Although having joined his local, AEGEE-Tarragona, only a little over a year ago, Arnau Robert decided to think big after being the Audit Commission’s Job Shadower, and applied to be a member of the Audit Commission. During the upcoming Agora in Cagliari you will have the chance to ask him all your questions, but before that The AEGEEan asked him some questions too! Read on to get to know all about this guy from Tarragona, his motivation and his plans with the Audit Commission if he gets elected!
The AEGEEan: First of all, the most important question: why did you decide to run for Member of the Audit Commission?
Arnau Robert: I always loved economics and accounting, and I have relevant experience in accounting and financial statements because of my studies, and my work as Treasurer & Cash Management Officer in a chemical company. At Agora Zaragoza I discovered the Audit Commission, and I immediately thought that I could contribute a lot with my knowledge about financial statements. In my opinion, an audit is an expert in accounting, and he does not only check the accounts, but he can also give advice or new ideas.
Which relevant experience do you have for the position you are applying for?
I have studied Business Administration, and Finance & Accounting Bachelors at the Rovira i Virgili University (Tarragona). I did my Erasmus at NEOMA Business School in France, studing a MSc of International Finance. At the moment, I am Treasurer & Cash Management Officer for all the companies of BASF group in Spain and Portugal. In the past I have been Accountant and Controller in many multinational companies, such as Clariant, Kellogg’s, Flowserve, or Barcelona Life Science. At the same time I am also studying a Master in Financial & Accounting Management, with the specialization of Audit at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, in Barcelona. This Master’s specialization in Audit is the reason why I feel so confident in my candidature for Member of the Audit Commission.
What is the most important thing you learned during your term as Audit Commission Job Shadower?
During my work as Audit Comission Job Shadower I have learned a lot about the internal administration organization. I think that the Comité Directeur is currently doing a very good job with the financial statements, but there are many things that I think are important to do better.
What are your plans for the Audit Commission if you get elected?
If I will get elected, the first thing that I will do is to create a direct hotline between the Audit Commission and the Financial Director in many ways: permanent contact by e-mail, Skype, and virtual share points in order to work together to ensure the optimal economic situation of AEGEE. I would like to analyze the full process from the beginning. Later on, I would like to make an open call for students of economics or business, who are called to help with eventual rises of work.
Which “professional audit tools” do you plan to apply within AEGEE-Europe?
By professional audit tools I mean the processes and ways to check the accounts and administrative system. In the Audit career you learn a lot of financial tricks and ways to make up the real situation of the economy. In the Audit literature we say that there are two kinds of controls: the general, and the application level controls. For the General Controls we understand the Developing of Systems that ensure the efficient work and the administration of changes (change of Financial Director, for instance).
For application level of control we understand: to check the origin of the data (invoices, bills, bank accounts, money in cash) and ensure it. The entrance of this data has to be reliable and free of mistakes, so we would check that this is done correctly. The output of data, the accounts of the association, should reflect all the financial and economic transactions that AEGEE-Europe had during the fiscal year, and could take the opportune decisions.
Last but not least, how will you make the accounts of AEGEE-Europe more transparent and easy to understand?
How many of you know what the Audit Commission really is? What do you think that the Audit Commission does? I found that a lot of people ignore our work, and in my opinion it is one of the fundamental works of AEGEE. We ensure that the financial statements reflect the real situation of the association. I want to believe that you really care about what AEGEE-Europe does with the money that you pay every year. If you really care, the best way to know it is with the financial statements; and if I am elected as Audit Commissioner I will work in order to make the finances of our loved association more transparent. I would create permanent channels of communication with the interested people, the AEGEE members.
Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen