Flying Start 3 Review

Audits financial statements of all types of businesses. This can be at a transactional level or by financial statement line item level (i.e. Inventory, payroll, etc). Pick samples out of different listings, test these samples, and feedback any problems to the client. Walkthrough the controls in the business. Compare prior year and current year results to see any unexpected results.

I have developed my ability in interact with managers and the client. I am not able to independently work by myself on whole FSLIs and the working on the audit of notes. I now fully understand how a business works from the transactional level all the way to the board meetings were important matters are discussed.

I enjoyed to the extent of how much effort my team put in. I think more can be done socially, however, this depends on the engagement team that you are put into. I had one engagement where I got on with the team, however, most of the team worked virtually so there was a slight lack of cohesion.

The part of the programme run by PwC is very well structured. It is a smooth transition in and out of the business on placement. There is a lot of support and any questions are answered in a timely manner. The university of nottingham side of it less well run. There is a lack of information and ways of obtaining it.

There is a lot of support from PwC. They try to provide as much help as possible. This is done through giving each flying start a buddy to help throughout placement and a career coach who ensures you stay on a positive pass. Every manager is there to assist you and enable you to understand things in a better way.

ICAEW does not provide much support when working towards qualifications. They provide the relevant books for the exams for free, but provide little else. University of Nottingham provide lectures, albeit we do pay £7.5k a year for this. There is little other support, which could be hugely improved by more precise information.

The exams help in our role at PwC by helping us understand the fundamentals of accounting and audit. It is vital to understand financial accounting before commencing any work as you need to understand how the financial statements are put together. Once you have understood this, you can break it down at each stage how to commence the testing that you need to do.

There is extra-curricular activities to get involved in. This is more limited being at the East Midlands office, compared to the Birmingham and London offices due to their budget. It is also harder to get involved as we are only there for a short period whilst other associates are all progressing together as a group. However, they do provide the opportunities to join in on social events. I recently joined the one firm one day scheme, where they paid for me to help out with some charity work for the day.

Yes

The opportunity to progress in PwC and outside of it afterwards is to great not to recommend it to a friend. The average age is also quite young, which means that there is plenty of opportunity to make good friends. The salary progression is also good making it a viable choice for many people.

I would recommend them to consider the amount of time they will have to devote to studying and if that reflects them as a person. As a job, it can be quite repetitive and you have to be in it for the long haul in order to come out with the prospects that you want.