Let’s get fiscal

Michelline Nawatises

Astrid Jacobi is a born and bred Namibian. She went to school in Windhoek and completed her bachelor’s and honours degrees in accounting at the University of Stellenbosch.

After her return to Namibia, she did her audit articles and qualified as a chartered accountant (CA) in 2013.

Astrid continued to study and completed a short course in human resource management at the University of Cape Town in 2015 and did her advanced diploma in management accounting with Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in 2017. Her current study plans are to complete her CIMA qualification in 2020 and qualify as a chartered global management accountant (CGMA).

Jacobi is a transaction finance manager at MultiChoice Namibia and manages the three transactional departments at MultiChoice Namibia. This includes treasury, accounts receivable and accounts payable.

She says that customer satisfaction plays an important role in their business.

“Happy customers equal loyal customers, which translates into stable revenue.”

Jacobi adds that customers are their biggest ambassadors and if they continuously have an exceptional experience with them, they will promote the company and its products, and thus grow the business.

Her biggest challenges and accomplishments so far is her studies.

“Especially the year, when I completed my honours degree, was full of sacrifices, sleepless nights and at times I just wanted to give up. Once I had the paper in my hand, finally, it made it all worthwhile,” she said.

She shared an experience she recently had which involved a customer, who was very unhappy about struggling to obtain her invoice from MultiChoice.

“I phoned her and explained the reason and could send her invoice the same day to her. Her response was: ‘Thank you once again for your laughter, but most especially for getting it right when so many weren’t able to assist’. Encounters like this with customers make you feel content,” she said.

Jacobi explains there is no such thing as a typical day.

With three departments to look after, and ten staff members, every hour is different. It ranges from assisting customers, sorting out queries, helping/training staff members, having meetings, answering emails, doing reconciliations, reviewing reports and anything else that randomly comes up.

Jacobi loves spending time outdoors.

“It is a good counter-balance to the office work and refocuses me on what is important in life,” she says. The advice she would you give to aspiring young people out there is to study as much as they can. “Knowledge can never be taken away from you.”

Her future plans are to complete her CIMA qualification and gain more knowledge through further formal studies, as well as on-the-job training from her boss.

One thing she wishes she knew how to do better is to delegate, as she tends to rather do work herself, especially if there is a strict deadline, than allowing the next person to do it.

Jacobi’s best phase in her life was the overseas holidays she went on with her friends. This allowed her to take a break from working life.

“It is nice to see different parts of the world with people you love, and it also refreshes you so that you have energy again to be fully committed to your job,” she says happily.

If Jacobi had an opportunity to change something in the world, she would get rid of single-use plastic. She stresses this is suffocating the earth and destroying the future home of the planet’s children. “This is just one piece in a big puzzle, but one needs to start somewhere.”