Trainee Accountant Review

Auditing different companies financial statements on a one or two week basis. This involves meeting with clients, testing different areas of the financial statements and helping BDO to carry out audits. This is involves working in small teams of 3 or 4 people, and never working with the same people.

My communication skills have improved greatly. Meeting people face to face and talking over Microsoft teams has been very important for the job. Also being very organised and being able to manage a heavy work load. Also learning lots of new specific skills regarding accounting and understanding of how financial reporting works.

I enjoy the programme to a certain extent. The exams can be extremely stressful, having to balance them with the job. However, the day to day work in my sector is always different, which makes the job refreshing and maintains my interest. Once the exams are out the way, the job will be more enjoyable.

The programme is very well strucutred. It is 3 years, with a structure of 9 exams in the first year, 5 in the next year, and 1 in the final year. The job role is also very structured, with a promotion from junior, to semi senior to senior over the 3 years.

BDO are very supportive. When you start the job, you are assigned a buddy who you can contact with any queries or issues you have. You are also assigned a line manager who often keeps in touch with you and makes sure you are doing ok. This is certainly a perk of working for BDO.

The training is very good during the exams. They assign you with learning time in college, as well as recap sessions and revision sessions. You can also submit mocks to a tutor who marks your work and tracks your progress. The BPP tutors are also free to contact if you are stuck on certain questions.

Some of the exams are directly beneficial to the role. There are exams on auditing and on accounting, which you find will improve your understanding when actually carrying out audits. There are also exams on tax and law, which are more technical but may also be useful for detailed knowledge.

My work do not offer extra curricular actives. There are however socials with my sector in the office, such as table tennis nights or drinks. BDO also do a UK wide football tournament weekend at year which is very fun. However, I do not know of any other extra curricular activites.

Yes

They are a good company, they pay well and they treat their staff well. The exams and workload can be very challenging, but they offer a lot of support, and all of the people I have worked with have always been very friendly and nice. I've never really had any issues working here.

Be confident and be yourself in the interview process. Also practice your basic interview skills and make sure you understand the role, whether that is audit, tax or financial services, before applying. This will help to show you have a genuine interest in working for BDO, and understand what is expected of you.