Autumn 2026 Bookkeeper & Management Accountant Trainee (School Leaver) in Leicester

Rowleys is an independent accountancy firm working across the East Midlands, with our office based in Leicester, near Junction 21 of the M1. We are a forward-thinking firm who are continually investing in our people and their development. We are looking for like-minded individuals to join our team and be a part of our future growth.

We are looking to recruit a school leaver in our Finance and Business Solutions department who wants to learn and develop into a qualified accountant. Our trainees are supported with their studies, using a highly respected training provider and we support people with time off for study through a block release programme. We genuinely understand the balance that is needed for trainees who need to learn on the job but also have the space to get through their professional studies successfully.

The attraction with a career at Rowleys is that the work in our Finance and Business Solutions team is varied. We are seeing growth across all parts of our business, and this offers the opportunity for our trainees to learn skills in bookkeeping, management accounts and forecasting.

Throughout the training contract you will learn the bedrock of bookkeeping and management accounts preparation, gain a good understanding of forecasting and budgeting. You can expect to be part of a team of around 5 in the Financial & Business Solutions department, working closely with your peers and reporting in to your manager.

We operate a hybrid working model, so as a trainee you will split your time between working from home, visiting the office, client sites when required or studying for your professional exams.

We are looking for candidates with a strong desire to learn and progress, and we give increasing responsibility when an individual is ready, rather than at pre-determined times through a fixed matrix. As an independent firm based in one location means we can be flexible in our approach.

Our broad expectation of roles and responsibilities over the five year training contract is set out below. We expect School Leavers will study AAT for two years before moving on to the ACCA or ACA qualification.

The main responsibilities of this role over the training contract will include:

• Processing client transactions on to software, including reconciling bank accounts.
• Preparing and filing quarterly VAT returns.
• Processing monthly journals for items such as prepayment, accruals, salaries and depreciation.
• Preparing management accounts, considering fluctuations in results and summarising trends for discussion with the client.
• Preparing client financial forecasts, budgets and cashflows.
• Experience of client meetings and telephone calls, giving you the ability to learn how to communicate effectively to get the work done.
• Delivering an excellent level of customer service, managing and exceeding client expectations, responding to all ad-hoc queries in a timely manner.
• Studying for their professional qualifications.

In order to develop into a successful advisor there are also many other personal traits that are important. At this stage in your career these are the key areas we will be exploring through our assessment process. Our key values of our business are:

• INTEGRITY Upholding moral and ethical principles.
• DIVERSITY Valuing and respecting differences among individuals, encouraging different ideas and innovative thinking.
• EXCELLENCE Striving for the highest quality and performance.
• AGILITY Being flexible, collaborating effectively to deliver a great service.
• LEADERSHIP Guiding and inspiring others through a positive mindset.

Rowleys has spent a significant amount of time over the years listening to our employees and trying to give an overall package that sets us out from other firms. Our ultimate priority is to employ personable individuals with a passion for excellent service, whilst ensuring work life balance and wellbeing is embedded in our culture.

As we focus more on the personal skills of individuals at this stage in their careers we do not have any academic entry criteria for this programme. We would encourage any School Leaver who has completed or is just about to complete their A-Levels to apply who feels they have the drive, can make a difference at Rowleys and have the ability to get through the professional exams.

If you wish to apply for a position please email our practice manager who leads our recruitment process, Natalie Adcock (natalie@rowleys.uk) and ask for an application form. We will then ask you to complete this as soon as possible and submit back to us. We do not expect you to prepare a separate CV as all of your details will be included in the application form.

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