Background and Experience

My name's Abi Swain and I'm a qualified Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales ("ICAEW"), a Certified Practising Accountant ("CPA") with CPA Australia and have a first-class honours degree in Accounting & Finance (Bachelor of Sciences) from the University of Southampton, UK. 

I have 15 years of experience in financial reporting and people management across the UK and Australia, explained in slightly more detail later on this page. You can also refer to my LinkedIn page for further details of each of my previous roles. 

I'm originally from the UK and moved to Sydney upon qualification as a Chartered Accountant for 4 years, returned back to the UK for a further 4 years and am now settled in Perth with my husband, our two small children and our dog. 

 With my son starting school in 2026, I created New England FRS in order to continue my professional career and offer clients the benefit of my financial reporting and transaction experience, whilst also being able to be at the school gates for drop-off and pickup.  

I started my career in audit in 2010 at EY London, where I trained as a Chartered Accountant and my client base included a global online travel agency and a FTSE100 technology manufacturing Group. 

I later worked as Head of Financial Reporting and then Group Director of Financial Reporting at the UK listed Housebuilder, Vistry Group PLC (formerly Bovis Homes PLC) from 2019 to 2023. During my tenure the Group transacted two combinations, with Galliford Try and later Countryside, where I gained significant experience in due diligence processes, fair value accounting, accounting policy alignments, and much more. 

I worked as an auditor at EY Sydney from 2014 to 2017, where I progressed from Audit Senior through to Audit Manager. My clients here ranged from small charities and start-up businesses, to an ASX listed casino and a renowned global search engine. 

My first in-house finance role was as Financial Reporting Manager at a start-up online fashion retailer, The Iconic, between 2017 and 2019. The company was in a period of exponential growth at the time and this role enabled me to become involved in more commercial aspects of business and to represent finance in cross-functional teams, as well as implement IFRS 16. 

Following our relocation to Western Australia, I was Chief Financial Officer for an ammonia and explosives manufacturer, Yara Pilbara (Fertilisers and Nitrates), from 2023 to 2026. In particular, this role expanded my experience in business partnering, commercial acumen, knowledge of decarbonisation legislation and related project management for possible solutions.