Practical Accounting Experience Programme
A structured, tutor-led practical accounting training programme.
Explore what you will learn, how the training is delivered, the time commitment and fees, and how to apply.
For people ready to turn accounting knowledge into practical skills
This programme is designed for people with a foundation in accounting who want structured guidance in applying their knowledge to UK accounting tasks and workflows. It supports those preparing for accounting roles, developing their professional skills or planning an independent bookkeeping or accountancy practice.
Accounting exam completers
Apply the knowledge gained through your exams to practical accounting tasks.
Part-qualified accountants
Develop practical skills alongside your studies.
International graduates
Learn UK accounting workflows, documentation and introductory tax processes.
Bookkeepers moving into accounting
Build skills in working papers, accounts preparation and introductory tax workflows.
Aspiring independent practitioners
Prepare to set up a practice within your competence and professional permissions.
Structure and commitment
The programme combines two five-hour, office-based training sessions each week with approximately ten hours of guided independent study and practical assignments completed remotely.
Office-based sessions include tutor demonstrations, supervised practice, discussion and feedback. Independent study gives participants time to apply what they have learned, complete assignments and prepare questions for their next session.
Programme fee: £1,400 per month
Minimum enrolment: six months
Total programme fee for the minimum six-month period: £8,400
The fee covers structured practical training, learning materials, tutor guidance, assignment reviews and feedback. It also includes the practice-startup module, professional-development record support and practical assistance with relevant licence or practising-certificate application documents.
Application assistance is included. A licence, regulatory approval and third-party charges are not included.
Core practical skills and workflows
Build practical skills through tutor explanations, demonstrations and educational assignments in bookkeeping, bank reconciliation, working papers, accounts preparation, introductory UK tax workflows, document organisation and professional communication.
Bookkeeping & Records
- Bookkeeping workflows
- Bank reconciliation
- Expense categorisation
- Financial record organisation
Accounts & Preparation
- Accounts preparation support
- Working papers
- Schedules and documentation
- Period-end procedures
Tax & Compliance
- Basic self-assessment workflows
- Corporation tax preparation support
- Working within deadlines
- Documentation standards
Professional Practice
- Client communication drafting
- Professional correspondence
- File management and organisation
- Practice workflow familiarity
Starting your own practice
For participants who want to build an independent bookkeeping or accountancy practice, this module connects practical accounting skills with the decisions involved in setting up and running a business.
You will work through your intended services, business structure, systems, client proposition and next steps, with practical guidance tailored to your existing qualifications, experience and professional permissions.
Business structure and setup
Compare the available business structures and understand the registration, management and administrative implications for your proposed practice.
Services, pricing and scope
Define the services you are competent and permitted to offer, identify your target clients, and develop a clear service proposition and pricing approach.
Software and working systems
Evaluate accounting, document-collection and practice-management software, and plan straightforward workflows for onboarding, document handling and quality control.
Client acquisition and communication
Explore where to find clients, how to describe your services, and how to prepare introductory messages, proposals and follow-up communications.
Practice documentation and compliance planning
Work through engagement documentation, client onboarding, confidentiality, data protection, anti-money-laundering supervision and professional indemnity insurance requirements relevant to your intended services.
Licence and practising-certificate applications
Identify the requirements relevant to your professional body and proposed services, organise supporting evidence, and receive practical help preparing and reviewing application documents. This assistance is included in the programme fee.
You will develop a practical launch plan for your own practice, including the services you intend to offer, the systems you need and the steps to complete before taking on clients.
The programme helps you prepare to start independently; it does not itself grant a licence or practising certificate. You must meet the requirements applicable to your qualifications, professional membership and intended services before beginning practice. Decisions on licences and approvals remain with the relevant professional body or regulator.
How you will put your learning into practice
Training combines explanations and demonstrations with practical assignments, review and correction. Assignments use case materials drawn from accounting practice and are selected to develop specific skills.
Transactions and reconciliation
Practise recording, categorising and reconciling transactions using training records. Investigate differences and explain how you resolved them.
Working papers and schedules
Prepare supporting schedules and working papers, with guidance on structure, supporting evidence and clear presentation.
Accounts and tax exercises
Work through educational accounts-preparation and introductory tax exercises to understand the process and its supporting documentation.
Professional communication
Draft sample information requests, explanations and correspondence for tutor review.
File organisation
Organise training documents into clear, consistent files and learn how to maintain an understandable audit trail.
Planning and review
Complete assignments to agreed learning deadlines, review your approach and identify what to improve.
