Tax Senior Review
at Forvis Mazars
Degree Apprenticeship
Accounting
Birmingham
Review Submitted: May 2023
Overall Rating
3.6 /5
The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!
3/5
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Overview of Role
5/5
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Skills Development
3.2/5
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Structure and Support
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
3/5
My role involved being an assistant to Managers/ Directors on multiple client accounts providing Tax Services including: Global Mobility taxes, Employment Taxes, Personal Taxes for individuals, as well as the taxation of Privately owned businesses. This involved dealing with ad-hoc client queries on a day to day basis, as well as regular compliance work such as tax returns and P11D preparation.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
3/5
I enjoy my program as it enables me to work alongside a very diverse range of colleagues across multiple departments (as I was on a rotation program) which enabled me to gain exposure to a wide breadth of different tax specialisms. I enjoy that my program also forces me to develop my organisational skills by virtue of needing to balance work commitments as well as study/exam commitments.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
5/5
As my first 'professional' role, I have developed existing skills, in particular Microsoft excel, when conducting complex analysis of data sets. New skills I have learnt include all things tax related (such as navigating and understanding the tax legislation), as well as skills in relation to specific tax compliance software for Tax Return preparation and P11D preparation.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
2/5
The programmed is relatively well organised in relation to my development within different tax departments in the firm, and communicating this between multiple teams to ensure a clear understanding of my workload across multiple departments. I think the programme could be improved by providing some more support to employees in relation to what exams they need to it in each sitting, as the lack of clear communication in this regard can sometimes lead to confusion regarding which examinations need to be sat
How much support do you receive from your employer?
3/5
I receive adequate support from my employer in relation to taking time out for study and my team are understanding in regards to the examinations I am sitting. I believe that further support is needed from the employer overall in relation to examination sitting confirmation, as well as the exact amount of study days which we are entitled to per examination.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
3/5
BPP are relatively supportive in regards to the qualification. From my experience, they are more reactive than pro-active, which has sometimes caused some delays with assignments and their deadlines. Once issues are ironed out with the training provider, I have found BPP to be adequate in dealing with queries and when communicating over a phone call (rather than email) tends to offer more support
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
4/5
My qualification has helped to improve my technical knowledge in the tax field, which has directly improved my competence in performing tax advisory and compliance elements of my role. The elements of the qualification which focus on soft skills has also improved my confidence and ability to work more effectively with client which has impacted my role for the better (in particular soft skills around presentation skills and communication)
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
4/5
There are many opportunities to get involved in extra-curricular activities. In my experience, this is namely sports teams (including a football team, and a pool tournament). This has helped to develop relationships with colleagues which I may not usually work with on a day-today basis. There are also multiple networking events, such as the 'Future Faces Programme' which often has multiple networking opportunities throughout the year
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend Forvis Mazars to a friend?
Yes
Why?
Mazars has a fast paced learning environment, where i have learnt a lot and professional grown substantially within a relatively short period. The culture and colleagues at Mazars are also very supportive and foster a good working culture. You also gain exposure to senior staff from the offset at Mazars which helps professional development of my junior colleagues.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Forvis Mazars?
I would recommend checking out the team within the role which you are applying for. Ahead of applying, it could be a good idea to contact them via Linkedin to ask any pre-application questions and understand more about the role you are applying for. This will help you to understand if you would be a good fit, which will help the application process once you apply.
