20 plus amazing years with the accounting firm BDO
Riana Oosthuizen is a Group Finance and Compliance Officer at BDO Namibia.
Monique Adams
Riana Oosthuizen was born in Sasolburg in South Africa’s Free State province and then moved to Secunda in the former Transvaal.
In 1985 she moved to the Paarl in the Western Cape, where she attended Paarl Gymnasium high school. After completing her high school education, she went to Stellenbosch University and studied towards a BCom degree in accounting.
Oosthuizen joined a small firm in Paarl after graduation. In 1999 she moved to Windhoek where she joined BDO. So far, these have been the only two jobs she has ever done.
“When I joined BDO in 1999 in the accounting and tax department, I decided to further my studies towards becoming a chartered accountant (CA). I also started doing my articles at BDO. The firm is my family, and here we look after each other, support each other as well as open doors for each other,” she says.
As a group finance and compliance officer, her job description entails doing everything with the internal finances of the company, as well as risk compliance.
After she had her first child in 2009, the firm agreed that she could work fewer hours per week and she has been working from home since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Her workload consists of several deadlines per week and month, but even with her busy schedule Oosthuizen says what she looks forward to by the end of the day is spending time with her husband and children.
One of her biggest accomplishments to date is qualifying as a CA in 2005. What she loves about her job is the freedom of having open discussions with her partners in the firm when it comes to challenges she faces in the her personal as well as work life. She feels that her voice matters and that her input and ideas are valued.
“I have a few things on my bucket list, which are to visit Disneyland in Florida, as well as to visit other countries and experience different foods and cultures,” she says.
Riana Oosthuizen was born in Sasolburg in South Africa’s Free State province and then moved to Secunda in the former Transvaal.
In 1985 she moved to the Paarl in the Western Cape, where she attended Paarl Gymnasium high school. After completing her high school education, she went to Stellenbosch University and studied towards a BCom degree in accounting.
Oosthuizen joined a small firm in Paarl after graduation. In 1999 she moved to Windhoek where she joined BDO. So far, these have been the only two jobs she has ever done.
“When I joined BDO in 1999 in the accounting and tax department, I decided to further my studies towards becoming a chartered accountant (CA). I also started doing my articles at BDO. The firm is my family, and here we look after each other, support each other as well as open doors for each other,” she says.
As a group finance and compliance officer, her job description entails doing everything with the internal finances of the company, as well as risk compliance.
After she had her first child in 2009, the firm agreed that she could work fewer hours per week and she has been working from home since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Her workload consists of several deadlines per week and month, but even with her busy schedule Oosthuizen says what she looks forward to by the end of the day is spending time with her husband and children.
One of her biggest accomplishments to date is qualifying as a CA in 2005. What she loves about her job is the freedom of having open discussions with her partners in the firm when it comes to challenges she faces in the her personal as well as work life. She feels that her voice matters and that her input and ideas are valued.
“I have a few things on my bucket list, which are to visit Disneyland in Florida, as well as to visit other countries and experience different foods and cultures,” she says.
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article