Job Description

Fancy working for an employer who offers clear career progression opportunities, 50 days of paid annual leave and an ongoing commitment to personal and professional development?

TaxAssist Accountants Edinburgh East are looking for an Accounts Assistant, Accountant or Senior Accountant to join our team and help our clients. We're keeping our options open as this role is to help us with our MTD plans for 2026 and beyond.

Our franchise is one of the biggest and most successful in the TaxAssist network, which supports over 70,000 small businesses and individual taxpayers. We have over 1100 clients of different sizes in various industries, and we support them with compliance services including payroll, bookkeeping, VAT, accounts, and tax preparation. But what really matters is adding value to our clients and their businesses, and ensuring we provide them with the best possible customer experience.

The other thing that really matters to us is providing opportunities for everyone in the team to progress in their careers, and everyone is offered support through internal training, professional qualifications, and mentoring. It is a busy and a fast-paced working environment, but we try to balance this out wherever possible and we don't take ourselves too seriously. You can check out our Halloween efforts on Instagram (@TaxAssistDalkeith) for proof of this!

When we are not busy with client work you can find our team volunteering and fundraising for Cash for Kids, and there are lots of opportunities to get involved with this throughout the year.

Being a small team means everyone can make an impact on the overall success and growth of the business and we're really looking for someone who wants to take this opportunity and really step into the role and make it their own. New ideas and suggestions will be welcomed and taken seriously.

Our core values are Innovation, Integrity and Kindness. These aren't up on any walls within the offices, they are simply part of how we operate, make decisions and treat each other. One day per month, we close our offices and the whole team gets together for a Development Day - this could involve internal training, technical training, soft skills, visits from our software providers and much more. In addition, employee happiness is measured weekly and the feedback (which can be given anonymously) helps shape the business and the working environment.

Joining TaxAssist means you can:

Be part of a recognised national accountancy network while also working in a friendly, small business environment. Receive support from the TaxAssist network and Support Centre for technical queries as well as professional development and training. Benefit from access to training, CPD, guidance, tools and videos to expand your soft skills and technical knowledge. We close our offices every month for a full day dedicated to training and development. Join a team that is quick to adapt, are advocates of cloud bookkeeping and other time-saving products - we take innovation seriously and are often involved in piloting and testing new products for the wider TaxAssist network Be part of a company that focuses on more than just filing tax returns and meeting deadlines. We want to provide excellent customer service to our clients and play an active role in supporting our local community. Have the chance to attend the TaxAssist Conference, which normally takes place at the five star Celtic Manor resort in Wales every two years.
We also offer:

50 days paid annual leave per annum Use of company pool car (subject to insurance) Employee assistance scheme Monthly Development days Support with personal development Study support (financial assistance and study leave)

The Role

The role will be based across multiple shop locations giving you plenty of variety and the chance to get to know our whole team and a broad range of clients. The working hours will be 9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday. Our shops are located in Dalkeith, Easter Road, Fairmilehead and Musselburgh - once you have spent some time in each you will be able to choose your preferences as most of the team typically work in 2 to 3 offices in each week.

The duties will be wide ranging and varied, and are outlined below:

- Preparation of Self Assessment Tax Returns for a variety of clients including landlords, higher rate taxpayers and sole traders.

- Unincorporated Accounts for sole traders and partnerships.

- Preparation of bookkeeping and VAT returns for a portfolio of clients.

- Preparation of payroll and pension processing for a portfolio of clients.

- MTD for IT bookkeeping, review work and submissions for a portfolio of clients.

- Let Property Campaigns.

- 60 Day Capital Gains Tax Returns.

- Liaising with HMRC for various matters..

- Helping clients prepare for MTD; from initial discussions through to setting up software and registering with HMRC.

Those with more experience coming in at a higher level would also be expected to review work completed by others, meet with and sign up new potential clients and take on other responsibilities to be determined based on skills and experience.

Being a small team, if there's something else you have an interest in that you'd like to be involved in, the answer will probably be yes if you are managing your existing workload. We are always happy to get people involved in new areas they want to learn more about, or just enjoy doing.

Training will be provided on all software and systems used in the practice. We use a range of software including TaxCalc, QuickBooks and Dext and also work with Xero and FreeAgent. You will receive training to QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor Advanced Online level as well as Xero and FreeAgent Certifications.

Candidate Requirements

It is essential that you have recent and relevant experience working in an accountancy practice and we will not be able to consider applications without this. Making Tax Digital is a massive change for our industry and whilst we are very far ahead in our plans so far, we need whoever joins the team to be able to hit the ground running after the initial onboarding. Ideally you will be AAT qualified or working towards this or another qualification such as ACCA, however as long as you have plenty of relevant experience then we would still like to hear from you.

You must be used to managing your own time and working on your own initiative whilst following established processes. Strong IT and problem-solving skills are also essential.

Most importantly, the successful candidate will also have:

Good people skills and a confident and friendly personality to help build strong relationships with the team and with clients, The ability to take ownership of their work and see things through to completion, including working unsupervised and to deadlines.
Please note - although things might be subject to change, the expected start date for this position is not until March/April 2026. We are looking to recruit and make an offer of employment well ahead of this date.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: 25,000.00-37,000.00 per year

Benefits:

Additional leave Casual dress Company events Company pension Employee mentoring programme Health & wellbeing programme On-site parking Paid volunteer time Sick pay
Experience:

accountancy practice: 1 year (required)
Work Location: In person