Accounts or Finance Assistant

An Accounts or Finance Assistant can work in almost any sector. Potential employers include corporate businesses, sole traders, partnerships, Public sector, not-for-profit organisations and educational institutions.

An Accounts or Finance Assistant may work in-house for an organisation or they might work for an accountancy firm, bookkeeping practice, Shared Service provider, self-employed or on behalf of several different clients.

Assessment

The EPA assessment period will be upto 12 weeks

Submit a portfolio of evidence of their best work

Achievement of the AAT Foundation certificate in accounting (Level 2)

Meet with the independent assessor to have a Professional Discussion underpinned by the portfolio of evidence

An "In-tray Test" which consists of a fictitious scenario presented to the apprentice to test how they would apply their skills to complete the required tasks

The training will enable your apprentice to:

1. Be aware of the organisation's needs and activities and their impact for accounting and finance.
2. Identify, collate and process financial and accounting data from primary sources such as business records.
3. Examine financial and accounting data to identify issues with quality and reliability as instructed and in accordance with guidance.
4. Rectify errors in financial and accounting data, escalating problems beyond their remit as appropriate.
5. Reconcile transactional data to minimise the chance of errors in financial and accounting outputs such as sales and purchase invoices, sale and purchase orders, bank statements and payroll.
6. Plan and review workloads with supervisor to ensure best use of time to complete allocated tasks efficiently.
7. Communicate with internal and external stakeholders using appropriate methods and professional language. Examples may include letters, ‘phone, face-to-face, e-mail, video call, online chat functions etc.
8. Use financial and accounting software packages to input and manage data safely and securely in line with organisational instructions.
9. Provide support to team members to help ensure that financial and accounting activities are carried out within expected timescales and quality expectations.
10. Keep up to date with developments to enhance relevant skills and take responsibility for own professional development.