Audit Associate Review

Overiew of my roles: I am a school leaver on the KPMG audit school leaver program. I work mainly as part of teams auditing the financial statements of our clients. As you progress as an associate you move from performing most of the testing to more of an 'incharge' role whereby you manage the team on a day-to-day basis and act as something of a bridge between the engagement manager/partner etc and the associates performing the work. The nature of the job means you work at different clients on a weekly/monthly basis (depending on the size of the job) and with different people as part of your teams. There is therefore plenty of variety as opposed to it being a standard 9-5 office job.

Skills: I'm working towards my degree from Durham University and (now that I am nearly 3 years in) am also part ACA qualified. By the end of the course I will have a BA (Hons) in Accounting and will be a fully chartered accountant. In terms of skills, your teamwork and client interaction skills are used daily and definitely develop. As you progress to incharging you also gain strong experience in managing others.

Do I enjoy the programme? Without a doubt the best part is the variety, as noted in previous answers. The audit work itself however can at times be "boring". It is largely client dependent; some engagements are truly interesting with lots of opportunities to learn new things and meet new people, where others can be fairly mundane. The culture in the regional office in which I work is fantastic, very social.

Do I feel valued at KPMG? This varies. The nature of the work means you work under different managers on different engagements; naturally some are better at showing their appreciation for your work than others. I feel that if you are high performing this is somewhat reflected in the payrise which you receive relative to your peers. Often the most recognition comes from your incharge in the engagement reviews which they provide for you at the end of an engagement.

Is the programme structured well? I do feel it is well structured on the whole. There is generally ample training for the work we perform and this is topped up as we progress to cover more advanced aspects of the work. I do feel there can be a slight disconnect between our time at university and at work in that some managers can be unaware that you are at uni. The progression though is very structured in terms of how your time is split between work/uni/professional exams and in terms of promotion, payrises etc.

Do I receive a good amount of support from the training provider? Durham uni and BPP (who provide training for our professional exams) offer generally good support. If we have questions or need help with any situation, generally there will be someone to offer it at all times. There is a definite attitude towards helping us to succeed. I overall like the support i get however little changes could be made so it is better

Do I receive a good amount of support from my employer? Largely as above. Generally good support from KPMG. We are offered enough study leave for exams and enough time at college so to give us the best chance of passing every exam first time. If you have issues there are dedicated people in every office that we can go to at any time. As previously mentioned as well i think there could be slightly better changes and improvements made but generally this is really good.

How good is the wage? Fairly well. You are compensated for the mileage which you drive to get to clients, however how well this covers your actual fuel costs is dependent on where you live in relation to your office (as the mileage you can claim is 45p per mile from your house to the client or from the office to the client, whichever is shorter). It can therefore work out for some clients that you are driving a fair distance but don't get much mileage money back. Living costs is down to you while you are working, however I feel the course earns an 8 because the degree is free and whilst at university accommodation is also provided free of charge. You therefore save thousands in terms of student debt. The salary itself is somewhat low but definitely covers living costs. After you graduate your salary jumps up significantly and then again after qualifying. By the time you graduate you will be on the same salary as graduate 'senior' associates, but without the student debt. In that sense I feel we are well compensated.

Are there outside-of-work ops? Absolutely. This is office dependent but most offices have (perhaps informal) clubs who organise even weekly events such as 5 a side football or poker nights. In my experience the offices are very social with regular social events and nights out. KPMG also supports you if you want to volunteer by offering a number of volunteer days to each employee each year. There is also plenty of opportunity to volunteer internally, for example to do presentations at schools talking to people about the program. Similarly there are opportunities to second to parts of KPMG other than audit.

Yes

Would you reccomend the programme to a friend? Yes I would because if at the end of the course you want to stay at KPMG, then (assuming you pass your exams etc) you have a guaranteed job here. The lack of student debt is also highly appealing. If however at the end you want to leave KPMG, the experiences and qualifications which you gain are highly regarded by other employers. I think the overall experience there is really good too and you are sure to have a pretty good time.

Tips for someone applying: Try to apply as soon as possible, and certainly by around Christmas. It is first come first served in that when KPMG find an applicant they deem to be acceptable, they accept them. Thus places can quickly fill up. 'Busy season' begins in January and this is why I suggest applying and at least trying to get one of your interviews in before Christmas. In the interviews be yourself. Ask questions. I would also highly recommend that people who are interested apply to do a summer internship, even if only a week. On this week you will work as part of a team and gain a really quite deep understanding of what it is that we do. I know that some people have come on the internship and subsequently applied, and others decided it wasn't for them. Worst comes to worst, you can apply to uni through UCAS alongisde applying to KPMG- in that sense it is effectively a 6th option/chance after you leave sixth form.