Ben Palin – Finance

Financial Accountant - Costing

The main focus of my role is producing and maintaining the integrity of the financial statements for our Polish plant and our Co-manufacturers.

I graduated from Sheffield University in 2005 and first met Kelloggs at the GMEX finance recruitment fair. I applied successfully and started in March 2006. I have really enjoyed my time here so far.

I started in the Intercompany team in an entry level role which provided me with a good accountancy knowledge base and a wide overview of Kelloggs’ financial processes. This position also helped me develop contacts in both Kelloggs’ domestic and international markets, vastly increasing my interpersonal skills. Whilst in this role I started to study towards my CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) qualification, funded by Kellogg’s.

In March 2007 I moved to the Costing team as Financial Accountant – Non Manufacturing for the Nordic markets. Since then I have rotated through the Spanish market and finally into my current role as Financial Accountant for Poland and Co-manufacturing. Although all three roles have been in the same team the scope and day to day tasks of each of the roles has varied dramatically; from correcting cost and price errors, to comparing actuals to budget for the construction of our new plant and compiling and submitting Income Statements and Balance Sheets.

There is a high level of camaraderie and a good team working ethic that means the strict deadlines always seem achievable and the days fly by.

Looking forward I will be staying in finance and hopefully completing my CIMA within the next 12 months and gain enough experience to complete my log book. With any luck I might get a chance to travel within Kellogg’s too!