Corporate assistant Review

On a daily basis I am assisting at a junior level in auditing a variety of different financial companies. I perform planning for the audits by understanding the entities and their operations. Follow this I perform testing across their accounts covering areas such as revenue, expenses, share capital and other financial statement areas.

Coming from a banking background I had a very basic understanding of accounts and reviewing other people's work. I have learnt new skills in how to test accounting and been studying towards a level 4 qualification after which I will move onto level 6 and 7 qualification in accounting.

Overall the programme has been informative and insightful. I have learnt about different skills that are relevant to my role but that I could also transfer to other roles or companies or even work that I do in the future. I have found some areas a little basic for my ability such as writing about how I communicate well.

The programme itself is well structured and has different aspects to complete. I have found that communication between the training provider and my company to be a bit poor at times and as I like to plan ahead this can be a little frustrating Overall it is ok but could be a lot better.

I don't feel that I require much support from my employer for the majority of time. We are given a set amount of study days each year which help to either study for exams or complete apprenticeship based work. Otherwise we have regularly catch up and calls with our year group to address issues or questions.

The training provider supplies online classrooms which are sometimes with a live tutor. This works well for me and I am able to ask questions or in the case it is not live, pause the recording to understand. There are plenty of practice questions and materials available to work from as well. The only downside is sometimes chapters are missed due to time constraints which then I have to do in my own time.

The qualification I am studying underpins the whole purpose of my job and therefore gives me a better understanding of entities and companies that I am auditing. It allows me to fully appreciate regulatory requirements of business in the UK and how they structure their accounting and systems they rely upon.

There are regularly activities to get involved with at my work. This may be sports clubs, breakfast arrangements, social events after meetings or after the working day. We regularly go out for lunch together as well which helps bond the team. There are professional events with businesses and also with other schools and universities.

Yes

Mazars is very inclusive and is constantly growing. They support and fund my studies and allow flexibility in my role. I work from a specific office but am able to travel to different offices and client's office as well which gives variety to my work alongside the variety of my day to day activities

Be prepared to travel and work with a variety of different people from a variety of countries. This is applicable for clients as well as employees. Don't panic that you won't know everything or even anything when you start, the team are really supportive and take into consideration all factors.