Everyone in our team has supported, benefitted from and worked with many charities over the years, and it’s something we are very proud to specialise in. We understand the nuances that make a charity unique. We put our heart in to everything we do and our own passion for figures works in complete harmony with your passion for your charity. Together we can help you feel 100% confident that you are 'getting it right'.
Carol Stevenson
Senior Charity Bookkeeper
It is hard to write an autobiography without laughing out loud. Let’s see: I am 41 years old, I have a Master’s degree from St Andrews in Latin of all things, I used to be an actress and I have moved house nine times in the past twenty years….
In a more serious tone, since giving up treading the boards, I have spent the last 20 years managing the finance and organisation of various companies and projects, particularly within the healthcare, charities, telecoms and energy industries. I have run an events company which specialises in conferences for charities since 2010. In 2016, in response to the demands of a growing family whilst also managing a life-changing illness, I also decided to become a qualified bookkeeper and have been working with Beeston-Clarke Accountants for 18 months. In my third job (after all, who doesn’t need a third job?!) I also manage a team of 30 within the Utility Warehouse, a business which saves people money on their household bills.
What can I say? I give everything a go and hope that I’m good at it. I am motivated and inspired by many things but, in particular, people who work out of the goodness of their hearts and other working parents who have become, in my opinion, society's modern-day miracle workers. I live in beautiful rural Leicestershire with my suffering husband, two amazing yet batty children and a hamster with a self-destructive despondency. I enjoy brisk walking on cold sunny days, swimming and yoga, pub lunches before the rugby, and very occasionally I manage a visit back to my favourite haunt, the theatre.
What do I bring to the team? Well, I am the senior bookkeeper so what I do affect everyone else, and I like to think that no one else could do their job without me doing mine. In truth, however, I know anyone could do it. Especially Steph of course! But I hope that the fact that I care about getting it right will mean I’ll be a part of the team for a long while to come! I am also the queen of juggling many balls, both personally and professionally, so if you want a job doing, give it to a busy person – me!
Steph Beeston-Clarke FCCA
(a.k.a 'boss' 🤣)
Rather than talk about myself, I thought it would be fun for the team to talk about me (for a change!)
Here's what they had to say...
Steph has a tremendous ability to make an incredibly difficult job look very easy. She has magic fingers on the keyboard and calculator that seem to turn the proverbial ball of tangled wool into a beautiful jumper! Her patience with and dedication to us in the team is always apparent. Even when we make mistakes, (rarely of course!) she sees us as human beings and works with us to ensure they don’t happen again. As a leader, she lays great importance on training and encouraging understanding. Even though she must have in-depth knowledge of every client, she is excellent at letting us take the reins when she feels we are ready. She questions herself continually and is always trying to do things better, either from a professional or personal perspective. I feel very lucky to be guided by her – put simply, she “gets it”.
Steph is a warm, friendly and supportive person. Her thoroughness, knowledge, experience and dedication to her clients provides the example as a leader that is inspiring. I am very pleased to be a part of her team.
Ahhh thanks ladies 🙂. A little more about me though........
Over the past 29+ years, I have served a wide range of small charities and, being both a qualified Accountant and a Bookkeeper, I am able to see both sides of the finance coin. I love what I do, and 'work' is both a joy and a passion for me.
I have the most supportive husband of 30 years who keeps me very well fed (as cooking is something I just don't do!). Together we spent 10 years as Foster Parents; we have three birth sons and two foster sons, all of whom are grown up now, and so far five beautiful grandchildren 💜💜💜. I feel blessed and proud that our lives have touched many other young people through fostering, which was a very special time for us. To wind down we are often away in our touring caravan and, whenever we can, we love to visit Lanzarote and our dream is to move there eventually.
I love helping CEOs, Trustees and not-for-profits to achieve their dreams, by doing something that I love… oh and, last but not least, I love all things purple!!!!
Yasmin Ali
Compliance Co-ordinator
Hello! I’m Yasmin and have been with Beeston-Clarke for a couple of years. My past experience of working for a charity provides me with insight into the how things work in this sector. In addition, I am able to use my accounting knowledge to support the team. In my compliance role, I ensure that the client onboarding process is a smooth one.
I enjoy baking and many weekends, I find myself making treats for the family, especially for my two children. I love travelling (although not the long haul flights so much) having visited Canada, the Caribbean and Europe. I like to make sure things are done correctly, and I feel this is a huge asset to have when working with charities where attention to detail is particularly important. I am particularly proud that I work really well in a team and believe this is a key skill to provide the best possible service to clients. |
Rachel Keightley FCCA
Charity Accountant &
Client Co-ordinator
Hi! I’m Rachel and I joined the team in June 2021. As a Charity Accountant, I am responsible for producing management accounts for our clients, carrying out Independent Examinations, helping with budgets, year-end accounts, general client support and anything else that comes my way!
