11-Week Summer Associate – Audit, Public Sector – Newcastle - July 2025

About the Internship

As a summer associate you will be part of a team responsible for completing approximately 500 limited assurance audits of small local authorities (primarily parish councils). Local authorities spending between £25K and £6.5M per annum are required to submit an annual return of their income and expenditure and we are required to undertake procedures set by the National Audit Office to give independent assurance on the annual return. The level of assurance is less than that of a true and fair opinion required for larger authorities (hence the term limited assurance) and the procedures are relatively straightforward. However, you will need to have an enquiring mind and analyse information, especially financial data quickly and accurately.

You will be trained and closely supervised by an experienced Audit Manager and all your work will be reviewed by the Audit Manager and Director. However, you will be expected to learn quickly and work independently taking responsibility for the clients assigned to you. The clients are managed remotely but you will have regular contact with them on the phone, by e-mail and by letter so you must be an effective communicator. You will work with several other interns as well as permanent audit staff.

You will be set weekly completion targets working towards a team target of 95% complete, reviewed and opinions issued by the statutory deadline of 30 September. Clients complete a satisfaction survey, so a key skill is chasing them for information and persuading them to correct errors in a friendly and professional way that leads to positive feedback.

The outcome of your work will contribute to providing various stakeholders with assurance of an organisation's financial and accounting records and standards of governance. The local authorities raise most of their income via a precept added to resident's council tax bills so there is considerable public interest in how the money is spent. The Director and Audit Manager will deal with objections received from local electors and any suspicion of fraud or illegality, but you will need to be alert to politically sensitive issues, whilst working at speed on set procedures.

Following the programme, if a career in accountancy is something which you wish to pursue, you may have the opportunity to fast track for a 2026 graduate trainee role in the Newcastle office and the same department as your internship.

This internship will commence from 7th July 2025 for 11 weeks. Applicants should be prepared to work in the Newcastle office throughout the internship (Monday to Friday) although there may be scope to work from home towards the end of the internship with prior agreement.

About the Team

At Forvis Mazars, we believe audit is essential to the economic foundations of a fair and prosperous world. Audit has been, and remains, a profession at the heart of our business. Our auditors support the public interest and, by caring about the organisations we audit and their stakeholders, we help to build sustainable businesses for the benefit of society as a whole.

If you join our Audit Service Line, you will be part of a growing team of around 1,400 people who are committed to quality, to technical excellence and to adding value to our clients daily. In the fast-moving world of business, comprehensive, and robust auditing continues to be invaluable, and our teams provide audit and assurance services which are vital to our clients' business control and credibility.

We offer a distinctive, human-centric approach that goes beyond compliance, with an integrated structure that allows us to work together as one team. We serve regional, national and international companies of all sizes and structures, and if you join as a graduate you will have the opportunity to work on a variety of client engagements in many interesting sectors.

About Public Sector

Forvis Mazars offers a world-class audit experience with deep, specialist knowledge of the Public sector. Public Sector Audit provides distinctive audit and advisory services, and works with:

• Central government bodies;
• Local government bodies including Councils, police and fire bodies;
• NHS Trusts and Integrated Commissioning Boards

Who we're looking for

• Penultimate undergraduate student (second year of a three-year degree, third year or four-year degree, first year of a two-year postgraduate degree, or equivalent).
• On track to obtain an undergraduate degree (or have obtained an undergraduate degree if completing a postgraduate degree). Excellent academic performance is important; however, we understand that things don't always go to plan. Our recruitment process looks at your whole self – academic achievements as well as other experiences in which you have grown and developed.
• Deep curiosity to learn new things and is naturally inquisitive;
• The ability to think critically solve problems and share knowledge with others;
• A commitment to self-development and learning;
• Great sense of ownership of duties and high levels of responsibility to deliver on promises;
• Always looks to try their best in all they do and always looking for ways to improve;
• Enjoys meeting and engaging with new people with an underlying respect for individuals, diversity, and integrity;
• Works well under pressure and have a positive ‘can-do' attitude if faced with challenging situations;
• Excellent time management skills;
• A willingness to travel and adhere to our adaptable working environment.

Inclusion and Diversity

Being inclusive is core to our culture at Forvis Mazars; we want to ensure everyone, whether in the recruitment process or beyond, is fully supported to be their unique self and provided with a level playing field.

Next Steps

Roles will be closed as soon as we find the right people, so to avoid disappointment we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.