Elliot, Charlotte and Param Trainee accountants
PKF Francis Clark is a Top 100 Apprenticeship Employer. We rank 28th on the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers list for 2023, compiled by the Department of Education in partnership with High Fliers Research, who independently assess and rank England’s top apprenticeship employers.
The rankings recognise employers for their commitment to employing apprentices, their creation of new apprenticeships, the diversity of their new apprentices, and the number of apprentices who complete their apprenticeships and progress further.
A total of 108 apprentices started their accounting apprenticeships with PKF Francis Clark in the year to March 2023. With nine offices across the South and South West of England, the firm offers accountancy and tax apprenticeship pathways for graduates, school leavers and career changers.
The Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers accolade comes after PKF Francis Clark was certified as a Great Place to Work in 2022 and ranked among the UK’s Best Workplaces and Best Workplaces for Wellbeing in 2023.
Our trainee accountant jobs combine on-the-job learning, tuition, personal development and professional qualifications. As an accounting apprentice, you’ll spend 80% of your time learning on the job and 20% in tuition.
This may be in-person at a study centre or online. You’ll study a structured set of modules and take an exam at the end of each one. We appoint leading training providers to deliver your tuition. We then couple this with our own three-year internal training programme, plus the support of your manager and a mentor, to provide an exceptional training experience.
Applying what you learn in your day-to-day trainee accountant job really helps to make sense of it all. You’ll be expected to study outside of work too, this varies depending on the individual but 10 hours per week of independent study is typical and this increases around exam time.
AAT accountancy apprenticeships are perfect for non-graduates or with a degree you choose your apprenticeship from our range of graduate accounting jobs. You don’t have to be fresh out of education to apply for accounting trainee jobs. We welcome many career changers, sometimes after decades of doing other things. We value the wonderful diversity of experience they add to the team.
Our people make us who we are – we encourage a sense of belonging and our warm, open culture embraces people from all backgrounds. We focus on you – whatever aspirations you have, we’ll help you be the best you.
Along with building your career, we understand that making friends and having a great social life are priorities for our trainees. We love to have fun so we have regular socials – anything from boat parties to adventure activity days, team away days and meals out. Our trainees tell us they feel valued from day one, and they are.
What does a typical day look like in a trainee accountant job?
No two days are the same in a trainee accountant job. Every client has different ambitions for their business, and so what they need from their accountant varies. We advise on all sorts, from succession planning to complex tax needs, research and development, international trade, employee benefits, and selling your business. Naturally, we prepare accounts and tax returns too.
As a trainee accountant, you’ll need to work from the office most days so that you can learn from more senior colleagues, but over time you’ll have increasing flexibility to do some work from home, in line with the firm’s hybrid working charter.
Is an apprenticeship or uni better for accounting?
That depends on what you want. The pros to doing an AAT apprenticeship are no tuition fees and that you’ll be learning on-the-job and talking to clients from day one.
The pros to going to uni first are that you get to study something you love, and you get to enjoy the university experience. If you go to uni you can go straight into a level 7 accounting apprenticeship, or a tax one.
Anyone who holds the level 4 AAT accountancy apprenticeship can progress to the same level 7 qualifications that graduates start on. All roads lead to Rome and all that.
You don’t need a degree to reach the top of the profession. Do whatever feels right for you. It not unusual for non-graduates to become partners (i.e. leaders) at the firm.
Where and when do you advertise trainee accountant jobs?
We open graduate roles in September and non-graduate roles in December every year. You can apply on our website for trainee accountant jobs in eight of our nine locations. These are Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Poole, Salisbury, Taunton, Torquay and Truro. You can see what trainee accountant jobs are currently available in each of our locations here.
We advise applying ASAP after the roles open to secure your preferred location. This is because we make offers as we go with no fixed closing date. If no suitable role is currently available please sign up for our job alerts
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