Tax assistant Review

I am an assistant in the corporation tax department who specializes in Capital Allowances, this means I work daily to analyse fixtures/plant and machinery within a building and check if these are eligible for capital allowances. This means the client will get tax relief on the qualifying items. I work on various projects, ie hotels, office refurbishments etc and I am often responsible for a project which means I am the main point of call for our client.

I am studying towards AAT level 3 and 4, then I will go on to study ATT and then CTA. After this, I will be a qualified accountant. Training is undertaken at BPP in Birmingham with approximately 5/6 exams per year. I have learnt a lot from both my colleagues and the courses at BPP.

I enjoy the work environment, I enjoy the capital allowance department in particular as I get to go out to clients and visit the properties they are working on. I have recently been to a head quarters for a major fashion company and this differs from the day to day office jobs. This also means I can see the projects I am working on in real life. I was expecting to work daily as a tax assistant in the firm and not really leave the office apart from studying so the job role has exceeded my expectations.

I feel very valued by RSM. In my recent BPP progress update my line manager had to give a review of my performance to my progress manager at BPP and it was very positive and made me feel very integral to the team. Also, I have only been a part of the team for 6/7 months and I am already taking charge of lots of different jobs, calling clients etc which I did not expect to be doing.

My programme is very structured, I have a dedicated exam training manager who I can go to with any exam based queries and she also books my exams for me and oversees my grades. This means that if I ever have a topic that I struggle with she can get me some additional help from either external BPP or a colleague.

I receive a lot of support from my training manager and the BPP calls are often from my performance manager who checks up on my progress and grades every 2 months. The lecturers are always available after class/by email and if I had any queries I would be able to contact them easily.

I think the support I receive from my employer is very high, this exceeded my expectations. I have a line manager who is also a manager within the Capital Allowance team and she is always available to help me with work and study related queries.

Travel costs are reimbursed by my employer and the salary is very high in comparison to minimum wage at my age. I think that I am looked after very well financially by RSM.

I am looking to volunteer at the weekend at a local hospital as I think this will broaden my skill set and enhance my CV. I think its important to do charitable work/volunteer to help the community. I also attend the gym 3 times per week.

Yes

I would recommend RSM to a friend because its a challenging but rewarding job and I think it will kick start my career very well. I think I have chosen the best choice over university as I will be qualifying as an accountant with 4 years experience as appose to finishing university with a degree and then having to complete 4 more years of experience and studying.

I would advise people to research the company/job role thoroughly and be prepared to answer a lot of questions about yourself and be able to say interesting facts about yourself in the interview stage as personality is very important to RSM. Also, I would advise anyone to revise for the entrance exam as it is simple but easy to make mistakes in. The assessment centre is a long day and as long as you interact well with the staff and other candidates and just keep talking, even if its asking questions, then you'll be successful.