Chartered Accountants since 1919
Join our fast-track programme designed for ambitious school and college leavers who want to qualify as a Charted Accountant. You’ll start by working towards your AAT qualification, then progress quickly to ACA, all while gaining valuable hands-on audit experience. We’re proud to be certified as a Great Place to Work for the third year running, making this an excellent place to launch your audit career.
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.
You will:
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:
Studying alongside working is demanding. As an AAT/ACA trainee, you will need to dedicate time outside working hours for study and exam preparation.
We'll provide full support for your professional qualification and help you develop the skills and behaviours needed to succeed as an 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.
Entering the work environment can be daunting. But the support network here at PKF Francis Clark is endless. Everyone from you, your Manager to the Partners is treated respectfully and is made to feel valued. And you’ll be joining with lots of other trainees just like you.
Bright, motivated school and college leavers ready to build a meaningful career in accountancy. This programme offers structured development, early responsibility, and long-term progression.
You’ll be expected to demonstrate the following:
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 years, PKF Francis Clark has been certified as a Great Place to Work and ranked among the UK’s Best Workplaces. In 2025, we climbed four places to 20 out of 100 large organisations on this prestigious list.
We’re also in the UK’s top 10 Best Workplaces for Women (6 out of 100 large organisations), as well as being ranked among the Best Workplaces for Wellbeing (35 out of 100), Best Workplaces for Development (24 out of 100) and Best Workplaces in Consulting and Professional Services.
All these lists are compiled by workplace culture experts Great Place to Work. Our rankings are a direct result of feedback from our people in a confidential, independent annual survey.
The success rates of our trainees mean we’re also ranked 33rd in The Sunday Times Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers 2025.
While we’re proudly independent, we collaborate with colleagues around the world to enable our clients to succeed. PKF Francis Clark is a member of the PKF Global family of firms – together we’re the 12th largest provider of accountancy services in the UK. Being part of this international network provides opportunities to connect with like-minded accountants and business advisers in 150 countries.
Financial benefits:
Health & Wellbeing benefits:
Other benefits:
To apply for the Audit trainee - AAT and ACA programme for School & College Leavers – August 2026 role click the ‘Apply now’ button below. It should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete your application.
If you would like an informal chat about the role before applying then please contact on: [email protected].
PKF Francis Clark is an Equal Opportunities employer with a strong and passionate commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We’re dedicated to fostering a work environment that supports, inspires, and respects all individuals. We do not discriminate based upon age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, or any other applicable legally protected characteristic.
We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and all aspects of employment at PKF Francis Clark are based on merit, qualifications, and business needs. We’re committed to providing reasonable adjustments or accommodations for applicants, so if you need assistance or support during the recruitment process please let us know. We promise to reply to all applications.
