Audit Senior

Affinia; Highweek, Exeter; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Full study support and paid time off

Professional membership support

Paycare – dental/optical/professional

Agile/Hybrid Working Policy

Dress for your Diary Policy

Job summary

Affinia is seeking an Audit Senior to join our Newton Abbot or Exeter team on a hybrid basis. This full-time role focuses on overseeing audits, mentoring junior staff, and delivering high-quality client service.

You will work with managers and directors to plan and execute audits, develop budgets, and enhance efficiencies. The firm supports ongoing professional development and flexible working patterns.

Qualifications

• Recent experience in Audit and Assurance within an accountancy practice.
• Qualified or almost qualified status (we will provide access to the required professional training including exams if relevant)
• Interested in collaborating with people, able to build relationships and networks.
• Experience of leading external audit assignments from planning to completion under ISA.
• Experience of preparing accounts in accordance with UK GAAP.
• Able to work independently as well as part of a team.
• Effective communication skills with senior staff and clients.

Responsibilities

• Lead audits as the senior on engagements, reporting to the audit manager.
• Be the first point of contact for the client on-site and respond to queries.
• Develop and finalise audit plans, identify key risks, and ensure appropriate work.
• Set budgets and oversee fieldwork, draft financial statements and audit findings.
• Lead fieldwork teams on larger or higher risk clients.
• Discuss audit journals with the client during fieldwork and raise overruns promptly.
• Clear review points and respond to follow-up queries until sign-off.
• Ensure disclosures meet the applicable checklists and quality standards.

Skills

Audit & Assurance

Communication

Diligence

Problem Solving

MS Office

Education

Qualified or almost qualified

Tools

Microsoft Office (Word/Excel)

Job description

Location: Hybrid / Newton Abbot, UK
job type: Permanent / Full-time
Sector and subsector: Accounting & Finance | Audit & Practice
Salary: Negotiable salary

Job Title: Audit Senior

Hours: Full time Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm (37.5 hours per week)

Location: Newton Abbot and/or Exeter

Affinia is the UK’s largest purpose-led, purpose-built Accountancy firm, focused on building stronger, more valuable relationships. With over 1600 colleagues across the East, Southeast, London and the Midlands, we are dedicated to supporting our clients, colleagues and communities.

We advise businesses, public sector organisations, charities and individuals throughout the UK and internationally across six Service Lines - Accountancy & Advisory, Tax and Planning, Audit & Assurance, Corporate Finance, Payroll and Corporate Recovery. Our team also offer in-depth sector expertise across a number of sectors, ensuring our clientsreceive the best short to medium and long-term advice, tailored to them. We are committed to delivering excellence in every aspect of our work, adapting to the evolving technology and regulatory landscape while consistently exceeding client expectations.

Our people are our most valuable asset. We are therefore committed to supporting our colleagues throughout their professional development, providing guidance and training at whatever stage of their career they join us

This role will be based at the Peplows Office, in Newton Abbot or Exeter, who are part of Wilson Partners in the Affinia group.

Purpose of the role:

As an Audit Senior you will be contributing regularly, supporting your assistant managers and managers with their portfolios, and contributing more to meetings with clients. You will start to mentor those junior to you and monitor their work to ensure quality outputs. Using your knowledge and experience, you will have a more initiative-taking mindset when it comes to collaborating with your team and your clients, e.g. recognising and flagging where efficiencies can be created or process improvements can be made. You will have more client exposure more frequently, to model best-in-class client service principles. In this role, the emphasis is less on learning and more on ownership, contributing, and starting to manage.

If you are on the path to being fully qualified, then during this role you will likely finalise your studies. Affinia can provide ongoing training to develop your ‘soft’ skills, such as how to be a mentor to others, provide constructive feedback, and an introduction to line management.

Accountabilities:

The Audit Senior role will collaborate closely with other Managers and Directors across the Group, responsibilities will include:

• Acting as the lead senior on audits, reporting to the audit manager.
• Being the first point of contact for the client whilst on-site and ensuring any queries are dealt with promptly even after the fieldwork has ended.
• Responsibility for developing and finalising the audit plan, identifying key audit risks based on the background knowledge, thorough research, preliminary results and discussions with the client, and ensure appropriate work is planned to address these.
• Setting and monitoring of budgets, undertake execution of the fieldwork, drafting the financial statements, letter of representation and audit findings reports and assisting the manager and RI to prepare for the closing meeting.
• Lead fieldwork teams on larger or higher risk audit clients.
• Discuss/agree any potential audit journals with the client during fieldwork.
• Raise any potential time overruns with the manager as soon as they are identified.
• Be responsible for clearing review points and addressing any follow up queries until the date the audit report is signed.
• Ensure quality of financial statement disclosures by reference to the applicable checklist.
• Identify any areas of weakness in the client’s system & controls and making reasonable recommendations for improvements.
• Keep the manager informed of any issues that arise with the client, e.g. copying them into all emails.
• Maintain and develop technical ability by attending webinars and keeping abreast of technical development.
• Review audit working papers of junior members of the team during fieldwork and provide support for them to achieve their goals.

Skills/Qualifications

Key characteristics include strong diligence, problem solving and communication skills, a

professional approach to clients and colleagues and a firm commitment to providing top

quality client services.

You will have experience in:

• Recent experience in Audit and Assurance within an accountancy practice.
• Qualified or almost qualified status (we will provide access to the required professional training including exams if relevant)
• Interested in collaborating with people, able to build relationships and networks.
• Experience of leading external audit assignments from planning to completion stages under International Standards on Auditing.
• Experience of preparing accounts in accordance with UK GAAP.
• Able to work independently as well as part of a team.
• Effective communication skills with senior staff and clients.
• Confident user of Microsoft Office suite – Intermediate/Advanced user of Word and Excel.
• Sound knowledge of key risks applicable to specific audits and aware of own. limitations and when to ask for assistance.
• Excellent organisational and time management.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team environment.

Core Benefits:

• Full study support and paid time off for study / exams
• Professional membership support
• Paycare – claim money back for Dental / Optical / Professional Therapies
• Agile/Hybrid Working Policy.Ability to work from Exeter or Newton Abbot
• Dress for your Diary Policy

Affinia is a flexible business which has embraced a hybrid working model where our colleagues enjoy a mix of home and office working. We welcome applications from people looking for flexible, agile, and part-time roles and we are happy to explore your preferred working patterns as part of your application.

Affinia is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our policy is unequivocal: we do not tolerate discrimination based on age, disability, sex, race, religion, or belief, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, or sexual orientation. We pride ourselves on being an inclusive organisation that actively promotes equality of opportunity for all, valuing the right mix of talent, skills, and potential. We welcome applications

from a diverse range of candidates, and selection for roles is based solely on individual merit.

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