Audit Associate Review

The key roles of an audit associate revolve around assisting the senior auditors or manager in auditing and compliance activities of clients. Normally the we are well equipped with auditing procedures and standards. I also help make sure that financial statements produced by clients are kept according to the prescribed standards.

Before joining this apprenticeship, I don't have any accounting knowledge, and very little business knowledge. Now, after starting intense professional qualification training and on-the-job training, I am a lot more knowledgeable about these subjects, which I think in the long run would help me develop better business acumen.

While the programme could be quite intense, with a lot of information being crammed in a short amount of time to be absorbed and a lot of work to do (especially in the busy season), I somewhat enjoy the process of learning because I get a sense of accomplishment whenever I succeed in passing an exam or completing a job.

It is very structured, with a lot of support from the training provider (in the form of a talent coach) as well as from the firm I work in (in the form of a career coach). There are also sets of time allocated for study, which aids in exams that I need to take.

When it comes to exams, the management and other colleagues tend to be understanding when I have to study in the evenings, instead of continue working. However, it is not ideal to have to explain myself for not being able to work extra long hours, in order to spend more time studying!

They generally give a lot of support to me, from the talent coach who takes care of my overall professional development, to the tutors who actually teach me the subjects. The communication is generally quite good as well, because I'm able to ask questions in their website and usually get prompt reply.

A lot of the subjects taught in the qualification directly helps me with understanding the things that I do at work, for example accounting, financial reporting, and a lot of other stuff as well. They also reinforce each other because doing the work helps me remember the things that I learned.

Due to covid, a lot of the social activities and sports teams and other things have to be suspended, because face to face interactions are not possible or permissible. This is compensated by a lot of virtual activities such as virtual quizzes, virtual escape room, and a lot of other things as well.

Yes

It is a good opportunity to gain a lot of knowledge through their training programmes, and also a lot of opportunities to work with a lot of exciting clients and fantastic colleagues. It is a bit challenging and does cut into a lot of your free time, but if you put in the work, it's good.

It is a good opportunity to gain a lot of knowledge through their training programmes, and also a lot of opportunities to work with a lot of exciting clients. But don't run yourself into the ground. Enjoy while you're there, especially with a lot of fantastic colleagues to work with.