Tax Consultant Review

Within KPMG I work in the Global Mobility function. This department supports individuals moving to overseas locations for work purposes with their UK tax obligations. My days never look the same. The main tasks I would complete within a year is preparing the annual tax returns, assisting with the payroll preparations, having calls with individuals moving to assist with their questions and supporting overseas KPMG offices with questions they may have on the UK tax system.

As my department has a lot of volume, I would say the main skill I have developed is time management as I need to know what work to prioritise and understand what tasks I need to complete each day. In addition, I would say my communication skills have also improved from speaking with so many individuals from so many different countries.

With the programme I enjoyed the rotational element which allowed us to sample lots of different departments to then ultimately decide where we wanted to specialise. The team I am in now are all very supportive and understanding when it comes to exam time. The programme did meet the expectations I had before joining KPMG.

I think the programme at KPMG is well structured due to the support of Tolleys. We are always aware of when our college/exams are and the also the additional requirements we must meet as apprentices, for example tracking off the job learning. We also have quarterly meetings with Tolleys to make sure we are on track, which also helps.

Within a team you have a Performance Manager. This is the person who will assist with your goals and career developments. In addition, there is a People Leader in every team who supports you with personal matters. When I joined GMS I was also appointed a buddy who helped me in the settling in process.

With Tolleys we attend classroom training and also pre-revision courses which are normally just before we sit an exam. In addition, we have mocks that we need to complete through Tolleys which are marked by a Tutor to help us monitor our progress. Tolleys also have an apprenticeship team who deal with apprenticeship specific matters such as skills and behaviours tracking.

The qualifications I have sat are AAT, ATT and I am currently working towards CTA. The ATT and CTA are tax specific qualifications and have definitely helped me in my day to day role with the personal tax side. For example, I am now more comfortable in performing certain personal tax calculations as a result of doing these qualifications.

Due to Covid there hasn't been many social events, but pre-Covid we had annual Christmas parties and regular socials outside of work to network with other departments. We also have an office local charity which we put on fundraising events for which you can volunteer to assist in organising and can also attend the events.

Yes

The culture and people within KPMG are definitely one of the strong points. The people within KPMG are all so supportive, welcoming and friendly which definitely helped towards transitioning into the role. The qualifications KPMG offer are also really helpful for accounting roles and the support of Tolleys ensures that you are confident when sitting exams.

Make sure you do as much research on KPMG as you can - such as our firm values, our CST strategy and also the different functions within KPMG. This will not only help with determining whether KPMG is the employer for you, but it will also help in the interview processes.