This post is part of our Behind the Books series, where we introduce you to the incredibly talented and hardworking people that make up the Acuity team. We’re excited for you to get to know them.
In this episode of Behind The Books, you’ll meet Rabia Nafe, an Acuity bookkeeper who has been with us since 2014. Rabia developed a passion for accounting and finance at a young age and eventually went on to earn both her BS and MBA in finance. Her dedication to her career field really shows in her work, and we’re thankful that Rabia is part of Team Acuity!
To watch the full interview, check out the video at the bottom of this post.
How did you get into accounting and finance?
I have been into accounting and finance since high school, and I started studying the subject in about 10th grade when I lived in India. I was able to choose my field of study from 11th grade onwards, and so I went on to get my bachelor’s in accounting and finance and then my MBA. I’ve been studying accounting and finance for most of my career — I always knew where I wanted to go.
Who is your favorite client of all time?
My all-time favorite time would be FullStory because I saw them go from 12 employees on payroll to over 100 employees on payroll over the span of eight years. They stayed with Acuity for five years, but they were getting so big that they eventually had to take their services in-house.
As for my current favorite client, I would say that all of them are my favorite in different ways. I might like something about one, and something different about another. As long as I’m not scared of my client — not hesitant to give my opinion to my client — they get added to my list of favorites.
What does a normal workday look like for you these days?
In the morning, I make sure that my kids are fed, I give them what they need, and then make sure they don’t come and bother me! Then, I like to knock out all the important stuff that I really need to take care of. After about two hours, I might hear the kids because it’s summer now, and we’re all home. Other than that, I am with my laptop the whole time.
We have the convenience of working from home, which makes a big difference, and now [because of COVID] clients understand that too — that we work from home and we are remote, so the client’s understanding of that aspect is a big thing.
Who do you feel needs Acuity’s accounting services?
Everyone! I feel like businesses that lack a little understanding of accounting or try to do it themselves could benefit from Acuity’s services. You know, everyone is busy, and when they try to do it themselves, they can get behind on their basic bookkeeping and other accounting tasks.
I have a client whose books are quite interesting, but we’ve worked with them for years because they know that someone [from Acuity] is getting into their books weekly; someone is doing the daily and weekly tasks that need to be done. And even if the books aren’t perfect, the information is somewhere there. They know that they can go look and that they can have some details from there.
How is Acuity different from other places you’ve worked at during your career?
I love the family bonding we have at Acuity. I call them our Acuity family, and I’m sure you all do this. The way that our management team is always supportive — I know if I need to get help, I can just raise my hand and there’s someone to help me right away. We have good transparency here and are always motivated. We never have to guess about what’s happening at the management level; Kenji and Matthew have always been transparent with all of us.
What is something that people normally wouldn’t know about you?
I love to do a lot of arts and crafts and baking with my kids. It’s fun family time and, I think of it as my stress-buster.
Enjoyed this episode of Behind the Books? Meet the rest of the Acuity team here.
