Reconciliations Preparer Review

My daily tasks include the preparation of balance sheet reconciliations, highlighting queries and clearing down accounts which match together. I am part of a team of 8 and we all deal with certain lines of businesses within the company. I provide as much information as possible in my queries to other teams to help with the solution of them in a timely manner.

During my time at RSA I have vastly improved on my time keeping due to the deadlines we work to monthly. Also, due to new starters I have also gained a new skill in training and mentoring within the team. We are a close team and always happy to help one another which has given me more confidence within my role.

My studies are "Live Online" with Kaplan, which means I can either attend my lecture live via the MyKaplan website or watch the lecture at another time as they are all recorded. I believe this way to be extremely helpful as you can always go back on certain lectures to recap on chapters you may need extra time on to understand.

MyKaplan is very organised as your lectures are all in your calendar online with the times and dates of when the live lecture will take place. The first lecture your tutor goes through what we are going to be learning throughout the course and explains exam times, percentages. You are also assigned a talent coach within Kaplan who you are in contact with every 6 weeks.

Personally, my team leader is very accommodating when it comes to my studies. She is always wanting to know how I am getting on and will help however she can. At RSA you get 5 study days per exam (including the exam day) which is something I never had in my previous employer. This is extremely helpful to be able to fully focus on your exam the couple of days prior to the exam without the added stress of work.

My talent coach is in constant contact with me and ensuring that I am okay with what I am receiving with Kaplan. You need to complete an "Off the job" training log which is where you should be learning new skills/mentoring/training which is out of your usual work tasks, and my talent coach is very helpful and advises which tasks can qualify.

I believe that the qualification I am currently studying (CIMA) is giving me more knowledge and understanding of the reasoning and background of the transactions that I work with each day. This then gives me a better understanding of the job and able to give more detailed narratives in my reconciliations.

There are many work activities which are emailed out to us. We have a "Finance Culture Club" which each town hall meeting they detail out what activities are going on in the month. There is a weekly quiz (not finance questions) and you can win vouchers. There are also charity work you can get involved with and you can suggest charities which may be personal to you.

Yes

I have enjoyed my time at RSA and have made friends on my team who are also studying which is very helpful with motivation. With my previous employer, I was the only member of the team studying so no one understood but in RSA a lot of people are studying and on my team quite a few are so this makes studying abit better as I know I'm not the only one and we help each other if we are on different units and give tips.

Personally, my interview was on the phone due to Covid-19. However, after been given confirmation of my job, RSA were in constant contact to make sure I knew everything that I needed to as you have a lot of paperwork to fill out and documents to provide as we are an insurance company. My team leader came into the office for a few weeks before us having to work from home like the rest of the team. I think this made the transition so much easier as I had face-to-face contact with my team leader which made her more approachable.