Graduate audit trainee – ACA

Overview

In a nutshell
Join our ACA trainee programme and launch your career as a Chartered Accountant. This full-time, permanent role starts with three years of structured training and qualification support, offering hands-on experience, a salary, and a clear path to long-term growth. We’ll cover your training costs and support you every step of the way. As a certified Great Place to Work, we’re the perfect place to start your audit career.

What you'll be doing
As a trainee auditor, you’ll play a key role in helping businesses understand their financial position and manage risk. You'll work with a diverse portfolio of clients, including commercial businesses, from owner-managed to listed entities, charities, educational establishments, and professional firms.

• Develop technical, commercial and interpersonal skills
• Work in small project teams (typically 2-5 people) on audits lasting 1-3 weeks for medium sized and large businesses
• Identify key issues and risks, using analytics tools and software to interpret data, draw conclusions, and make recommendations
• Gain experience in preparing annual statutory accounts and tax calculations, and assessing forecasts and projections
• Be part of a high performing, supportive team

As you progress, you’ll take on more responsibility and have opportunities to make a real impact.

You’ll enjoy this job if you like…

• Taking initiative and achieving goals
• Communicating effectively, both verbally and in writing
• Building strong relationships and working collaboratively
• Working with numbers and solving problems
• Being analytical and methodical in your approach

Studying alongside working is demanding. As an ACA trainee, you will need to dedicate time outside working hours for study and exam preparation. After the three-year training period, the next 1-2 years are key in consolidating your knowledge and leading more complex projects with the opportunity to move towards management.

We'll provide full support for your professional qualification and help you develop the skills and behaviours needed to succeed as a chartered accountant. Before you start, you’ll be assigned a buddy, and once you join, your line manager and student counsellor will help you stay on track with your professional qualification and career goals.

Bright, motivated graduates ready to build a meaningful career in accountancy. This programme offers structured development, early responsibility, and long-term progression.

Entry requirements:

• On track for, or have achieved, a 2.2 degree or above in any discipline
• Minimum of 112 UCAS points (obtained from three A Levels or equivalent excluding general studies and EPQ)
• GCSE Maths and English at grade 4-9 (C or above)
• Willingness to travel to client sites and other offices as required

We review applications on a rolling basis, so apply early. We may close the vacancy once we’ve received enough applications. You can only submit one application per recruitment cycle, and we’re unable to accept multiple applications for different roles.

We’re committed to creating an inclusive and positive experience for all candidates. If you require any adjustments during the recruitment process, whether related to a disability, neurodiversity, or any other need, please let us know, and we'll do our best to support you.

As the largest firm of independent chartered accountants and business advisers in South West England, PKF Francis Clark offers a breadth of opportunities to develop your career in the way that’s right for you.

Established in 1919, we’ve grown to a team of nearly 1,000 people, based across our offices in Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Poole, Salisbury, Southampton, Taunton, Torquay and Truro. This means we’re big enough to do challenging work for exciting clients, but small enough to maintain our friendly and supportive culture.

We work hard to ensure you can belong, be yourself and be brilliant as part of a forward-thinking team. This includes a flexible approach to hybrid working. And our focus on wellbeing and learning and development has been recognised nationally.

For the past three…