28 February 2020
Over the course of the last two weeks, Matthew joined us for a work experience placement. In this blog he reflects on how his time at Haines Watts went:
My name is Matthew and I have recently completed my A levels. In February I undertook a work experience opportunity at Haines Watts, to try and gain a better understanding of whether I want to pursue a career in the accounting field. I’ve briefly summarised my experience in each service line below.
Induction
My work experience began by with a quick presentation from two members of the team, which detailed the background of Haines Watts and what type of work I would be doing over the 9 days. Straight after that, I was given a tour of the building, where I met the rest of the team, who were all friendly.
Marketing
The first department worked with was marketing. Two members of the team gave me a brief explanation of what their jobs entailed. My task was to schedule five tweets on Hootsuite for the Haines Watts North East Twitter account. I enjoyed this task more than I thought I would, and I found it quite rewarding to see the tweets post throughout the week.
Accounts
Just like the day I had in marketing, the day started with a member of the accounts team explaining to me her job role. She also detailed how she got to be in the position she is in now, which was interesting to hear about. My first task was to transfer figures from a Simplex cashbook into an Excel spreadsheet. That was straightforward, however the second task was a bit trickier. For this task, I had transfer Xero codes into CCCH codes, with the aid of a booklet full of CCCH codes. Later in the week I went back to accounts, and because I had already worked in accounts, I got straight into the work. My job today was to complete the tasks in a work experience toolkit.
Audit
Again, the day began by an auditor telling me all about what their job entails, and how they acquired it. A couple of hours were spent editing a client’s trial balance so that the totals for debits and credits were equal. Afterwards, I spent the remainder of the day looking through the client’s bank statements and determining and describing material transactions. My favourite task occurred on this day. Again, I looked through bank statements, but this time, I was splitting their debits and credits into different categories on an Excel spreadsheet.
Outsourcing
Outsourcing was somewhat similar to what I had done in accounts on day 2. Firstly, I analysed another Simplex cashbook, and because I had already done this a few days prior, I had no difficulties completing it. Next, I was onto balancing the cash and bank balance for the same client. A member of the accounts team was there to guide me in the right direction whenever I was stuck with anything.
Corporate tax
My first task was to look at a variety of payroll documents and then input them into an Excel spreadsheet, adding up totals for pay, NI and pension contributions. Afterwards, a member of the team explained and showed me how the spreadsheet would help a client. For example, how much tax relief could they claim from HMRC.
VAT
My day in VAT started with a quick chat with Andrew, who is a VAT associate partner, he gave me a brief explanation of what his job entails, and how he got to be in this position. After our quick chat, I shadowed him whilst he performed partial exemption. He was also explaining the work to me at the same time. Next, I did partial exemption for 2 years for one of Andrew's clients.
Presenting
Near the end of the final day of my work experience, I presented to two senior members of staff. Much like this blog, my presentation gave a brief summary of what I did in each department, and my general views on each day. Preparing the presentation made me realise how much I had actually done over the 9 days and allowed me to properly reflect on each day.
Conclusion
Overall, I found my 9 days at Haines Watts to be really positive. All the people I worked closely with were very friendly, and supportive when I had any queries about the work I was doing. My favourite area to work in was definitely outsourcing, as it is an area that I have a genuine interest in.
