Virtual Finance Higher Apprenticeship Programme 2026 in St Albans

Why choose our Virtual Finance Higher Apprenticeship Programme? 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!

Role Details: This is a split role working across both our St Albans & Rickmansworth offices, therefore driving is desirable to the role. Also, due to the nature of the role, this will suit a candidate with excellent organisation and strong communication skills.

What will I be doing as a Virtual Finance apprentice? Our higher apprenticeship programme is designed to support your learning and development. You will work as part of the Virtual Finance teams in Rickmansworth and St Albans 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.

Structure of the Programme:

• 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 as 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.

If you think this is something you would be interested in, then apply!

Values:

• Together: The firm with the family feel. Express gratitude. Smile. Be humble and confident. Have fun.
• Resilient: Change is imminent, and business is imperfect. Be open minded & agile. Assume positive intent and exercise the power of positive thinking.
• Understanding: Each individual matters and will be heard and respected. Honesty, integrity, empathy and kindness are fundamental.
• Supportive: We support what is important to you and show kindness in our behaviour to each other. We encourage each other to realise our potential.
• Thrive: We strive to be the best, innovate and always do exceptional work. That’s who we are and what our clients deserve.

Mercer & Hole is committed to cultivating and preserving a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Our people are our most valuable asset. We bring our life experiences, knowledge, creativity, and talents together at Mercer & Hole making it a unique place to work where all can safely thrive.