Accountant Review

My regular work includes accounts preparation, audit work, running payrolls, personal tax, and a little book-keeping. This involves such things as posting up bank; doing reconciliations for bank, payroll, VAT returns etc; calculating draw Corporation Tax; formatting accounts etc. I do quite a bit of work on charity accounts as well as small limited companies. Tax work is generally for sole traders, drafting their tax return.

Definitely! When I began I knew almost nothing about accounts preparation and I have learnt a huge amount - from the basics of debits and credits and accruals accounting to more complex issues. I've learnt more about using Excel. I am also about 2/3 of the way through my Chartered Accountant qualification, which my work is paying for and giving me time off to study.

I had a tough start because I think my work overestimated what I knew, but I am now enjoying it a lot. My colleagues, managers and directors are friendly and approachable and my work is challenging, a good mixture of the familiar and the new. As I progress through my qualification I am increasingly finding that it is supporting my work.

My formal apprenticeship programme is largely manager by Kaplan Financial, with occasional input from my employer. I am less than impressed with Kaplan's apprenticeship programme (in contrast with their ACA training programme, which is excellent). The apprenticeship work feels like it doesn't make allowances for the level I'm studying at so I'm sometimes asked to demonstrate skills which seem pretty silly - I wouldn't be studying ACA if I couldn't do basic maths!

A reasonable amount. The training partner is always happy to discuss any concerns I have or answer questions, and my managers and colleagues are very approachable and never make me feel silly for asking even basic questions! However I feel like the firm could do with a more formal mentoring system - for the first few months I felt very reluctant to waste people's time and if I had someone proactively giving me their time that would have felt easier.

My work is putting me through the Kaplan training which is top-notch. The tutors are universally great and genuinely feel like they really want you to pass! The training material is generally good quality. I've passed all my exams first time thus far which is really encouraging. Outside the Kaplan training my firm shows relatively little interest in how I'm progressing through my exams, which was surprising to me initially.

Enormously. I have learnt a wide range of knowledge and skills from my qualification, and I would say I use probably 75% of it in my job (and the remaining 25% I can imagine using if I were working in industry rather than in practice). This includes basic accountancy and audit skills, ethical principles to keep in mind, and information on how businesses work.

My firm occasionally does fun activities in quieter months (perhaps 1-2 times a year) such as doing an escape room or going to the pub. There is also an amateur football team that I could join, though that isn't running due to Covid-19. I believe qualified members of staff occasionally go continuing professional development events which includes networking.

Yes

It's a friendly company with a really good ethos - partners who are principled and care about their staff, which is really important to me. They are willing to be really flexible around family commitments and don't demand lots of overtime. There is a focus on providing services for charities at a reasonable price, which I really appreciate.

Before applying, you should recognise that this is a small practice so opportunities for advancement will be limited, and you're not going to be working for really big clients. Don't expect a huge salary or lots of benefits, but apply if you like working in a small team and forging some good relationships with clients. If you have experiencing with charity accounts (especially church accounts) that's going to be a big plus.