Audit Assistant Review

I work within audit at KPMG and this involves reviewing the financial statements of different companies across different industries. Daily tasks include completing work papers to test different financial statement accounts e.g. payroll, sales, purchases, liaising with the client, working with the team to provide a high quality audit.

I am studying to be a chartered accountant and have just finished level 4 of the accounting course at BPP. I study at the college in London every few months, and have an exam following the course. I have learnt about tax, management accounting, financial statements of limited companies, and advanced bookkeeping.

I enjoy the work side of the programme as it is very easy to see progress year on year, and to receive positive feedback from managers and partners is very encouraging. There is always a team atmosphere as each audit has a team of at least 5 people working on it at one time.

The whole programme is very organised as there is a large cohort of apprentices joining every year. There is a structured week induction, and then regular training courses to help us learn about audit work. There is also a very good support system with performance managers and also ethics champions.

On each audit there is a manager who will give feedback about the work you have completed on it. We also have a performance manager who is a mentor who you have regular catch ups with, and bi-annual performance reviews which take on board all of your work and performance throughout the year.

While studying, it is pretty independent after the course has finished. Although there are forums and a dedicated KPMG BPP email address to help with any queries about the training. The tutors during the course are very helpful and take the course slowly to ensure everyone understands the course being taught.

The training provided by BPP is directly used in my day to day role. There is a lot of theory that I learnt at the start of my apprenticeship that I have since put into practice. It broadens my understanding of why we are completing the audit work which is very useful on a day to day basis.

There are lots of social acitivies which take place, there are regular pub crawls which gives an opportunity to meet and network with people in the office. There is also many volunteering opportunities as we are given 6 days off a year to complete CSR activities. There are also many company run events.

Yes

It is one of the big 4, so I am often working with large clients and am given a lot of responsibility to complete work that is very important to the audit as a whole. There are a lot of development opportunities and the support is very good on a day to day basis.

During interview, research a lot about audit (or the area you are applying to) to show that you understand the role you will be doing. Think of good examples for teamwork, leadership ect. that you have completed in past roles to ensure they know you have the experience required for the role.