Vocational training as a tax associate
Tax associates do nothing else all day but book numbers from right to left and tick off receipts... Heard that before? Then forget it right away, because the profession has much more to offer! Hardly any other profession gives you such a varied and interesting insight into large companies and economic contexts - it's anything but grey theory. If you also have an interest in numbers and a good dose of team spirit and commitment as well as analytical skills, we should get to know each other, because vocational training as a tax associate could be just right for you.
1 Vocational training that is exciting – and even offers the opportunity to study at university!
Theory and practice taken on their own make little sense also in this vocational training. That’s why you will learn the theoretical basics two days a week at vocational school and your experienced colleagues will teach you the necessary practical know-how on three days. This is the perfect start to your professional life!
During your vocational training you can immerse yourself in the topic of "taxes" and gradually familiarise yourself with the new material. In the first year of your vocational training, you will mainly take on tasks in payroll accounting for our clients in order to gain initial basic knowledge. In the second year of your vocational training, your horizons will broaden considerably and you will learn about the different types of tax, gain insights into many areas of German and international tax law, be involved in the preparation of tax returns and review the tax assessment notices from the tax office for our clients. By the third year of your vocational training, you have already acquired so much know-how that you can now also participate in the initial preparation of annual financial statements.
The following applies to the entire vocational training - while you actively support our experienced tax advisers in providing advice to our clients, they will provide you with the best specialist knowledge first-hand. Through this learning by doing, you will notice after only a few months that your tax knowledge is becoming more and more sound and that you can already do a lot on your own. In the further course of the vocational training, the degree of independence will continue to increase. Your vocational training period without integrated studies takes three years. It includes an intermediate exam after one and a half years and a final exam after three years. You can also take the final exam after 2.5 years if you do particularly well.
Your vocational training generally lasts 2.5 years if you want to extend it with an integrated Bachelor of Arts degree - an option we are happy to offer you! The "Business Administration and Taxes" study programme takes place at the Münster university of applied sciences and lasts a total of four years (eight semesters). During the first study phase (2.5 years), you will be on site at Stückmann for three days and you will start working on tax returns earlier in your vocational training, for example, and dealing with annual financial statements will be brought forward from the third to the second year of training. In addition, you will attend vocational school on one day and the university of applied sciences in Münster on one or two days (Friday/Saturday). After completing your vocational training, you will continue to work three days on site at the company and study two days (Thursday/Friday) during the second study phase (1.5 years). Of course, we will pay the complete tuition fees for you!
Our vocational training programme without integrated studies is aimed at school graduates who have a good intermediate school-leaving certificate or a vocational diploma with good grades in German and maths. Our vocational training programme including studies is primarily aimed at school graduates with a good (vocational) diploma qualifying for university entrance and good grades in German and maths, who not only want to study, but also want to work practically at the same time and have further career goals in mind.
Your
department
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During your vocational training as a tax associate, you will be a permanent member of the department in which all tax associates, certified tax specialists and certified management accountants work. All enquiries concerning the areas of payroll and financial accounting that reach our partners from clients are centrally bundled, distributed and processed here.
2 Why you should do your vocational training at Stückmann
Whether with or without studies - your decision to do a vocational training as a tax associate is a great one! Now you just have to find the right vocational training company for you. At Stückmann we have many good arguments for vocational training with us - from exciting topics to a good support concept and modern equipment.
Our diverse clientele provides very interesting insights that make your work varied every day. Large and very large medium-sized companies from the region, but also corporate groups, come to us again and again with exciting and sometimes tricky questions. During your vocational training, you will get to know issues and dimensions that you would not come into contact with elsewhere.
During your vocational training, you will share an office together with an experienced tax associate and a tax specialist. In this team, you will be involved in real client work and exciting projects even as a trainee - and contribute your share to success.
You will benefit from the experience of the others, can learn a lot by watching and can ask questions directly. You don't have to be shy about this, because it's normal for us to share our knowledge with the team. In addition, our vocational training manager Julia Fuchs will always keep an eye on your development and workload and is happy to answer all your questions.