How your skills develop
Build the foundations
Begin with record organisation, transaction processing and bank reconciliation. Learn how to identify missing information and recognise when something needs investigation.
Connect the processes
Progress to working papers, accounts preparation and introductory tax workflows. Understand how individual schedules and records support the wider accounting process.
Strengthen your judgement
Bring these skills together through more developed case assignments. Practise explaining decisions, checking results and identifying when further guidance is needed.
The pace and complexity of assignments are adjusted to participants’ starting points and progress.
Professional guidance, practical feedback
The programme is led by Elena Meskhi, with teaching, supervision and assignment reviews provided by Elena and experienced practitioners from her accounting practice.
Participants receive explanations, practical feedback and opportunities to correct and improve their assignments. Reviews address both the result and the reasoning behind it: what needs attention, why it matters and how to approach it more confidently next time.
Assignments become more challenging as participants develop their skills. Progress is assessed against learning objectives and professional documentation standards, rather than the practice’s commercial output.
- Practitioner-led explanations and demonstrations
- Feedback on training assignments
- Opportunities to correct mistakes
- Progressive skills development
- Discussion of strengths and areas for improvement
Professional development, CPD and experience-record support
CPD and learning records
We help participants identify their learning objectives and maintain an individual development record. We provide records of attendance, completed learning activities and outcomes, together with assignment feedback and guidance on documenting what has been learned and how it can be applied.
Relevant completed learning may count as verifiable continuing professional development (CPD) where it meets your professional body’s requirements. We will use the relevant body’s guidance to help you organise your evidence and identify which learning is appropriate to record.
Learning records reflect completed activities, not simply scheduled hours. The programme does not claim accreditation by a professional body.
ACCA and other professional-body experience requirements
If you are working towards ACCA or another professional body’s practical experience requirements, we can help you understand the requirements, organise your records and assess whether an appropriate supervised-experience arrangement is available for your circumstances.
Any support with verification or sign-off must relate to qualifying experience and an eligible supervisor under the relevant body’s rules. We will confirm the scope of any such support individually, in writing, before enrolment. Course attendance and educational case assignments are not automatically qualifying workplace experience.
Licence application support
Practical help preparing and reviewing relevant licence or practising-certificate application documents is included in the programme. Eligibility, experience requirements and approval depend on the rules of your professional body and the services you intend to offer.
Included practice-startup moduleCanary Wharf and Canada Water, London
Office-based sessions take place at our Canary Wharf or Canada Water offices in London. Sessions may be held at either location, including across both offices in the same week. The programme timetable specifies the venue for each session.
How to apply
Entry is by application and screening only. We assess every applicant individually.
Apply
Submit your background, qualifications and learning goals.
Screening call
Once we receive your application, we will contact you to arrange a short call.
Programme offer
Following the call, successful applicants receive the proposed start date, attendance timetable, fees and enrolment terms.
Enrolment and induction
Accepted participants complete the enrolment and confidentiality requirements before beginning training.
Common questions
This is a fee-paying practical training programme. Participants enrol to receive teaching, guided practice and feedback against defined learning objectives. Participants are not allocated a client portfolio or required to cover staff duties or fulfil client-delivery obligations. The programme does not offer or guarantee a job.
Training uses realistic accounting case materials, including anonymised records and educational copies drawn from completed practice cases. Assignments are prepared for learning and review, rather than to fulfil current client-service obligations. Participants agree to confidentiality and appropriate-use requirements before accessing restricted training materials.
The fee covers structured practical training, learning materials, tutor guidance, assignment reviews and feedback. It also includes the practice-startup module, professional-development record support and practical assistance with relevant licence or practising-certificate application documents.
The weekly learning commitment combines office-based training and guided independent study; it does not represent 20 hours of individual tuition.
You will need approximately 20 hours each week, including two five-hour office-based sessions at Canary Wharf and/or Canada Water, and around ten hours of guided independent study. Please consider whether you can meet this commitment alongside your other responsibilities.
Yes. The practice-startup module provides practical guidance on business structure, services, software, pricing, finding clients and preparing the relevant application documents. It is designed to help you prepare for independent practice, subject to your existing competence and any applicable professional, licensing and regulatory requirements.
We help organise evidence of completed learning and understand relevant professional-body experience requirements. CPD and qualifying workplace experience have separate requirements. Any verification or sign-off support must be confirmed individually in writing before enrolment.
CPD and learning records · Professional experience requirements
The approved teaching systems and included access arrangements will be specified in the enrolment information. Participants bring their own laptop. Commercial subscriptions for a future practice are not automatically included.
Begin your application
Build your practical accounting skills through structured training, professional guidance and feedback.