I have over 11 years' experience in working as an Accountant in the public and not-for-profit sectors have previously worked for a larger sports charity based in Doncaster.
I have a real passion for working with charities and find it incredibly rewarding to see the differences and benefits charities can make to the communities they serve. Although I’m not frontline I love being able to make a contribution to those differences.
Since I started at Beeston-Clarke Accountants I’ve been getting stuck in with client’s management accounts and Independent Examinations. I have some friendly and supportive colleagues to help me along the way, and I’m looking forward to working with them to help more charities understand their finances and figures.
Away from work, I have two young daughters who generally keep me very busy, but when I do have some spare time I enjoy baking (with varying degrees of success). I love reading books, mostly fiction, and I enjoy spending time with family and friends.
Zak Beeston-Clarke
Trainee Payroll Clerk & Bookkeeper
Hi! I’m Zak and I joined the team in April 2022 as a trainee payroll clerk and bookkeeper. I am currently involved in the payroll for many of our clients and I’m enjoying the responsibility of it – after all, everyone needs to get paid!
This is quite a new direction for me; my previous experience has been in catering having spent 8 years working in a fine-dining restaurant kitchen. After the pandemic I was looking for another position and I remembered how much I’d enjoyed working with numbers (yes you may have noticed my surname) I’ve always been good with numbers, it must run in the family! Mum and the team were looking for some extra support and so offered me a trainee position.
I’m really enjoying getting to know all the clients and the rest of the team even though we all work remotely. The team’s ethic is to grow and support, and I’m proud to be part of that. Working remotely has its challenges of course but we all pull together to get things done. I’m looking forward to learning more and realising the progression I can make.
I like to think I bring a “chilled out” personality to the team. Outside of work I enjoy watching films, YouTube, and generally being Zen-like-Zak!
Hello I’m Joy. I started my career in an Accountancy practice, where I obtained my AAT and ACCA qualifications. For many years, I then worked in the independent school’s charity sector as an Assistant Bursar/School Accountant and my role involved bookkeeping, budgets, cashflows and accounts preparation. These are skills I would like to use to support other charities.
On leaving the schools sector, I knew I still wanted to be involved in the not-for-profit sector in some way and this led me to Beeston-Clarke Accountants. From the first time of looking at their website, I knew this was the place for me! I love working for Steph - she and the whole team are lovely and supportive, and it is no exaggeration to say that Beeston-Clarke has that family feel. The job is varied and I am getting to use all my different skills, which I love!
When I am not working, you can find me helping with a Mum’s and Tots group and various children’s clubs at church. I love spending time with family, especially watching quiz shows and various sports with my husband and kids. I am also a crazy cat lady! I have three entertaining cats, one which will often appear on the weekly team meeting.
I joined the team officially in October 2023 as a bookkeeper. I have recently qualified as a bookkeeper through the ICB after deciding, during my first maternity leave, that my previous career as a Personal Injury Solicitor did not fit with family life!
I have always enjoyed working with numbers. The decision between law and accountancy was close run thing, so knew that I wanted to retrain in this area; to many "I told you so" from my own mum! After qualifying, I came across the job advert at Beeston-Clarke Accountants and thought I would give it a shot, as the whole ethos and feel of the company really appealed to me! Luckily for me they thought I was a good fit and I am now so happy to be a part of the Beeston-Clarke family and am enjoying getting my teeth stuck in to putting all that learning into practise.
I am a mum to two young children who keep me very busy with activities and clubs! I love to read and bake, sometimes without either of my helpers! We love to explore the North Yorkshire countryside and would be lost without our English Heritage membership.
Outside of work I have also recently taken on the role of school governor at my eldest’s primary school because who doesn’t enjoy starting two brand new roles at the same time!
I work with Steph and her team providing admin support. It is an honour to work with the team at Beeston-Clarke Accountants and learn about all the different charities they work with.
Having worked within a PA/admin role for over 25 years (eek, that shows my age!), helping others and seeing a job through to completion is something I enjoy and get great satisfaction from. I even love all those admin jobs others hate! You can't beat an organised office and systems.
I am also the owner of The Virtual PA, and that is how mine and Steph's paths crossed at a local network meeting and as they say, the rest is history!
When I'm not working, you'll find me spending time with my family and going out for walks exploring places of historical interest.
