Deloitte Football Cup

Did I mention already that I played football for 18 years? When my Tax colleagues asked me to compete against Audit and Fiduciare in the official “Deloitte Antwerp Office Football Cup” I didn’t hesitate for a second. Also, Laga, an independent Law firm participated in the tournament. Piece of cake, right?

The arena where we would celebrate our glorious victory was the sports hall of the University of Antwerp.

The Tax Consultants decided to participate with 2 teams… To make the cup final more dramatic, we thought ;-).          

The first match we had to play was against Laga, the independent law firm to whom Deloitte appeals regularly to assist their clients with legal matters. After 10 minutes we were 4-0 behind, so much for our glorious victory… In the end we lost the game with 9-3. Rematch against Audit! Although they did beat the other Tax team, and they had considerably more football talent, we managed to keep a clean sheet at half time. In the end we did lose however, 2-6.

So… big final between Audit and Laga, and the two Tax teams could fight to become best ‘loser’. But first, and now I will catch the guys their attention, there was a ‘girls only’ match between Tax and Audit. It was a heroic game in which both teams showed a lot of dedication!

 

After two thrilling matches, our colleagues from Audit won both the women’s and the men’s cup!  And … we became third after defeating the CIT-team (CIT = Corporate Income Tax)!

Congratulations to Audit, but I’m sure Tax will strike back … Maybe next year with you in our team?

Bram

In-house training – technology and soft skills

Being a good Tax Consultant means more than mastering a good tax technical knowledge. It also requires managing certain technology and soft skills. Therefore Deloitte often organises in-house learning sessions to which you can voluntarily subscribe, such as PowerPoint presentation skills, Excel advanced, Personal branding,… This week I attended the learning session “Priority Management Programme – working smart with MS Outlook”.

The day before the course I received a questionnaire to complete so that I could already get a feeling of the learning objectives and how much improvement could be made. I won’t tell you my score, but there was still some margin left 🙂

The learning session kicked off with a sandwich lunch (in my opinion food is always a good way to start!). After everyone had shortly introduced themselves and had “confessed” their main issues regarding time management, Katie, the instructor, taught us plenty of useful tips and tricks on how to improve our daily planning, manage tasks and follow up on pending items and how some very convenient features of MS Outlook, of which I didn’t know the existence before, could assist in all of this.

I left the course with the mission to succeed in this “new way of working”. In two weeks, I have a personal coaching session with Katie to tackle my specific points of attention and to follow up on whether the progress in efficiency and planning is already heading in the right direction. I’ll keep you posted!

 

One weekend in Avoriaz – Deloitte shortski 2014

Thursday 13 February 2014 – Day of departure
After some careful organisation the time to leave on a short ski trip was finally there. Registrations opened at 6PM after a long day of work!
Deloitte offered pizza as a farewell dinner and a cozy sweater to keep us warm on the bus. 23 of our colleagues joined the short ski and were all excited to leave for France!

   
Friday 14 February 2014 – Valentine ski
An 11 hour bus ride was followed by a first day on the slopes. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the sun, but snow that accompanied us on our way downhill. After an exhausting but snowy morning, we gathered for hamburgers and French fries and ended our day with a fun après ski at our hotel. For dinner we had a typical and very cheeeeeeezy French raclette/fondue.
After a glass of two we went to the ‘Shooters’ bar for some additional, well-deserved, après ski drinks. Accompanied by a cover band, we danced the night away…

   

Saturday 15 February 2014 – Off to Switzerland
After a great party on Friday, we hit the slopes on Saturday morning! After a couple of descents, our dear colleague Bart decided to take over the lead. Due to the lack of sleep, we ended up in Switzerland with an invalid ski pass and had to bargain our way back to France. No hard feelings Bart 🙂 … as some of us had never skied in Switzerland before (read: it was fun!). After a refreshing hot shower, we all gathered in one of the hotel rooms for apéro! Again, the night ended in the bar.

Sunday 16 February 2014 – Snowworld
The brave ones hit the slopes one last time. Due to the heavy snowfall, we had weak knees at the end of the day.
The others went out for lunch and shopping or visited the Aquariaz wellness center. Same as the weekend started, we concluded it with pizza’s for dinner before getting onto the bus back home.

 

Monday 17 February 2014 – Sleepy Monday
Thanks to everyone who joined!

We had a great time!

Lidia & Marie

In-house training

To keep your tax knowledge up-to-date, Deloitte often organises in-house Learning sessions per department. For the GES department, topics such as cross-border employment, pensions and real estate are being discussed. This week: equity! Let me tell you about my day!

Training in Diegem = getting up early. It’s 7 am and I’m already on the road. As I normally work in the Ghent office (which is just a 20 minute drive away), and as I’m not exactly what you call a morning person, going to the headquarters is always quite an adjustment.

Due to traffic I only made it just in time. Thank goodness I still have time to grab a cup of coffee!

Ready for the training! Part 1: cross-border equity plans – withholding and reporting obligations and afterwards, taxation of stock options.

Brainstorming to solve the exercises after the theoretical part.

Lunchtime! Did you know Deloitte’s company restaurant was nominated the best company restaurant in the 2012 Belgocatering Gault Millau guide?

Final part of the learning session  on equity: taxation of capital gains on shares.

With a backpack full of knowledge returning back home – thinking of how I am going to implement today’s training on the equity project which is already waiting in my inbox.

My Latest Project – Touch of proud with a sparkle of happiness

Dominique here… with some good news, one of my many sources, my buddy, told me this: Deloitte, the best teaching and learning culture there is.
Why did she say this? Because it’s true. We receive challenging projects from time to time, where you feel you bring added value to the company.
Let me give you an example:
A few weeks ago my counselor asked me if I would like to assist him with a product that our department wants to offer to the market. Without hesitation I said yes, obviously. He explained me what was expected and sent me to work. He left me complete freedom (and trust) to make a first draft. He had a look at my proposed draft and gave me some feedback and recommendations. After a few discussions and the necessary adjustments, the product was final and ready to go out.
And then… there it was, the e-mail to our department, presenting the product, mentioning my name (together with the rest of the team of course).
My feeling? Touch of proud with a sparkle of happiness.

Don’t believe me? Come and see for yourself!

So, until next time.

Dominique.

PS: Spotted: My Counselor. Happy with the result.

Lidia Belevitch

Who am I? Lidia!
What do I do? I work as a Tax Consultant in the “Global Employer Services” department of Deloitte.

Probably both of the above answers don’t make any sense to you, so let me explain. I’m in my twenties, living in Antwerp and on my way of taking my first steps throughout the adult world. Passionate about life, I do my utmost best to optimise my work-life balance. I started my first “real” and “grown-up” job at Deloitte in September 2011. Over the years, I’ve encountered lots of opportunities, learning developments, friendship and fun at work. Also, I had the time to develop myself and invest in things I love, like travel, sports and obviously, shopping!

Oh yeah, and I deal with tax stuff in one of the many Deloitte departments.

The main reason why I chose to put two questions in my introduction is because I don’t believe someone is actually determined by his/her profession. No, my job at Deloitte supports me and develops me as an individual and I’m pleased to share my story with you on our Deloitte blog!

Lidia

Pierre-Alexandre

Hi, I am Pierre-Alexandre, or “PA”. I joined the Deloitte Global Tax Center in September 2011. We are a big team of young professionals coming from all over Europe. I started a Tax degree at ICHEC – ESSF when I joined Deloitte. Taxation suddenly became a passion :-). So you may think that my life’s all about taxes now …? Well thank God, no it ‘s not! My second passion is sports! Two years ago a basketball team was set up within the company. We had a great first season and finished second in the championship. This allowed us to get promoted to the next division.

This year we are doing quite well too, the top 3 is a reasonable goal after only 2 defeats in 12 games! The Deloitte Basketball Team is a great opportunity to meet new colleagues in a very different context. Deloitters are known as hard workers, believe me …, on the field we can be hard players too :-)! Let me reassure you: I don’t spend my weekends at Deloitte! On the contrary, my weekends are well spent at renovating my flat, going to concerts or travelling to Eastern Europe.

I will be able to tell you more in the comings weeks 🙂

“PA”

Marie Gielen

Hi there!

I’m Marie, a 25 years old (or young) Bachelor in Accountancy – Taxation.  I just started my career at Deloitte as Junior Tax Consultant in August 2013.

I hate missing out social activities with my colleagues outside of work.  Having a drink (or two or three) in the week-ends, makes that we are great team!

I love tax! …of course …. and sports. The fact that I graduated as teacher in physical education before obtaining my Bachelor in Taxation, says enough.
I was 18 and used to think sports was all there was in life. I am addicted to swimming and running.  I can tell you that “runners high” really exists!  I run races every two weeks during summer. However, don’t expect too much of my times… .
Anyways,  as a sport addict, Ill keep you posted on the Deloitte sport events.   Already looking forward to our Deloitte ski trip in February!

Hope to give you a fun taste of Deloitte.

Enjoy my blog!

Marie

Joke Persoons

Did you recently read about the strangest first names used this year?  “Facebook” “Joska Bouter” or “Hilarious”? Well, mine is not mentioned in the “funniest names list”, but I can assure you that I preferred to have another one. My name is Joke ….. what a “joke” isn’t it? Parents, please take into account that there could be a slight possibility that your children will work in an international environment ;-).

Now, I assume that you are not waiting for linguistic whining…. Let’s start over!

Hi! My name is Joke. I started working at Deloitte in September 2012 within the Global Tax Center department.  As you all probably know, every Junior New Hire at Deloitte receives the keys of the most awesome car ever, THE MINI! …. Which I use to cruise from home to Deloitte, parties, friends and shopping paradises. There is nooooo better way to relax, than coming home with a Mini fully loaded with shopping bags …. going out with friends afterwards.

A girl’s gotta do, what a girl’ gotta do.
Hope to see you soon!

Greets

Joke

Dominique Wellens

Hi there!

My name is Dominique, a dreamer in a big city and always ready with a smile.

Let me tell you this: my source of entertainment? Working at Deloitte. Why? For the things I learn and see (and believe me, I learn and see a lot of things) and for the people around me (frolleagues – friend & colleagues – as I call it).

My age? I don’t kiss and tell.
Do you want to know me and my life at Deloitte better?

Then just read my stories …. .
Hope you enjoy!

Dominique