Careers

Working at Fordham offers an experience like no other

Fordham works with business owners and managers, not-for-profits (NFPs) and large corporate trusts.

People who do well at Fordham are those who thrive on working with clients and solving real business problems. We recruit people who have excellent all-round business knowledge and the financial and analytical skills that businesses need. Most importantly we want people who get a buzz out of seeing clients succeed.

We like to work with clients over the long-term, being their trusted business advisor as they move through the different stages of their wealth journey.

As Fordham is a specialist part of Perpetual, we offer clients access to a high-quality financial services organisation that helps them manage both their business and personal financial issues.

Working at Fordham offers an experience like no other. You work closely with our clients who are leading some of Australia’s largest and most dynamic private businesses. You gain the breadth of experience and knowledge that is only possible when you work with the people who make the big decisions for the whole business. You help them succeed and grow their business and personal wealth over the long term. It’s quite a thrill.

Our programs

The Fordham Graduate Program is an essential component in building talent, helping you develop your skills and deliver exceptional outcomes in an environment of high performance and integrity.

We’re proud of the fact that many of our graduates go on to have long careers at Fordham and work their way up to Partner. Our people are what makes our business a success, so we are committed to providing a flexible working environment that cultivates high performance and offers you support every step of the way.

Fordham is one of the fastest-growing chartered accounting firms in Australia. We help our clients with specialist accounting advice and as a specialist part of Perpetual, we offer the opportunity to work in a business advisory firm with the backing of a trusted diversified financial services company.

Joining us on a vacation placement will give you a real taste of life at Fordham. You’ll meet our clients and develop your skills working on real-life projects.

Great careers can be defined by where they started and at Fordham we offer an exciting opportunity to be part of one of the fastest-growing chartered accounting firms in Australia. As a specialist part of Perpetual, we offer the opportunity to work in a business advisory firm with the backing of a trusted diversified financial services company.

Our four-week Vacationer Program will provide you with the opportunity to gain valuable work experience in the accounting field while finishing your studies. Our workplace philosophy at Fordham is about investing in people, collaborating with peers, putting clients first, and offering an environment where diversity of thought is encouraged.

We work with the owners and managers of Australia’s largest and most dynamic private businesses, not-for-profits (NFPs), and large corporate trusts.

We have decades of experience and industry expertise acting as long-term financial advisers. We were acknowledged as a Top 10 Female-led accounting firm for 2018 by the Australian Financial Review. We are also a part of Perpetual, an investment, advice and trustee company with a 130-year history. This gives us, and our clients, access to Perpetual’s array of experts. It also gives our employees a greater diversity of opportunities to learn and grow.

We understand what it’s like. You spend a long time building up a practice you’re proud of and clients that trust you. But going it alone is a tough slog. We’re always on the lookout for great teams that can hit the ground running.

We have a well-established process for bringing teams on board. We will integrate you quickly and offer you all the resources, back office support and expertise that Fordham and Perpetual can provide.

Our opportunities

Find out more about our specialised programs and employment opportunities:

The Fordham Graduate Program Fordham Vacationer Program Experienced Professionals

Why work at Fordham?

Business-owner focus

It’s much more interesting to work with the person making the decisions, than someone lower down the chain. It’s challenging and demanding but it’s always rewarding.

Client contact early

Most graduates don’t want to be stuck in a back room, punching numbers. They want to get out and meet clients and help them make their business better. Our clients are some of Australia’s leading private businesses, so there’s nowhere better to do this than Fordham.

Broad experience

If you join a massive accounting firm, with equally large clients, you’ll probably end up being an expert in one, tiny, niche area of accounting. Let’s hope it’s an interesting one! At Fordham you gain a wide range of expertise in the business, accounting, tax and investment decisions our clients need.

The people

The culture of a company is created by the people who work there. We think our open, approachable and confident style attracts great people and makes Fordham a great place to work. You’ll have to meet us and make up your own mind.

Challenge

Everyone who joins Fordham is given the opportunity to realise their potential. Whatever your strengths (and weaknesses) we will help you continue learning and developing throughout your career. That’s why so many of our partners started as graduates.

Fordham and its clients

Why develop your career at Fordham? It’s a killer combination of clients, colleagues and a unique service offering.

Training and development

At Fordham, training and development isn’t just something given to those on a structured graduate program. Everyone can participate. All of our people have a training and development plan tailored to their needs.

These are some of the specific training programs and benefits we run.

Buddy system

On your first day at Fordham you get a buddy. Their role is to make your early days easy and to help you integrate into the firm. These buddy relationships often continue for many years.

CA program support

We know that completing your CA while working full-time isn’t easy. That’s why we do everything we can to help our people pass – and we think our enviable pass rate shows it works! This support includes:

Payment of CA ANZ enrolment fee and support material for each module
Paid study leave for each module
Mock exams
In-house workshops run by our experts

Centres of excellence

Does economics light your fire? What about tax, or the motor industry? You’re in luck! We have a Centre of Excellence for each. In these specialised knowledge forums we flesh out issues and create solutions for our clients. They also ensure that knowledge is shared and everyone at Fordham has a broad-base of knowledge to draw on when they advise our clients.

Mentoring

We believe that mentoring is a two-way relationship and both mentor and mentee can learn a lot from each other. Our mentoring program matches junior staff with more senior employees, giving them a chance to discuss personal or professional issues with someone outside their direct reporting line.

Technical training

We run a comprehensive technical training program on both a firm-wide and individual basis. This includes regular updates on key areas where industry experts (either internal or external) update our teams on the latest thinking or regulatory changes.

An employer of choice for gender equality

Fordham and Perpetual has been recognised by The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) for being an employer who is committed to promoting gender equality in Australian workplaces.