Forgot to do an important task

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Jim2007

Well you are learning the hard way - as an accountant you carry a lot of responsibility, people rely on you to deliver and your personal circumstances are really not their concern, with a few exceptions such as say a death in the family or something like that. In accountancy reputation is everything, people are relying on your work, your opinion and your advice. If people can't trust you, they will quickly go to someone else that they can.

You are a trainee and your company are making allowances for this plus the expectation that you are doing exams. I don't understand why you would not tell them what you are doing... if you passed the exam how are you going to explain it???

On the Friday, you were told by your department head that you could leave if you had done your work, you had not but you left anyway...

Then at the weekend you had network problems and rather than go back into the office or go to somewhere you could get better network connectivity you choose to put it off again...

You are not exactly demonstrating the sense of responsibility that one would expect from a budding accountant and I suspect that your manager is forming this opinion as well, since you said 'she didn't really dig into it'.

You're on a training contract, so probably the worst that can happen is a very uncomfortable meeting with your manager. I would advise just telling the truth and then making a very big improvement in your behaviour going forward.

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently." - Warren Buffett

Batgurl

Hold your hands up, admit you messed up, don’t give excuses and instead demonstrate how you will do better in future (will not work from home again, will not miss deadlines unless pre-approved by manager etc).

If you’ve messed up, this is the only thing that will redeem you in the eyes of your manager. Excuses or trying to explain away the delay would not help.

ebbsy

Start checking your work a few times before you hand it up in future.

miamee

I'm not an accountant but I thought that doing exams while working was part and parcel of becoming one? Why would you not tell them you were doing an exam and avail of the study leave that comes with it instead of trying to do everything? This is a good lesson in how to manage your time - you can't do everything all at once. You've seen now that you cannot study effectively while working full-time without study leave; they give study leave for a reason.

I know you probably felt a sense of urgency to get out the door on Friday to study but there is no real benefit to leaving at 5 to do (let's say) 30 minutes work at home instead of doing 30 minutes work in the office and leaving at 5.30. At least with work off your plate you could have delved straight into study when you got home.

I'd be apologetic in your meeting, tell then you know you should have completed it on Friday before you left and that you won't be relying on your dodgy connection at home for work any more. Also, do tell them about the exam they might be a bit sympathetic to your situation.

witchgirl26

OP as a trained accountant why on earth were you trying to do the exams without taking the study leave that you're entitled to? Or without telling your manager. That way madness lies. Study leave is there to give you time to focus on the exams and not to have to split your focus with work items. It's there to help you avoid the situation you've found yourself in where you're stressed and potentially making mistakes you know better than to make because you're trying to do everything.

The other posters are right, and hindsight is great but going forward if you're told you can leave if you have your work done, and you don't, don't leave. Especially if it's a weekend because realistically you won't get that last bit done before Monday morning.

Be honest in the meeting. Tell your manager about the exam. Don't use it as an excuse for things but just to give her context. Apologise for the mistakes and for not completing the task in the time frame needed without letting them know.

The one thing I learnt early in my training was that mistakes are allowed and timelines change but the most important thing is communication. If you've made a mistake and you realise it, either fix it if you know how and own up or own up and say you're not sure how to fix it. If a task isn't going to get done in time originally agreed, let the manager or senior know as soon as you realise this. Explain why and when you think it will be done. 9 times out of 10 it's fine as long as they understand and can then feed that back to the client or further up the management chain if needs be. Remember if you're doing exams, they know that you're only learning still and allowances will be made but you have to be honest about things.

While in a training contract and doing exams, I'd avoid working from home as much as possible. Especially if your connection can be a bit dodgy. Yes it can be convenient but it's not the best idea for yourself and it can lead to a precedence of working longer hours because you're bringing it home as well. Stay late if needs be and get it completed in the office so when you go home you can relax.

Please don't do exams again without taking the leave that you are entitled to and without telling your manager. It's not going to make you look like a superhero, it'll just cause you more stress and hassle than you need.

OMM 0000

I'm a manager, and have been a manager in various companies for about 10 years.

I'm going to give some general advice.

My staff make mistakes, and sometimes make bad decisions. I am very tolerant of this if
a) they're junior (young people are still figuring out how to live, let alone how to work effectively!)
b) they're honest about the mistake and admit it
c) they try their best to solve the problem. That includes asking for help.

I really only have a problem with mistakes if
a) the person tries to hide them
b) the person is dishonest
c) there's a pattern of mistakes

It sounds like you're making some bad decisions. My advice to you is to talk to your manager, explain how you like working there but maybe college is overwhelming you a bit, and ask if you can work out a plan together.

Thanks