About Finance

The team

There are 7 people in the team at present: 6 administrators and 1 assistant controller. Head of Finance is Roel Bekkers and he leads the team. 

The Finance team is unique in that it is made up of people with different nationalities. The whole of the Benelux is represented in any case. What makes it extra special is that almost everyone in the team speaks French. Finance is also well represented in various other work groups and teams at BOIP: the Staff Committee, for example, or the Management Team (MT). For major decisions it is of course particularly important that someone from Finance is able to advise whether the plans also fit within the financial constraints. 

Work

The Finance department takes care of the financial administration for BOIP, but also for the Caribbean islands and Sint Maarten. The department’s work for these countries consists mainly of writing reports, drawing up budgets and annual reports, and providing quarterly figures. Alongside that, the department administers BOIP’s own pension fund. A member of the Finance staff also sits on the board of the BOIP pension fund. Investments made by BOIP and the pension fund are also the responsibility of the department. This mostly means maintaining contact with ABN AMRO. 

A typical working day

Your day starts with processing the bank statements and turnover reports from the previous day. This is an important task as it allows other colleagues to continue with their work.

After that, you open the Finance mailbox and process the queries from colleagues and customers. You respond to any questions and check whether any trademark applications have been made for the Caribbean islands and St. Maarten. Trademark applications from the islands are often made in USD and NAF. These applications have to be included in the accounts using the correct exchange rates. So you see, Finance is a very internationally oriented department. Once you have finished your international task you return your focus to responding to internal matters. You might check, for instance, whether any business trips have been made and calculate the reimbursements. 

There is a team meeting once a week in which all matters pertaining to that week are discussed. Then oops, you almost forgot that meeting about the project you're involved in, then it looks like your luck is in and you’ll be just in time! 

You are coming to the end of your day. You finish by entering all the purchase invoices in the correct account and sending them to the correct departments for approval. Sounds like a busy day, doesn't it? That's why every now and then it’s extra nice to finish your day with a drink at the ‘BOIP drinks’ held once a month. 

BOIP as a 'Great Place to Work’

BOIP is a GPTW. If you would like to know what our Finance colleagues feel about that, they say, for instance, that the team is a safe working environment where you’re able to express all your ideas. You can be yourself and that means you enjoy going to work each day. There is something else that’s good too: everyone thinks with you. That gives you and your work wings. It’s good for your development and your peace of mind. There is always a sounding board there for you, and everyone wants to help you move forward. It makes you feel good.

Quote from the department

A simple quote will often say more than the whole of this text. The quote from the Finance department? “If I had 1 euro for every time I’ve had to explain the difference between debit and credit, I’d have become a millionaire by now”. 

Would you like to work in such a great team too, where you can really be yourself and put your ideas into practice on a national and international level? If you would, then contact us. We will be pleased to have a chat with you over a good cup of coffee.