Jacob Pantlin, Western Australia
The dux of ATL001 CTA1 Foundations, Jacob Pantlin, blends regional tax compliance, advisory excellence, and community impact, advancing SME taxation expertise through real-world application.
Jacob has 9 years of experience, currently working as an Associate Director at a family-run tax and business advisory practice in Bunbury, WA. When Jacob isn’t in the office, he spends his free time trail running or winding down with his wife and two cats over a game of Mario Kart.
Yet in the office, he thrives on building genuine connections and cultivating a tight-knit community where colleagues and clients alike feel valued. Jacob studied a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting & Finance) at the University of Western Australia and then pursued a diploma and advanced certification to further his expertise. Finding his feet, he began his tax career in Perth, working in restructuring and recovery.
“My work involved managing business restructures and turnarounds, business sales and liquidations, financial investigations, court-facilitated public examinations and litigation, as well as financial modelling, forecasting, and options reports. It was really interesting work, and I found it technically and personally challenging.”
No standing still
He soon decided his calling was elsewhere and felt compelled to return to Bunbury, where two days are never the same. There, he serves a wide range of clients and industries in the SME space, helping business owners navigate growth, change, and the increasing complexity of the business environment.
Jacob’s ambitions don’t stop here. With a new leadership role at his family’s practice, he wishes to continue progressing through the CTA program: “I think it’s critically important for accountants working in the SME space to have a solid understanding of tax law and its application, as well as a solid commercial experience to appreciate the real-world application of business advice. I believe the CTA program provides the best training and resources to develop specialised taxation knowledge in your advisory toolkit.”
Jacob told us about the differences between working in a big city and a small town like Bunbury. We were interested in what this looked like for him.
“The biggest difference I’ve noticed is the feeling that you’re working within and impacting a community. In the city, I could be working very closely with a handful of clients for several months and never see them outside of work. In Bunbury, I regularly bump into clients at the gym, grocery store, or the pub. It’s taken a bit of getting used to, but it adds to the meaningfulness of the work to have that ongoing connection.”
This reinforces the idea that tax affects everyone in the broader community, and whilst those of us in the big cities may not feel how it shapes us, reflecting on Jacob’s experience can help us feel more connected to the work we do every day.
The rewards of family business
For Jacob, returning to Bunbury to work for a family business has been nothing but a positive change.
“It’s been nice to reconnect with the community and see how much the region has developed over the last ten years,” he says.
“The lifestyle here is great, and the people have been very welcoming. From a career perspective, the opportunity to do advisory work with such a diverse and interesting range of businesses has been genuinely exciting.”
And the most rewarding part? It must be seeing clients succeed and helping them achieve their goals. How, well that varies. “Sometimes,” David Jacob says “it’s achieving a growth target or completing a business transaction. Often it’s simply gaining clarity regarding their business position and direction for the future. I also get a lot out of mentoring junior colleagues and fostering collaboration within the firm,” he concludes.
Balancing study and work
Managing study, work, and other commitments while performing so well wasn't easy. “It was really tough,” Jacob admits.
“I had just relocated from the city back to my hometown, I’d just started work in a new area of accounting, and I had a lot going on outside of work. I relied heavily on my family, especially my wife.
I gave up my evenings and weekends during the six-week course, pulled it together at the end, and made it happen. Sometimes balance means accepting that work or study will take priority; it’s not always 50:50.”
Advice for fellow tax professionals
Jacob’s advice for other tax professionals considering further study is clear: the practical value cannot be understated.
“The real-world application of this course far exceeds what I learned at university or during CA/CPA,” he explains.
For him, the impact of his study has been immediately applicable to day-to-day work as he found that: “It has really enhanced my advisory toolkit and my confidence. If you commit to the coursework, you’ll get far more out of it than just another qualification.”
As Jacob progresses through the CTA program and grows into his leadership role, he’s not just advancing his career; more importantly, he’s building the expertise that will elevate his clients’ success and shape the future of his family’s practice.