Senior associate Review

My role as an auditor includes checking a company has accurately presented their financial statements to shareholders. This includes obtaining supporting documents, checking their validity and comparing it to the figure they have reported. It involves a lot of client communication and team work to investigate differences and analyse trends in the business

I have learned what makes a good team manager and how vital that is. Having worked on various audits with managers changing every time; you can see how their styles vary, what works/doesnt and the type of manager I would like to be. This includes clear communication, being willing to listen to problems in detail and ways to motivate the team through incentives and rewards

I loved meeting new people, working with like minded individuals and being in a cohort where evryone is approx the same age. However it did get stressful and doing a combination of work 9-6 then having to study after was overwhelming. Overall, I did enjoy it and would recommend it to others.

It was very well organised; i always knew what I had to do, by what deadline, what target I was working towards and what needed to be done that month. There was clear communication from the PQ team and kaplan team who provided regular reminders of tasks and deadlines.

A lot of support. We each have a career coach who is there to answer any questions or issues you may have. If they did not know the answer, they were always willing to find someone who would be able to help; thus i was always supported throughout my time.

A lot of support was provided (maybe a bit too much). We have regular catch ups every 6 weeks to discuss progress, what i was working towards and what i still had to do. The calls and checkins were a good way to provide structured help even when i did not need them; it was nice to know the opportunity was there

Massively helped. It provided me with the foundation knowledge of being an accountant and without it, i would be clueless in my day job. It would have taken twice as long to understand my day job without it. It taught me the basics in detail which means im able to understand the work i do from a theoretical view point

Yes - there is a monthly social which everyone from all departments could meet and catch up at. There is a sports committee where you can play netfall or football and attend bouldering sessions. There is also a defiref at the end of every audit where we go for a meal or play golf to celebrate our achievements

Yes

It has a great culture and work environment. Everyone here is very friendly, kind, caring and supportive. It really does start to feel like a family. It also has some of the smartest people I have met and plenty of opportunities to learn and develop; thus i would recommend it.

Make sure you actually want to be an accountant before you apply. Do not just get the qualification because you dont know what else to do as a lot of people fall into this trap. Do some research into accounting and audit before hand and then apply as doing the ACA qualification does get difficult and you need a reason to keep motivating you through it