Why Virtual Finance?
Virtual Finance offers a varied and exciting career. Virtual Finance is where companies choose to hire third parties – such as Mercer & Hole – to perform tasks or handle their operations, for example payroll, VAT returns, bookkeeping and management reporting. You will be able to play a key part in our Virtual Finance team and, from the outset, will be responsible for preparing, recording and processing data within the Virtual Finance financial systems, completing monthly management accounts and preparing and submitting VAT returns. This will enable you to grow into a future leader and start on a stable and lucrative career path with fast progression and rewarding work.
We pride ourselves on learning and development for our trainees and have lots of structures in place to support you on your journey with us, for example trainee away days, a dedicated training manager, buddy and study leave to name just a few. Training and development doesn’t stop when you qualify – we are committed to continually developing our staff regardless of whether you’re a trainee or a director using our ‘People Passport’ so you are guaranteed a great investment in your future!
What’s in it for you?
- Full sponsorship of the AAT Level 4 qualification with the opportunity to then progress on to complete the ACCA qualification to become a certified accountant or the ACA to become a chartered accountant
- Great social life at the firm with your peers with activities such as inter-office rounders, football, book club and more!
- Career progression where we listen to what you want and how we can support you to achieve it
- A permanent contract of employment
- Development opportunities to experience working in different teams
- Work-life balance with our flexi-time working policy
- 25 days’ holiday with the opportunity to buy and sell holiday each year
- Full benefits package including health cash plan, support from a dedicated training manager and more
What will I be doing?
Our higher apprenticeship programme is designed to support your learning and development. You will work as part of the Virtual Finance team while studying the AAT qualification. The variety of clients we work with provides you with a well-rounded experience, and the structure of our teams allows you the opportunity to gain knowledge from and exposure to senior managers and partners throughout your training and beyond.
Year 1 – In the first year you will start out by learning the fundamentals of bookkeeping, this includes posting purchase and sales invoices and bank transactions. You will use these skills over a variety of clients, making use of software solutions to help speed up and simplify the process. You will also learn the fundamentals of VAT and take on responsibility for preparing and submitting some of our smaller returns.
Year 2 – As you progress, you will start to take on more complicated work. This will include calculating and posting month end journals (such a depreciation, accruals, and prepayments). Once all these journals are posted you will prepare the month end reporting packs and will assist with preparing a supporting commentary to go to the client.
Once you have completed your AAT qualification, you will then have the opportunity to move on to studying the ACCA to become a certified accountant or the ACA to become a chartered accountant.
Application process
Our apprenticeship application process is straightforward and consists of four clear steps designed to help us get to know you and your potential
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Stage 1:
Online application -
Stage 2:
Telephone interview -
Stage 3:
Online assessments -
Stage 4:
Final interview
Stage 1: Online application
Take a look below to find our vacancies for each office which open from autumn. You will need to submit your CV and answer 3 questions:
1. What excites you about our higher apprenticeship programme? We suggest you do some research around the AAT qualification, look at current apprentice testimonials, research what a career in accountancy might look like, and show awareness of our values and culture in your answers. This will also help you decide if this is the right career path for you.
2. What are your strengths and why? We encourage you to think about the skills needed in an accountancy career and tailor your answers to these. We’re not looking for specific A-level subjects and we’re keen to hear about your strengths from lots of different backgrounds!
3. Tell us something interesting about you? There’s no right answer here, it’s really just for us to learn about you more as a person!
Stage 2: Telephone interview
If your online application is successful, you’ll be invited to a short telephone interview with a member of the HR team to discuss your motivation and experiences further.
Stage 3: Online assessments
If you are successful at the telephone interview, you will be invited to complete a couple of online assessments. They will involve verbal and numerical tests and you will receive all the instructions via email.
Stage 4: Final interview
If you are successful in the online assessments, you will be invited to a face-to-face interview at the office you applied for with a training manager and HR.
We will let you know very soon after the final interview whether you have been successful or not.
We wish you the best of luck!
St Albans