Practical help at hand

PQs in search of practical training have a new helping hand, in the form of Next Accountants’ Practical Accountancy Training courses.

Next Accountants co-founder, Dak Patel, told PQ magazine he wanted to help accountancy students with that catch-22 dilemma of having accountancy qualifications, but not the practical skills many employers are looking for.

The University of East London have already signed up its graduates to the courses and he is closely working with ACCA.

Patel said PQs and graduates will be offered 12 weeks of practical job-ready accounting training, and a further 12 weeks of placement with ‘live’ clients. Courses will start weekly and students can opt for morning, afternoon and evening sessions.

He explained: “We think there is huge gap in the market for this sort of training. Too many students lack the practical knowledge and experience of cloud accounting. It means they don’t know how to use the tools of the accountancy trade. They need to understand  how Xero, Sage and quickbooks and VT work. And, employers expect students to know these basics when they start.” He is talking here: payroll, personal tax returns, advanced excel bookkeeping, VAT prep and submission, and company accounts and corporate tax returns.

To find out more go to nextaccountants.training