Six Bentleys professionals receive firm’s inaugural staff awards
Accounting and advisory firm Bentleys has issued its inaugural internal staff awards at its recent 2026 network conference held in Hobart, with six recipients announced across five categories.
The ‘culture & leadership’ category was jointly won by James Glover and Alexander Trim, respectively of the Western Australian and Queensland branches of Bentleys, while the ‘client impact & excellence’ award went to Andrew Bertoia in New South Wales.
Awards were also presented during the firm’s three-day conference to Sarah Phillips of Queensland for ‘collaboration & connectivity’, Victoria’s Vishnu Kamath for ‘innovation & productivity’, and Emily Green in her Tasmania home-base as ‘aspiring leader’.
“These awards recognise individuals who uplift others, strengthen collaboration, deliver outstanding outcomes and embody our dynamic, authentic and connected culture,” said recently-appointed CEO Sandie Boswell, who also thanked the staff who had nominated a colleague. “Your recognition of each other’s contributions is what makes Bentleys such a special organisation.”
Currently a manager, James Glover has spent the past decade with Perth-based accountancy Knight, which joined Bentleys in 2024. He was recognised for demonstrating calm, practical leadership during the local roll-out of cloud accounting software Business Fitness, “taking ownership of training and keeping people connected.”
Also a manager and now with Bentleys for just shy of a decade, Brisbane-based auditor Alexander Trim jointly won the ‘culture & leadership’ award for having “positively shaped culture and capability across Brisbane and the Philippines for many years”. He responded by saying that his guiding principle was to “be the manager you want to be managed by.”
Meanwhile, Andrew Bertoia, a Sydney-based client director within the business services division, has taken home the ‘client impact & excellence’ award for having “delivered an exemplary client outcome by leading a high-stakes, multi-round competitive tender” which ultimately secured a major engagement for Bentleys in New South Wales.
An SMSF specialist and associate director in Queensland, Sarah Phillips joined Bentleys in 2022 after previously spending time at Grant Thornton and the Westwood Group. She was recognised for “authenticity, positivity and problem-solving mindset” which has helped to “build a collaborative environment where teams feel connected and empowered.”
Having also spent time with Grant Thornton and Deloitte, audit manager Vishnu Kamath joined Bentleys in Melbourne in 2024. The firm said; “Vishnu champions innovation by sharing knowledge and encouraging others to experiment and improve, strengthening our capability and positioning us for future-focused, technology-enabled services.”
Lastly, UTAS science graduate and aptly named Emily Green, who joined Bentleys in Hobart as an ESG advisor in 2023, has been named the network’s inaugural ‘aspiring leader’ for her work in the carbon accounting space and “bringing new thinking towards helping colleagues and clients navigate evolving expectations with clarity and a practical focus.”
