Audit Apprentice Review

A day typically starts off with a daily meeting with the audit team, where we'll discuss work allocations and the status of any issues and queries that we have. After this, we will go onto our tasks for the day, as a first year apprentice- you should expect to be performing relatively straightforward tasks such as summarising board minutes and completing workpapers relating to the entity and it's environment, which will help give you an understanding of the client and what to look out for. In terms of testing, you will be involved in mostly sample testing for substantive and controls work, as well as analytical procedures. As your experience increases, so will your responsibilities and the relative importance of the work you have been allocated. When studying for exams, you will need to do your revision after work hours, you will usually be entitled to a day of study leave before your exams and the day off work on the date of your exam.

I've developed a good understanding of accountancy, as I'm working towards different profession qualifications AAT/ACA. What you learn off the job will be applicable on the job, there are also training courses that you will be enrolled on (as well as optional modules) which are more specific to your role. The most important skills I've developed whilst in this role have been communication and time management.

If you are placed within a good audit team, the experience can be very enjoyable and you will learn a lot from your colleagues, most are very friendly and are eager to help you out with any questions you might have. The issue is that there is very little opportunity for fellow apprentices to network and meet each other, as we are all put on different teams/departments, and there was no effort to organise any social events for apprentices in my cohort when I joined. The work can be interesting and satisfying, but will require a lot of perseverance (especially during busy season, where it can get stressful).

Once you start your apprenticeship, the programme is well structured; in that you will essentially have some intensive training to understand your role and how to perform the work you do on a daily basis. The studying aspect is also relatively well structured, and is all managed by BPP, the only issue being that you are given very little time between tuition and sitting exams (usually around 2-3 weeks), which can be very stressful given that we have to work full-time (and extra hours), as well as study at night. Studies and training aside, the day-to-day work is pretty well structured with meetings, and everyone is clear on what they need to work on.

KPMG offer some centralised support networks and resources which are available to all employees. As mentioned before, as long as you are placed on a good team- most (if not all) of the team will be happy to help you out and coach you.

BPP provide all of the tuition and study resources for studying towards exams. There is a combination of in-person lectures and pre-recorded ones (accessible online), as well as practice questions, which are useful for revision.

The training provider will prompt you to think about how you are progressing on your apprenticeship and day to day work, through catch up calls that take place every few months. I wouldn't say that there is anything particularly outstanding about what is provided by the training provider when it comes to helping your job better.

Depending on your department, you will have social events that take place on a monthly basis, and there are lots of different communities that you can become involved in within KPMG. Within your teams, there tend to be social outings such as milestone meals and drinks, which are a good opportunity to socialise outside of the workplace.

Yes

As long as you know that accountancy is a field that you want to go into, it would be a good idea to be on an apprenticeship within a big 4 firm, to give you an idea of what it's like to live in the working world. You will be exposed to lots of different types of people and situations whilst working here, and you will learn a lot about yourself, others, and the role you perform.

When applying, you need to be honest about what you are actually capable of and not exaggerate anything, as you will have to sit through a job interview - where questions will be asked of you. You will need to prove that you are able to provide value, and you need to ensure that you have plenty of examples of how you have responded to certain situations in the past, or how you would approach a certain scenario. I would do some research into what auditors actually do, and what interview questions are typically asked.