6th Jul 2018

My Week of Work Experience at Blu Sky – Caitlin

Day 1

After being welcomed and introduced to everyone in a very chilled environment, I was shown how Receipt Bank works on both ends – from the accountant’s point of view as well as the clients’ input using the software. I was also introduced to different software’s which were heavily incorporated into the accounting process, including Xero and Glide, which I realised are highly beneficial in allowing accounts to stay organised and constantly up to date. After today, the financial aspect of business studies is starting to make a lot more sense, as it’s now been presented in a real-life context.

Day 2

On my second day at Blu Sky, I was introduced to Blu Prints software and shown how it – and Xero – are integrated to be able to format the financial information from Xero into a graphical format in Blu Prints. I was tasked with setting up “cards” –  individual elements on a board, relevant to a start-up business in a pre-revenue stage. I enjoyed this and eventually got the hang of using formulas to represent the data more independently.  I was also asked to add to a draft of an EMI information sheet, where I had to do some research in order to fill in the blanks. After today, I feel I have much more of an understanding as to how data can be presented in a more “eye pleasing” way.

 

Day 3

I spent the first half of my third day at Blu Sky editing videos for the Blu Sky YouTube channel, where I added subtitles to match the speech. From doing this, I found out more about Blu Sky over the last ten years, and strategies for extending cash runway. After this, I went on to use Blu Prints again, where I added more graphs representing a company’s data concerning revenues and net profit. I’m now a lot more confident with using and creating formulas using the app. To finish off my day, I used Xero to edit the information installed to ensure it matched the bank statements.

 

Day 4

My fourth day at Blu Sky started with editing my board on Blu Prints concerning the pre-revenue year end, to go on to publish it in a PDF format ready for printing. I then reconciled credit notes to purchase invoices within Xero and gained more of an understanding of another role of an accountant, involving client’s purchases. I also continued to edit the Blu Sky videos on the YouTube channel through adding subtitles whist listening to the second part of top tips on raising a seed round – I learned something new there too.

Day 5

My final day of work experience again has been very enjoyable and chilled. I returned to using Receipt Bank which involved coding up receipts to match descriptions and any tax involved. Afterwards, I learned more about putting sales invoices into Xero and then reconciling them.

This afternoon has to be my favourite part of the week, having Italians for dinner then ending with a game of Mario Cart, further reflecting the positive atmosphere which is always in these offices. As a whole, I have loved my week at Blu Sky. I feel much more knowledgeable about the different aspects of accounting and the methodology involved in communicating with clients through software such as Xero, Receipt Bank and Blu Prints.

         

 

Alike the others who have also had work experience here, I would recommend Blu Sky as a brilliant place to learn all about how accountancy works, due to being given so much independence during my time here as well as working with a very friendly and easy to talk to team. Although still not 100% sure of what I want to do in future, I now know that accountancy is a definite option that I would potentially want to take in terms of career paths.