Millward, May & Co - Wokingham Accountants
Wokingham Accountants

New Apprentice

Starter Guide

🚀 New Apprentice Starter Guide

We're excited to have you on board!

This page is your go-to resource during the early stages of your apprenticeship with us. Please keep this guide bookmarked and refer to it often during your first few months.

🏁 Your First Few Weeks

The first few weeks are all about learning — it may feel slow at first, but that’s completely normal.

  • Be proactive: If you're not sure what to do, ask yourself “What could I be doing right now?”

  • Sit with the team and ask lots of questions. Observing experienced colleagues is one of the best ways to pick things up quickly.

  • Keep your timesheets up to date — these will be closely reviewed during your early weeks.

  • Don’t wait to be told what to do — when you finish a task, come and speak to us about what’s next.

We are investing a lot of time in you, and in return we expect you to turn up with a willingness to learn and work hard. You might not have the skills yet — and that’s okay — but if you stick to your side of the bargain, you’ll gain them faster than you think.

💬 Daily & Weekly Checklist Email

To help you stay organised, accountable, and on track, we ask that you submit a short summary at the end of each day and complete a fuller checklist at the end of each week. All checklist emails should be sent to Emma, Ryan, and your mentor.

📅 DAILY CHECKLIST

Please send this before the end of each working day:

  • ✅ A summary of what you’ve done during the day, including how long major tasks took (skip anything under an hour).

  • ✅ The number of emails currently sitting in the Outlook inbox and confirmation that you’ve replied to all emails within 1 working day

  • ✅ Confirmation that your timesheet is up to date (you should update it every time you switch tasks).

  • ✅ A note about anything you’re struggling with — have you asked your mentor or the team for help?

  • ✅ Is there a plan for what you're doing during your next working day (it should be on the weekly plan spreadsheet)? If not, speak to someone before the end of the day.

📆 WEEKLY CHECKLIST

Send this every Friday (or your last working day of the week), along with your daily checklist:

  • ✅ Have you completed your weekly plan for next week and ticked off the tasks tab?

  • ✅ Did you complete your tasks from this week’s plan and if not, what happened?

  • ✅ Have you ticked off all bookkeeping clients and escalated any you’re unsure about?

  • ✅ Do you have any college deadlines in the next 2 weeks? If yes, what's your plan to meet them?

🕒 Timesheets

🔍 We keep timesheets for a few important reasons:

  • To track how your time is spent: As an apprentice, around 20% of your time should be on learning and 80% on client work.

  • To find inefficiencies: Without timesheet data, we can’t figure out what’s taking too long or which processes need improving.

  • To assess job profitability: Your data helps us determine whether we’re charging clients the right amount.

  • To support your development and set you targets: Over time, we’ll set you time budgets for tasks so you can learn to work more efficiently.

Best Practice: update your timesheet every time you switch tasks. It’s almost impossible to accurately recall timings at the end of the day if you've handled multiple tasks.

🧠 Some Common-Sense Examples

  • Example 1: Tea Break: You’ve worked for 55 minutes on one job, then take 5 minutes to have a chat and make a cup of coffee. Just put 1 hour to the client.

  • Example 2: Quick Jobs in Outlook or PM: You spend 20 minutes on 4 tasks: Two small ones take 2 minutes each. Two others take 16 minutes combined. Put 10 minutes each to the two main jobs.

🛠 Using the Timesheet System

To Open Your Timesheet go to Iris Accountancy Suite Menu > Iris Practice Management > Timesheet Time Postings

🧾 Filling Out the Timesheet

  • Client & Job: add the chargeable job you’re working on (e.g. BOO Bookkeeping, PAY Payroll, PTX Personal tax)

  • Non Charge (e.g. ADM Admin, COL College, LEA Learning, MMP Management meetings & planning, PHO Phone & Post, PNC Potential New Client, TEB Team Building, ZAL/ZBH/ZSL/ ZUL Annual/Bank Holiday/Sick/Unpaid Leave

  • Time: enter time in minutes on the day you did the work - there are 450 minutes in a day

  • Narrative: description of what you did

🎓 College Time Guidelines

As part of your apprenticeship, you're entitled to use approximately 20% of your time for college or learning (COL/LEA). Below is a breakdown of how this time should be used and recorded:

Breakdown of COL/LEA Activities:

  • DAY – 7.5 hours per day for tuition and skills college days

  • TIMESHEET – 1 hour per month for maintaining your college timesheet (this can be filtered via the Data tab on the Client Time Summary spreadsheet that I will email to you on a monthly basis)

  • PORTFOLIO – 1.5 hours per month on average for development and portfolio tasks

  • EXAM – 7.5 hours per exam (includes revision time)

  • COACH – 1.5 hours per quarter for skills coach meetings and any assigned tasks

  • SKILLS – 1 hour per quarter for the skills scan

How to Record This on Your Timesheet:

At the start of the description when posting time to COL, include one of the following labels so we can see where the time is being spent: DAY, TIMESHEET, PORTFOLIO, EXAM, COACH, SKILLS

Client vs Learning Time:

  • If learning is specific to a client’s circumstances, post it to that client.

