The fun side of finance

It should come as no surprise that the Faculty of Health Sciences has the largest finance team at the University of Cape Town, considering that more than half of the University’s research income is earned by the Faculty. Our team consists of three units – Research Finance, Management Accounting and Procurement, totalling 82 staff members. At the helm of the team is Zaida Sherry (Faculty Finance Manager), supported by Salie Nassiep (Research) and Desireé Esterhuizen (Management Accounting & Procurement).

You may only see the serious accountancy side of finance – and think that it’s just about numbers, reconciling, balancing, spreadsheets, projections, forecasts, deficits, profits, right? And you would have good reason to have this view, we did after all successfully conclude 24 audits in 2020, all whilst working remotely for most of the year!

But, don’t be fooled by the numbers, currencies, multiplications, deductions and recoveries, as behind all the finance jargon, you’ll find people.  And if you get to know them, you’ll soon discover that you’re surrounded by assets, not liabilities!
 

Zaida Sherry
Faculty of Health Sciences, Finance Manager