down on our paper usage, as everything is uploaded to the portal instead.
Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years’ time?
Hopefully still with the company, whether it be within my role now or something with a little more responsibility.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I enjoy watching Formula 1 with my partner, spending time with my family and going on holiday when I get the opportunity. I also recently became interested in playing table tennis, so this is something I’m exploring!