Any fellow trainee accountants out there?

Pippa!

Hi all,


I’m just wondering how much training and mentoring other trainee accountants receive in their roles?


I work in a very small firm, it’s just me and the boss and he does mostly financial work, so I pretty much run the accounting and tax part of the practice, he’d be out doing his own stuff a lot of the time so mostly it’s just me on my own in here.



I started off on an internship and once that was up he took me on on a trainee contract, however, from day one, I’ve pretty much just been left to my own device. If there’s something I’m not sure of or can’t do I’ll ask him, and sometimes he’ll go through stuff with me, but very rarely, mostly I’ll just have to figure it out myself and a lot of the time I just wing it.



I’m getting a bit concerned that my training as such is suffering, like, when I go on to another place of work once I’ve finished my 3 years training, will I be able to do stuff to the proper standards and follow best practice procedures? I doubt it!



While I’m fairly confident doing what I do and I know I’m doing a pretty good job, I would love more direction, and even after almost 2 years there are still a few things I’m not entirely sure I do correctly. We don’t have much in the way of procedures or such in place, I recently sat F8 so I’ve tried to implement some working papers and schedules and the like, but mostly as I said I just wing it.



Anyone want to share their situation and how it’s done in their work place, I would love to hear from you.

Best,
P

Edit - Maybe I should mention that while I had no previous accounting experience starting my internship I had completed the Accounting Technician's course (passed with distinction) and I'm now on the ACCA path, sitting F9 in June... (so I'm not a complete dummy when it comes to accounting! ;-) )

pixie11123

I’m getting a bit concerned that my training as such is suffering, like, when I go on to another place of work once I’ve finished my 3 years training, will I be able to do stuff to the proper standards and follow best practice procedures? I doubt it! 

- On the bright side you will have a lot of experience preparing full sets of accounts and tax returns that a lot of trainees will not get. You should be familiar with all reconciliations as well.

Pippa!

Thanks for that Pixie11123, there's that I suppose. (Although, recs, feckin VAT in particular, is what has me down in the dumps in the first place!)

I'd still love to hear how other trainees are doing, it could be I've just got way too high expectations... Some comparison would be great :-)

al87987

Similar position to you OP. I work in insolvency which is pretty niche.

Worried when I move on about my lack of experience with other areas of accounting.

ACADasltiv

al87987 wrote: »

Similar position to you OP. I work in insolvency which is pretty niche.

Worried when I move on about my lack of experience with other areas of accounting.

Does the firm have a general practice side? I trained insolvency but was able to do management accounts and financial statements for a few clients throughout my training which was invaluable. That said, there's a big demand for experienced insolvency staff out there if you're planning on staying in insolvency.

al87987

ACADasltiv wrote: »

Does the firm have a general practice side? I trained insolvency but was able to do management accounts and financial statements for a few clients throughout my training which was invaluable. That said, there's a big demand for experienced insolvency staff out there if you're planning on staying in insolvency.

Thanks, thats good to know at least.

Yeah the firm is about 60 odd people so we have tax, audit, business services and payroll too.

I am almost halfway through my 3 year training contract and I was just wanting a bit of variation so that if I do happen to leave insolvency I will have a bit of a platform to build on.

Just a little worried that all the stuff I am studying has no real basis in insolvency so I would like to get a bit more practical experience of that.

Having said all that I like insolvency work and would be happy enough to stay in that area, I just don't want to reduce my options.

jus_tin4

Pippa! wrote: »

Hi all,


I’m just wondering how much training and mentoring other trainee accountants receive in their roles?


I work in a very small firm, it’s just me and the boss and he does mostly financial work, so I pretty much run the accounting and tax part of the practice, he’d be out doing his own stuff a lot of the time so mostly it’s just me on my own in here.



I started off on an internship and once that was up he took me on on a trainee contract, however, from day one, I’ve pretty much just been left to my own device. If there’s something I’m not sure of or can’t do I’ll ask him, and sometimes he’ll go through stuff with me, but very rarely, mostly I’ll just have to figure it out myself and a lot of the time I just wing it.



I’m getting a bit concerned that my training as such is suffering, like, when I go on to another place of work once I’ve finished my 3 years training, will I be able to do stuff to the proper standards and follow best practice procedures? I doubt it!



While I’m fairly confident doing what I do and I know I’m doing a pretty good job, I would love more direction, and even after almost 2 years there are still a few things I’m not entirely sure I do correctly. We don’t have much in the way of procedures or such in place, I recently sat F8 so I’ve tried to implement some working papers and schedules and the like, but mostly as I said I just wing it.



Anyone want to share their situation and how it’s done in their work place, I would love to hear from you.

Best,
P

Edit - Maybe I should mention that while I had no previous accounting experience starting my internship I had completed the Accounting Technician's course (passed with distinction) and I'm now on the ACCA path, sitting F9 in June... (so I'm not a complete dummy when it comes to accounting! ;-) )

So I don’t mean to bring this whole thing down, but does anyone review your work?!? Are you submitting taxes for your client without any review?!? That part would worry me massively if I was a client!

Tbh op, I get some direction but for the most part I’m left to my own devices. I should mention I’m industry so most of my days are the same! But I do get direction/aid from other accountants and the financial controller. My experience is crap, but honestly I just wanna qualify and get out. Simple as for me.