And last but not least, at Stückmann we are completely modern and digitally equipped in order to be able to work flexibly - digging through files is a thing of the past. For you, this means, for example, that you get an iPhone and an iPad from us, which you can also use at vocational school and for private purposes.
Charlotte Schröder and Pascal Strunk talk about their training as tax assistants at our Bielefeld office. With or without accompanying studies, both paths are possible. Both have now successfully completed their training and have been taken on. We are happy that they are still part of the team!
3 You can rely on our support
We know that you first have to find your way around when you start your professional life. That’s why we will support you as much as possible during your vocational training. We have a lot of confidence in you at the same time so we will involve you in numerous tasks right away. Our experience shows that this is the most effective way to learn and you will quickly know what is important in your job!
To make you feel welcome right away and help you settle in quickly, we will welcome you and your fellow trainees with an introductory day. In the subsequent onboarding events, you will get to know the main areas and structures of our company step by step.
Because many things will still be very new for you at the beginning of your vocational training, we want to be close to you. That’s why our vocational training manager Julia Fuchs, partner Prof. Dr. Oliver Middendorf and a representative of the human resources department will meet with you after a short time to do an initial "stocktaking": Have you settled in? Is everything as you imagined it beforehand? Is there anything we can improve? These are just a few of the many important questions that interest us. During your vocational training, we will meet several times to discuss the status of your training and your wishes.
In addition to these discussions, regular exchanges with other trainees in the company are also important. That’s why we promote these contacts, for example, with joint lunches or the annual trainee day, which can be freely designed and organised. And the more often you exchange ideas with colleagues in "hallway conversations", the more clearly you will feel the togetherness that makes Stückmann so special.
To keep you up-to-date with the latest developments in your field, we offer additional internal training and education programmes. These include basic training in tax law, seminars on individual key topics and English language training in small groups. Furthermore, if our trainees are interested, they have the opportunity to attend seminars and intensive training courses on topics such as "Starting your vocational training", "Taxation" and "Financial accounting", or we facilitate additional qualifications, for example in the area of "Wages and salaries."
In general, we think it is great if you organise your own training and further education. Just talk to your trainer about interesting offers that you have discovered. Of course, we will also sponsor all the learning materials you need and the preparatory courses for the intermediate and final exams so that you can start with a good feeling.
As you can see, even though our trainees only make up a small part of our more than 200 members of staff, the topic of "vocational training" is very important to us. Our goal is to support and promote each trainee individually and to prepare them in the best possible way for their successful completion. Of course, this also applies to you!
High-quality.
Professional.
Structured.
A high professional level is the be-all and end-all of our work. That’s why we have adopted the values High-quality. Professional. Structured. as our mottos. Read more about these and our other values, which guide us and which we implement very consciously. Stückmann as an employer
4 What about after your vocational training? We want you to stay with us!
Vocational training often goes by faster than you think. Then the next decision has to be made - What do you want to do next? It's simple - stay with us!
Our goal is to take on the trainees directly after their vocational training. This is a win-win situation for both sides. After their final exam, trainees can continue to support clients in accounting and payroll matters in an already familiar setting and assist in the preparation of tax returns and annual financial statements - including increasing personal responsibility. And we can be sure that our clients will be looked after by staff who know exactly what Stückmann is all about.
You would like to take the next professional step in your career after completing your vocational training? Wonderful! The classic path taken by many is further education to become a tax specialist.
Some tax associates also train to become certified management accountants, and part-time Bachelor's study programmes are also becoming increasingly popular. Let's consider together where your professional journey could take you, we are very open in this regard and will usually make your wish possible.
Trainees with integrated Bachelor's studies start out as tax assistants after their studies and then often head towards becoming a tax adviser. A part-time Master's study programme is also not uncommon - it is now possible to combine this directly with preparing for the tax adviser exam and then take the exam in one go. Of course, we will also support this accordingly.
