Hello, my name is Alice Wiley. I'm in my thirties (don't you know you should never ask a woman how old she is?) and I'm an accounts senior in a 2-partner practice in a market town somewhere in England.
The staff
The senior partner is Henry, who's in his fifties, balding and chubby, married with two grown-up sons. He's a bit inefficient, a bit of a bumbler, but we all like him because he's very kind.
The junior partner is Jack, in his forties, married, no children. In complete contrast to Henry, he's super-efficient and very precise. Tax is his thing but he also looks after all the office IT.
In the accounts team we have Paul, divorced with two children, still a bit of a lad even though he has more grey hairs than black. He wears a leather jacket and drives a bright red sports car. And we have Maria, a stunningly pretty half-Italian girl, who's just passed her exams.
The tax team are Teresa and Lucy. Teresa is about ten years older than me and she's married with two junior-school-age children. She's been with the practice longer than any of us, knows all the clients very well and has a lovely calm easy-going way with her. Lucy is just out of college. Her nose is pierced. She has a rose tattooed on her neck. And her language gets a bit ripe sometimes.
The clients
There's a real mix of clients, some elderly ladies and gentlemen, high net-worth individuals and those managing on two pensions, local businesses large and small, charities, contractors, pubs, farmers, you name it we've got it.
We don't go short of interest, certainly, no two days are the same... As you will see...