Sometimes, it doesn’t take years of introspection to find your purpose. Sometimes, it’s right in front of you.
THAT’S THE CASE FOR Benni-Lee Mossop AGA(SA). Her purpose is simple, she says, and she is reminded of it every time she comes home. ‘Everything I do is for my husband, who has stood beside me through every stage of my journey, and my three-year-old daughter. They’re my driving force,’ she says. Her determination to do her best for her family has seen Benni-Lee define new ways of working that help put work/life balance within reach. More importantly still, that drive was one of the motivations that led her to develop the automated timekeeping software and reporting platform that was recognised through SAICA’s Future-Fit Innovator Award in 2025.
SHUTTING DOWN STIGMA
There’s another factor that has helped to propel Benni-Lee forward: the determination to challenge misconceptions around the AGA(SA) designation and demonstrate that leadership is defined by capability, not title.
This is one of the challenges that she’s tackled during a career that has been crowned by the establishment of her consultancy, Elevate Finance Solutions, in 2024 and, more recently, her appointment as CFO and exco member of SwiftVee, Africa’s largest online livestock and game trading platform.
‘I never expected to find myself here,’ Benni-Lee admits – and, indeed, her route has taken many unexpected turns. For a start, Benni-Lee had set out to study law after school; a decision she regretted as soon as she attended court as an intern for the very first time. ‘The case involved a man who had stabbed his girlfriend to death. I realised that, as a person of integrity, I could never defend someone whom I knew to be guilty,’ she recalls. ‘I was shattered. I had a picture of what my life would look like, and now I had to reimagine it.’
Leaving university, she took the only job available to her as a receptionist. Displaying the diligence and perseverance that are her trademark, she worked her way up, qualifying as a creditors clerk, and was later employed as a practice manager – and it was at this point that she decided that she’d like to start all over again. Thus began her career in finance.
SELF-TAUGHT, SELF-MADE
Benni-Lee’s choice of accounting for her new beginning surprised those who knew her. She admits that she hadn’t enjoyed the subject at school and probably wouldn’t have considered it as a profession; however, it appeared consistently when she started researching alternative career paths and seemed to offer job security and career opportunity. The idea became more appealing as she considered how much she had enjoyed working on the business side of the doctors’ practice.
‘Looking back, I was very naïve. I had no idea how much hard work it would take,’ she recalls. Long hours were only one part of the struggle: as an articled clerk, she was earning roughly a third of her previous salary, while working twice as hard so that she could fund her own studies.
Added to this, she had to transfer her articles when her husband was transferred from her home town of Bloemfontein to Pretoria due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was extremely difficult to adjust to a new life, especially in COVID’s volatile and unpredictable environment, but
Benni-Lee’s resolve didn’t falter. She completed her articles, was appointed as an audit manager, and later went on to work in financial and tax consulting.
The trajectory was not an easy one, Benni-Lee recalls. ‘I struggled to find people who believed in me. Often, people seeing the AGA(SA) qualification on my qualification would point out that I wasn’t a CA(SA).’ But, she continues, she is nothing if not tenacious. ‘If I have a goal in mind, I’ll pursue it with everything I have.’
Benni-Lee’s fight to break perceptions saw her working hours and hours of overtime. It wasn’t merely about proving herself, though: she wanted to educate herself, ‘because I wanted to be a well-rounded professional with expertise in diverse areas’. She embraced emerging technologies, including AI, as research and productivity tools to broaden her knowledge and develop practical solutions so that she could access more sources of information and, most importantly, implement them with impact. At the same time, she taught herself how to build reports and integrate it into various systems.
IMPLEMENTING FOR IMPACT
Although Benni-Lee is deeply grateful for the career she built, time has changed the way she views work. ‘I sacrificed a lot to get to where I am, but I think you
reach a point in your life when you are less willing to make those sacrifices,’ she reflects. That’s why she has become strict about implementing boundaries and being upfront about realistic deliverables. ‘I don’t want my daughter to look back and wish that I’d been more present when she was growing up.’ It’s easy for work to become all consuming – to allow that ‘urgent’ client request to sneak in during suppertime – but being firm with those boundaries is a sign of self-respect, Benni-Lee insists.
Her work at Elevate Finance Solutions speaks directly to this. When Benni-Lee won SAICA’s Top-35-Under-35, Future-Fit-Innovation Award, she commented that her goal has always been to make finance smarter. ‘By combining automation, AI, and cloud technology, we’re helping accountants and entrepreneurs focus less on admin − and more on impact,’ she wrote in a LinkedIn post.
START WHERE YOU ARE
Joining SwiftVee has meant that Benni-Lee has more precious hours to spend with her family – but that’s not the only reason she was thrilled to take up her CFO role with this dynamic company. She notes that SwiftVee has entered an especially significant stage in its evolution as it transitions from a Pan-African market leader to a global business. ‘We’re currently finalising a joint venture with the leading online livestock auction company in the USA as part of our international expansion. It’s an exciting time to be part of the business, and my focus is on helping scale the organisation for its next phase of growth,’ she explains.
Playing a part in this development resonates with her purpose, too: Benni-Lee takes pride in setting an example for her daughter and, she says, hopefully setting her up for a bright future. She takes her responsibility as a role model – not only to her child, but to future generations – very seriously: ‘The point isn’t to encourage them to follow in my footsteps, but to help them avoid the mistakes I’ve made,’ she says. To this end, she’s started mentoring young women in her space − ‘giving advice and finding them a place in the boardroom, because that’s where the decisions are made. It’s about building confidence and reminding women that they don’t have to change who they are to become great leaders. Their own voice is enough’ − and would eventually like to take on this role at a greater scale.
Her advice to those aspiring young women? ‘Start where you are. Don’t wait until you are ready to make a change; if I’d done that, I would never have become a CFO and exco member. You have to be prepared to take a leap. But don’t think you have to do it by yourself – you can ask for help whenever you need it, and you must, because that’s how you learn. Above all, remember that your career might not be a straight line, and that’s fine. Your starting point is part of your story, not the ending.’
Author
Lisa Witepski