  • If the learning is general and likely to help with various clients in the future, post it to LEA.

If you're ever unsure where time should be posted, just ask — it's important that COL/LEA time is recorded correctly.

🧾 The Work You’ll Be Doing to Start With

To begin with, your main focus will be on bookkeeping. This is the foundation of most of what we do, and getting it right is essential.

We want you to become both accurate and efficient. This isn’t just about doing the basics — it’s about doing them well. The more efficient and reliable you are with bookkeeping, the more opportunity you'll have to get involved in other areas like Self Assessment and Payroll.

📋 Why Bookkeeping is a Great Start

  • It gives you a solid understanding of how businesses operate day-to-day

  • It helps you get familiar with accounting software and systems - try and play around with the software’s functionality

  • It’s a great way to build confidence in contacting clients and chasing missing information

  • It lays the groundwork for everything that follows in your training

📌 What It Involves

  • Uploading receipts and invoices to accounting software

  • Allocating transactions to the correct account codes

  • Ensuring all details (VAT, supplier names, dates, descriptions) are correct

  • Contacting clients for missing receipts or information

  • Investigating and following up on bills or transactions that seem delayed or incorrect

💡 VAT is a priority — getting this right is a key part of your role.

➕ What You’ll Progress To

Once you're consistent and efficient with bookkeeping, you will have more time to take on:

  • Self Assessment tax returns – preparing returns for individuals and sole traders

  • Payroll – running payrolls, calculating pay, and managing submissions to HMRC

These are excellent opportunities to expand your skills and begin taking on more responsibility.

📌 When You’re Low on Work

If you ever find yourself with downtime, here’s how to stay productive and contribute to the team. Being proactive shows initiative — and it doesn’t go unnoticed.

1. Help or shadow your teammates

  • Look at the schedule, your colleagues weekly plans and other people’s Practice Management (including ADM, JI, CR, MASTER). Can you help them or shadow what they’re doing?

2. Clean up client files

  • Check that clients Notes/INF tabs are up to date. Clear, tidy or archive files/notes that are no longer needed.

3. Audit bookkeeping software

  • Has a bank connection dropped? Reach out to the client to reconnect.

  • Are there lots of unreconciled transactions or outstanding VAT returns?

  • Can you tidy things up, set up bank rules, or nudge the client?

4. Help around the office

  • Make coffee or wash up

  • Empty bins, vacuum, wipe desks and surfaces

  • Water the plants

5. Do general admin

  • Collect post from the old office

  • Report Hosted Desktop issues (e.g. if it’s running slowly)

6. Contribute to content

7. Organise a team event

  • Up to £50/head — be creative and get everyone involved!

8. Tidy up your Hosted Desktop

  • Delete files from the Downloads folder

  • Clear old files off your desktop

  • Empty your Outlook Deleted Items folder (right-click > empty folder)

9. Do some training/learning

  • Xero: My Xero → Learning & Tools → My Learning (keep certifications in date)

  • QuickBooks: ProAdvisor → Training

  • FreeAgent: FreeAgent Learning Portal

  • Watch Excel courses on YouTube

  • Join an HMRC webinar

  • Research a topic (e.g. crypto) and make notes

  • Practise in test accounts:

    • BrightPay (Company: Test)

    • Iris Personal Tax (Person: Miss Iris OpenSpace)

10. 💡 Propose your own ideas

  • Think of something useful you could do.

  • Go to your manager and say, “I could do X, Y, or Z.” Showing initiative is always appreciated!

📈 Performance, Feedback & What to Expect

🗣 Regular Feedback: You’ll get regular input so you know what’s going well and where there’s room to improve. If you're falling behind, we’ll be upfront early. Feedback isn’t criticism — it’s there to help you get better. You can’t improve if no one tells you what to work on.

🎯 Clear Expectations: We’ll show you exactly what’s expected and how your performance is measured. You’ll always get fair, supportive, and transparent guidance from us.

⚠️ No Guarantees: Progression to the next stage isn’t automatic. This apprenticeship is an opportunity — but one that depends on your effort and development. If expectations aren’t being met, we reserve the right to end the apprenticeship early.

🤝 Our Commitment: We’ll give you the tools, support, and structure to succeed — the rest is up to you.

💬 Final Thoughts

  • We’re looking for people who are efficient, accurate, and switched on. Do things well - and do them promptly.

  • When you finish a task, don’t wait - come and ask what’s next. Show that you’re proactive and engaged.

  • Learn as much as you can, as fast as you can. Ask questions, listen closely, and take responsibility for your own progress.

  • We’re here to help you develop — but we expect you to show up ready to do the work.