Audit Associate Review

I am an audit associate - if you ever have the (dis)pleasure of meeting a top 6 firm accountant, and they let out a sigh of sympathy in reference to the dullness of audit, believe me when I say that there is a lot of truth in that. Day-to-day, audit is basically synonymous with one huge financial investigation; the idea is that, as a sceptical professional, you go in and investigate the client's financial statements and trial balance. You do this via various methods - from vouching banks to statements/letters, to analytical reviews where you pick up any odd trends right to the notoriously dull transaction testing where you follow a sales/purchase transaction from the Invoice/Purchase order all the way to the money entering/leaving the bank account. You are also usually in a different place every week/two weeks and rarely get to spend time in the office. This is nice at first but the novelty wears off after a while when you realise you can't plan your social life. Having said that, depending on what sort of firm you work with and clients you work on, it's potentially extremely rewarding. Working at GT, you are often put in at the deep end and challenged on a regular basis. Also, the fact that you're usually looking at everything on a macro-scale means A LOT of interaction with very senior staff - it's not uncommon to sit down with Finance Director of a company. This exposure in and of itself is a biggy for your CV. Ultimately though, audit is a stepping-stone for many (that gives you a good grounding in finance), but a career for few. High staff turnovers in audit departments are the norm throughout most large firms as people come in, qualify after three or four years, and go off into Industry or stay in Practice but pursue another route (ie Tax, Corporate Finance, Insolvency etc). My low rating is not reflective of GT as a firm but audit as a job. However, a phoenix cannot rise from the ashes until it has been burnt, and the opportunities on the other end of the training contract are amazing.

You will pick up A LOT as you go along, and will surprise yourself.

Bearing in mind responses to question 1, audit as a profession is rarely 'enjoyed' by many. As a company though, Grant Thornton are one of the nicer big firms to work for. We have a Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) system which - as far as I know - none of our rivals offer. As part of this, you are basically able to build up a balance of any overtime you have worked, and take it off as holiday later on in the year. Anyone who knows anything about working hours in our industry, knows that this is a Godsend. In terms of company culture, Grant Thornton is not as large as the Big 4. This has pro's and con's. In the way of pro's, as I stated earlier, you are able to get involved in higher level stuff and be involved in supervisory roles sooner. But, as a con, there is generally less flexibility to move around internally. This is limited in two respects; firstly, our specialist departments (Corp finance/Insolvency) are small in the first place, so they are limited as to how many people they can take on. Secondly, you are often limited by "business demands".

If you are looking for regular pats on the back and a career where you can see the fruits of your labour, this is not the career to be in. Hard work is standard procedure. But, at GT, your progress is being monitored and you know that - you are not just another trainee who will "leave in a few years anyway". Ultimately, there's a lot of pressure - so the job is not for the faint-hearted. But you are always propelled to improve. So it depends on the type of person you are.

A lot of my friends joined organisations such as BT and British Gas on their apprenticeships and - when it comes to organisation - accounting as an industry is miles ahead of most professions. You do your qualifications and your job, whilst progressing in each simultaneously as you begin to do more advanced exams, you also begin to plan audits and complete higher risk areas.

All of GT's training is done through Kaplan. There's only BPP that compares to them, but even then there is nothing in it. Ultimately, you're being trained by the best that money can buy so the onus is on you really.

See questions 4 and 5.

Package is not great compared to some other schemes. Further to this, you also get paid less than grad's when you do the same job as them and could potentially be better at it. But it all evens out eventually (after you qualify).

There are always opportunities to get involved. As someone who has a lot of external commitments as it is, I tend not to get involved. But there are always opportunities for those who look.

Yes

It's a great stepping stone to a career which opens a lot of doors to you ultimately.

Read websites like Wikijobs. They really do help. It always helps for your father to be playing golf with a partner/director but I didn't say that.