Financial Accountant Review

I am a financial accountant. This means that I am responsible for the handling of fixed assets in the organisation, the reconciliation of multiple accounts and multiple projects. I converse both internally and externally to deliver objectives for the organisation. I follow the accounting standards to develop my own skills in my role.

I have developed my soft skills in the organisation. My communication skills, and especially my eye contact, were not up to a level which I was satisfied with. I developed these skills by going through YouTube videos on how to improve these. I also improved my excel skills by working on excel on a daily basis.

I do enjoy my programme. I love the work which I do on a daily basis and the amount of new skills which I am learning. However, I do not enjoy the admin side of the apprenticeship e.g. the government tracker. I understand this is necessary however and happy to complete so I can do more interesting tasks.

The programme is well organised. The apprenticeship provider have a clear programme which benefits the apprentice themselves. The apprenticeship programme is well structured internally at the company as well, as they give me plenty of new work to tackle and push me towards developing new skills which will benefit myself in the future.

I receive a lot of support from my employer. They always grant me time off if I need to revise and they always ask me if there is any way they can assist me so that my apprenticeship becomes easier. They are always honest and up-front about how they think it is going so it can help me to study.

I do not receive as much support from my apprenticeship provider as I would have expected. I think they are very hands off which means that they give a lot more independence. I enjoy this approach more as it means I can focus on studying and doing all the work myself without having to report back as much.

My qualification has benefited my role by expanding my knowledge on general accounting standards. These standards specify how certain things have to be done when completing the accounting. One of these things is IFRS16, which has helped expand my knowledge of the day-to-day accounting of many companies, and something I will use a lot in the future.

The organisation promotes social activities as this strengthens team bonding. The pandemic has meant that they have been tough to organise sometimes but we have pushed through and still done some social activities. These are really fun and, personally, one of the highlights of the company. There are sport teams but I have not been involved in them.

Yes

All my experiences at the organisation have been positive. I think the company (as it should) promotes an inclusive environment which makes it a pleasure to work at, and the organisation itself has aided my development into becoming a stronger all round accountant with skills to take onto another company if I so wish.

I would give the advice to read about the organisation and the work they do beforehand, include looking at the objectives on the website. This would help greatly in learning how the organisation helps people all around the country. If it is a finance role, I would have a look into how the FOS is funded and how that impacts your role.