trainee accountant in practice

scrappy4

I started as a trainee accountant in practice 3 weeks ago and so far its not going too well for me. The day i started i was given a clients file to do myself ,and having never worked in accounting before found this quite daunting. There was a 2nd year trainee available to help me with it but i still found having to learn how to complete an entire file just too much information to take in at once, also I had never used any of the software packages they use and had just basic knowledge of excel, this made it all the worse I i found it very hard to understand where everything should be posted to and why.
Over the last few weeks i find myself not being given work to do most days. I have asked for something to do on these ocasions but im just told that they will have something for me in a while but that could mean hours, im so bored!! Everyone seems so busy and there is no training plan in place for me nor is anyone in charge of my training. The other day I got a new file to work on , I am very confused as to how i should be doing it, and there doesnt seem to be anybody available to work with me on it, i feel so stupid not knowing what im doing. I know i can ask people questions but i really am new to this and so i would be asking questions continuously so i really need to be working with someone. for the whole day nobody came to check how i was doing or offered any help i was just ignored and left alone , i ended up just leaving it.
I dont really know what to do now, cant go through this for 3.5 years but on the other hand i really want to be an accountant, is this the same for all trainees? It really is soul destroying Help!!!

Lurker1977

Its the same in nearly every practice afaik. They should really be someone to ask questions of for any work you are given to do. I know when I started, plus for any new trainees who started after me, there is little work to pass on where a senior will also have a lot of time to spend giving detailed direction. Don't worry about it, you will pick it up as you go. Don't let it affect you that much.

Were you assigned any sort of mentor or is there some sort of "buddy" system where they designate a trainee from last year to be able to answer any questions you have?

P.S. - Enjoy the fact you have little work now, that will change soon enough and you will long for the days when you had so little to do!!!!!

Newcarneeded

You're only 3 weeks in and straight from college presumably so they won't expect too much too soon.

If you really are at a complete loss as to what to do then definitely put the hand up and ask someone or go into the manager and say so. If in doubt, shout. They'll not give out to you for it.

Try not to go in to a manager with each question as it comes to you, work through what you can, compile a list and then go into the manager say before lunch or immediately after and say: listen, this is where i am, i've done x, y and z but I am stuck as regards what to do for a, b and c. What should I do now, how should i approach this etc

Don't get too disheartened. I found that they M. Acc's and AF graduates seemed to be miles ahead of me when i started but you'll learn with experience and catch up.

Don't worry about what you don't know yet, do as much as you can and then go in to a manager or show it to your senior and ask them where can you go from here.

The people you work with can make all the difference. In my experience the person who is the year ahead of you is probably your best help and don't be afraid to plague them with questions. The more you ask the more you'll learn.

Whatever you do don't make any rash decisions. It's a long road, so give it at least a year until your first set of exams before you decide whether it is for you or not.

scrappy4

The thing is i feel that if they are throwing me in the deep end like this they must be expecting me to be able to do it, Ive never seen anyone "trained" like this before, im either so bored because im not getting anything to do or im struggling with the tasks they give me now and again , was really thinking of getting out now and looking for either another practice job ( but dont want to run into same problems) or going for maybe an accounts payable/recievable position in industry ( my friend did this and loves the job) , what should i do, dont want to waste a year studying then to leave, dreading going back on monday.

Newcarneeded

I don't know your own background and what your aims or ambitions are.

I would advise you to give this job you're in now at least a couple of months.

You're very much in a settling in phase and you're struggling with being thrown in at the deep end, and when i say strugglin i don't mean that's a reflection on your own ability, intelligence or character, it's just that your firm has basically thrown some work at you and not given you any guidance on what they want or how to go about it.

I would advise you to talk to a parent or someone else as to how your feeling, talk to the people a year ahead of you or other people you were in college with and see how they're getting on.

To be honest I don't think how you're feeling is that different to how a lot of trainees going into practice feel. I would say that in industry in an AP or AR role say, you have a set amount of duties which will be relatively consistent week in week out, month to month. The same accounts need reconciling, debtors need chasing, reports compiled, entries posted. So the manager will assign someone to show you how to do each of these jobs and you'll make your notes and get on with it, after a month or two of practice you'll be laughing.

Wheras in practice, basically you won't have the same duties each week or month and you can only really learn once you start getting assigned audits or tax returns or so on. Your main method of learning is doing, and your best source of assistance is likely to be your next most senior trainee who if they're sound will hopefully show you what they can and at the minimum be helpful in answering your questions.

But remembering if you're in a practice and on a training contract, it's a two way process, they have an obligation to TRAIN you. If you have questions, you ask them. IF you feel people aren't showing you anything and just throwing you in at the deep end, put your hand up, say listen i don't feel i know how to do this, i've had a look at it and the prior year file and i'm not getting anywhere, so can you show me where i should start.

I would strongly advise you to stick it out for a year until you've done your first set of exams. I don't think you have enough time in your current role to really make an informed decision on how you're getting on or what the practice you're in is like to work for.

Also, take a long term view of where you want your career to go. Serving your 4 years in practice will, and this may be contentious and others may disagree, open more employment opportunities in the long term than taking an industry job at an AP, AR assistant level now. Of course, if you're a star you'll get noticed anywhere.