Graduate trainee accountant 2027

Start your career in accountancy with Old Mill, a workplace where you can build on your existing achievements.

You've done the degree, and now you're thinking about what comes next. If you're curious about business, enjoy solving problems and want a career where you can keep learning, our graduate trainee accountant programme could be the perfect next step.

At Old Mill, you'll learn by doing. You'll work with real clients, alongside experienced accountants and advisers, while studying towards your ACA qualification. You'll earn a salary, gain valuable experience and work towards becoming a professionally qualified accountant. We're not looking for a perfect CV or a particular degree. We're looking for people with potential, curiosity and the attitude to make the most of the opportunities in front of them.

What will you actually do?

From the start, you'll be part of a team doing real work for real clients. Depending on your team, this could include:

• Preparing accounts and tax returns
• Working with financial information and data
• Using technology to solve problems and improve the way we work
• Getting to know our clients and understanding their businesses
• Supporting experienced colleagues with a variety of client work
• Developing your knowledge of accountancy, tax and business
• Taking on increasing responsibility as your experience grows

You'll have support around you, but we also want you to become increasingly confident in making decisions, asking questions and taking ownership of your work.

Our trainees are the future of Old Mill. That's why we invest in your development rather than expecting you to have everything figured out before you start. You don't need previous accountancy experience. What matters is that you're ready to learn, contribute and get stuck in.

So, what are we looking for?

We're looking for graduates who are

• Curious and willing to ask questions
• Good at spotting when something doesn't quite add up
• Interested in how businesses work
• Organised and able to manage their time
• Comfortable working with numbers and information
• Keen to learn and develop
• Determined when things get difficult
• Good with people and able to communicate clearly
• Open-minded and willing to listen to other people's ideas
• Ready to take responsibility and make things happen

And while your degree is part of your journey so far, it isn't the whole story. We're interested in what you've learned, what you've done with your time and what you could bring to Old Mill.

Your ACA training

You'll study towards the ACA qualification alongside your role at Old Mill, combining professional study with practical experience.

Your training will give you the technical knowledge you need to qualify, while your time with us will allow you to put that into practice. You'll learn from experienced colleagues and develop the commercial, technical and interpersonal skills you'll need for a long-term career in accountancy.

You'll be supported throughout your training, but we'll also give you the opportunity to take increasing ownership of your work and development as you progress.

Old Mill and Kinbrook

Old Mill is part of Kinbrook, a growing UK-wide professional services group. We're still very much Old Mill, with our own name, leadership, culture and way of doing things, but being part of a wider group gives us access to additional expertise, resources and opportunities.

For you, that means you can build your career in a supportive regional business while having the opportunities and connections that come from being part of something bigger.

Please keep your application human

We use AI at Old Mill, and we think it can be a really useful tool. There are some parts of our recruitment process where we're happy for you to use it, and some where we need to hear directly from you.

Please don't use AI to

• Write your CV or cover letter for you
• Generate answers during your video interview
• Complete any pre-interview testing or assessment

We want these parts of the process to reflect your own experience, thinking and personality. Your application doesn't need to sound like a corporate brochure. In fact, we'd much rather it didn't.

But please feel free to use AI to

• Check your spelling, grammar or clarity
• Support you if you use AI or other assistive technology to help with written communication
• Help you research Old Mill, accountancy or the ACA
• Help you prepare for an assessment centre

If you've been through university recruitment or assessment centres before, you'll probably recognise some of the process. Use that experience to help you prepare, but don't try to give us the answer you think we're looking for.

The important thing is that your experiences, ideas and answers are your own. We're not expecting everyone to communicate in exactly the same way, and we want our recruitment process to be accessible and fair.

So use the tools that help you prepare and communicate at your best. Just make sure that when we're assessing you, we're hearing from you.

Ready to start your career?

If you're ambitious, curious and ready to build on what you've already achieved, we'd love to hear from you.

We’re expecting to run our graduate assessment centres on the following dates:

• Tuesday 9th February 2027 for those people who’ve applied to Chippenham or Wells
• Tuesday 23rd February 2027 for those people who’ve applied to Exeter or Yeovil

These are subject to change.

And if you have any specific questions or require additional help to apply, you can reach out to kaz.austen@om.uk.