I was talking to a friend last night who works in a different practice in the same town as me. He told me that they took a 15 year old girl from the local secondary school on work experience for a week a couple of weeks ago (the daughter of a client).
Yesterday, the client phoned them and told them they were leaving. Asked if they were going to a different accountant they said no, their daughter was going to look after their affairs from now on as she had learned how to do the work during her week of work experience!!
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Very possibly the funniest thing I will hear all week :)
To be young and have such confidence...
What can you say???
Hilarious and stunningly naive!!
Let's hope she soon messes up (and gets found out), he'll soon realise. And how funny is that going to be?!!!
work experience?
you mean you used to make the tea and sort 'files' for your client.....:)
I've got children so maybe....
On the thought that maybe I could train my children up. The eldest might only be six but give him 2 weeks to be safe and hey presto! Sure the clients would love that.
Bismarck …
…. Commented about the making of laws, likened it to sausage making, remarking that it shouldn’t be seen.
For similar reasons, client’s relatives should not be brought in on work experience. Because the process, internal practices and management, is so open to misinterpretation that it is best to avoid it. There is also the problem that other clients will find out about it and not like the thought that their finances are available/open to others, even if the reality is that the person on work experience is more mature/reliable than others.
cv
I received a CV from a young lady (aged 17) who, during a month with a local CA firm, took over the role of payroll manager, conducted audit without supervision and is competent in preparing self assessment and corporation tax returns.
I did not reply because I did not think I would be able to afford the salary of a genius, no doubt she will appear in the next series of the apprentice.
Bringing up kids the wrong way
I have six children and (thinking that if they adopted useful careers it could save me money in my old age and help repair the damage to my pension fund caused by the expense of bringing them up!) I encouraged them to think about such trades as motor mechanic, plumber, electrician, plasterer, etc . . So far three have finished university and, unfortunately for me, the ir degrees are in theology, philosophy and English. . Where did I go wrong?
With Sage we can do anything!
But we all know all you do is input source documents into Sage and press the report button. How easy is that?
Started work at 16
I remember leaving school at 16, and joining a firm of chartered accountants. In the first week, I was out on audit having to use my own initiative with the audit programme after the senior was called away. I certainly became quickly competent in doing payroll, as one of my first tasks was to prepare the weekly payroll of a client. The self-assessment comps and corporation tax comps were not that difficult to pick up as the taxtion department gave me precise written instructions of how to prepare them, and were always on hand to take me through the basics. From my own experience, I would not be too surprised if a 17 year old had picked up these skills and was showing them on her CV.
Are You Serious Richard?
.....or simply a Sage seller?
We make a lot of money out of, so called, mature and experienced Sage bookkeepers, who haven't got a clue how to check for errors or make a correction.
Long may it continue.
If the daughter has any sense...........
she'll now be invoicing her parents for doing their accounts, plus a bit extra for not having to pay VAT any more!
Chris
Good heavens!
Doing accounts after a brief spell of work experience?
That would be as mad as the Audit Commission sending in a fresh new inexperienced temp from a recruitment agency to audit public sector accounts and interview their senior staff! Although...................................hang on a minute...... they actually do!
sage accountants only joking
We also make a lot of money out of, so called, mature and experienced Sage Accountants, who haven't got a clue how to check for errors or make a correction. Just changing the word around . To raise the point . I don,t think either
-- Kind Regards Sarah@ Douglas Accountancy & Bookkeeping Services, Glasgow
I am really surprised at this story ....
it took her a whole week!??!?
Actually I wonder if you all remember your first weeks in accountancy? I was given a job (I remember the name 25 years later but better not print it!) which had a full set of ledgers all neatly written out in copperplate. I had to tick the bank account from start to finish against sales and purchase ledger. It took me 400+ units - so over 100 hours which was pretty much my first month. I wasn't once bored, learned double entry and control accounts and proved that I was probably a good bet to give a training contract to!
The client of course had a huge ####### bill.