Audit Associate Review

The role includes a combination of professional exams, on-the-job training and taking personal responsibility for ongoing audit work. During exam training, there is daily training from around 9am to 4pm with personal study outside of those times. During audit work, a typical day can be around 8.5 hours in length (longer during busier periods), with time spent working in teams, with clients or individually depending on resourcing needs.

If you haven't worked or studied in this field before, then most of the knowledge being learnt is new, although the basic mathematical concepts remain the same. The on-the-job experience allows you to build on skills such as client communication, project and time management, and working well as a team.

It depends on the time of year! The exam training is well organised, flexible and has the right balance of in-person study to personal revision. Audit work is also well tailored to your personal abilities and can be as complicated as you want it to be. However, expect to work upwards of 10 hours a day during busier periods (typically around 4 weeks per person, but it varies significantly).

The programme is clearly structured with qualification and training time clearly marked out in your calendar. The rest of the time, audits are assigned to you but there is a relatively high amount of flexibility regarding holiday and other commitments - this is on the proviso that you let your managers know in plenty of time!

There is a lot of support in terms of training and exam days, with all tuition paid for and a dedicated PQ (Professional Qualifications) team. There is also a lot of coaching available from team managers on different jobs, although the quantity and quality varies depending on the job you are working on.

The training provider has an online portal with lots of guidance and support. There is a live chat on all days of the week, hard and soft copy training materials, as well as plenty of days of study. There are also suggestions about which practice questions to do prior to exams.

The qualification is an essential part of the role as it provides the basic understanding for the audit work being performed. Many of the activities undertaken as a new associate are relatively straightforward and will not rely on this initially, however it is critical to participating in team and client discussions.

Yes! There are two annual social events (one at Christmas and one during the summer). There are also various sports teams (football, golf and rackets being the main ones), as well as team 'debrief' activities to celebrate the end of each project. Professional networking is not well advertised but is available through the ICAEW.

Yes

There is a good balance of study to work. The work-life balance can be more tricky, but if you play your cards right then it is possible to find something that works for you. The holiday allowance is generous with large increases in salary as the qualification progresses. Most importantly, all teams are very welcoming and supportive throughout.

Take your time to fill out the application form in full. There are likely to be minigames as part of the assessment process, which again you should dedicate a couple of hours to - this ensures that you can show off your skills! If you make it to the assessment day, you should be mostly there - the staff are very friendly and want to get the best out of you.