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Charlie (Yi) Fan, Accountant, Prior Gili & Co Pty Ltd, Melbourne
Charlie, a Dux for CTA2B Advanced in Study Period 2 2025 and a Melbourne accountant shares how the Graduate Applied Tax Advisory certificate deepened his expertise and transformed the way he handles complex client queries.
From certainty to expertise
There is a certain logic to building a career in tax. For Melbourne-based accountant at Prior Gili & Co, the reasoning was straightforward: "There are two certain things in life, death and taxes, so it made sense to work in a profession that would be certain to continue in the foreseeable future!"
Having qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2019 and worked in tax since graduating in 2017, Charlie brought solid experience to his studies. Yet the studies revealed how much more there was still to learn.
Filling the gaps in familiar territory
The areas that proved most valuable were not always the ones he expected. "It was nice to spend a substantial amount of time on FBT and GST," he reflects. "Both of those topics I considered myself quite familiar with, but it turns out there was much more that I didn't know about."
International tax also emerged as a significant area of growth. "The area of international tax is often ignored in most of my client interactions," he notes, "and it was good to study this area more, especially complex topics such as thin capitalisation. I'm hoping it will be useful in the future."
Applying knowledge
The real measure of any professional qualification is its practical impact, and the results here were immediate. "When clients query about deducting entertainment, I'm always afraid of getting things wrong," he explains, "but after learning about it as part of the FBT module, it became much easier to explain what's deductible and what's not."
This ability to communicate complex tax matters clearly sits at the heart of what he finds most rewarding about his work: "Typically it's something clients dread thinking about, and it's nice to explain things in tax in a way that's easy for them to understand."
Balancing study with full-time work
Like most of our graduates, Charlie developed a practical system that made the most of limited time. "I think it's important to find the most efficient way to study, as when working full-time there is only a limited amount of time that I can dedicate to studying every week."
His approach combined active application of new concepts with clever use of otherwise idle time. "I found that the best way to study was to read the content then think of real-life scenarios that would apply the content learned. In addition, I found it useful to read the study content on my commute to and from work on the train rather than taking a nap!"
The flexibility of The Tax Institute Higher Education's delivery model made this achievable. "The best part of studying at The Tax Institute is the degree of flexibility offered, where you are free to go at your own pace based on your workload and other life commitments. It was helpful to have experts in each of the areas that we studied to present the content to us, and it was good that it was recorded as I wasn't able to attend live due to life commitments."
Looking ahead
Having recently completed the Advanced Superannuation unit, Charlie is on the cusp of finishing the certificate. Beyond that, he has his sights set on further achievement: "After this I may consider doing CTA3 and obtain the CTA qualification."
His advice to other tax professionals is clear: "I would highly recommend studying as the course is heavily tailored so that it's very practical and sets you up in being more knowledgeable when dealing with clients.
During the studies, it would have been nice to have some interaction with fellow peers, but other than that, I had a thoroughly positive experience, and a useful prompt for those looking to get the most from their studies by actively engaging in the forums available to them.”