KPMG Careers Initial Test

You are working on a client's site conducting a documentation review. You have been based on site for a couple of weeks and are working in the open plan office alongside client employees. This is the last day that you will be based on site before you return to the KPMG office, and you are working hard to complete all the work by the end of the day. There is no mobile phone signal at the office, and therefore your mobile is diverted to the client's landline number for the day. You are reviewing financial information when the landline telephone rings. You answer the call and it is from a different client who you worked for last week. He says he wants to discuss an important issue with you following the report you sent.

Rank 2 of the following options one as the Best; and one as the worst.

Option A

Best

Worst

Ask the client to send you an email detailing the issue which you will be able to review and respond to without anyone knowing.

B

Conduct an initial conversation making sure you do not mention the client's name so nobody in the office is aware of what you are discussing.

C

Thank the client for their call, explain the situation and arrange to speak to him tomorrow at a specific time to discuss the issue.

D

Explain the situation to the client and suggest you call him back from your mobile phone in ten minutes time, from the reception area of the building where you can get a mobile phone signal.

You have been working on a client project for two months and have spent time setting up processes and procedures to assist in the smooth running of the project. You are comfortable with the way things are running now, and have found that the work is becoming rather repetitive. You are due to meet with your manager next week to discuss your progress. Rank 2 of the following options one as the Best; and one as the worst.

Option A

Speak to your peers to find out if they find that their work is also quite repetitive and, if so, accept it is a key part of your role which will equip you well for the future.

Best

Worst

B

Acknowledge what you have learnt from this project and explain to your manager what you feel you can bring to other client projects as they become available.

C

Explain to your manager that you are no longer learning in this role, and want to be moved to another project which is better suited to your development.

D

Explore opportunities to become involved in other projects and then present these to your manager, asking whether you could start to broaden your experience by taking on some different challenges.

You are working within Tax Advisory as a trainee, and have been part of the department for a couple of weeks. You currently have several deadlines coming up with your client work. You receive a telephone call from a Partner within Tax Advisory asking if you would like to attend a new client 'meet and greet' overseas, along with two of your colleagues. There will be 30 client representatives attending, and you would be one of 3 representatives from KPMG. One of your colleagues will be carrying out a presentation on International Tax, an area which you have not worked on before, although you have covered some key areas as part of your studies. The trip will take you out of the office for 3 days the following week. The Partner explains that it is entirely up to you if you would like to attend, as there will be plenty of other trainees who would like to go if you have too much on at the moment.

Rank 2 of the following options one as the Best; and one as the worst.

Option A

Pass up on the opportunity this time, as you have too much on and you do not know enough about the client or subject to attend. Make a note to look out for similar opportunities when you do not have as many deadlines coming up.

B

Thank the Partner and say you would be delighted to go as you think it will be a good opportunity. Spend the next few days and the weekend working extra hard to make sure you are on track with your deadlines. Research International Tax and the client to make sure you feel prepared.

C

Ask the Partner if you will need to have much knowledge of International Tax and the client, then make a decision about whether you have time to go based on this.

D

Agree to attend as you do not want to miss out, and then see whether you can move any of your deadlines so they do not get in the way of the trip. Make a decision to speak to your colleagues on the journey about what you will need to know from a client perspective.

Best

Worst

You are working on a big project for an Energy client who is off-shoring several of their operations. You are part of the team supporting the client with setting up operations in the most tax efficient way. It is your role in the team to liaise with the client's existing overseas offices. You are responsible for sending reports produced by the team through to them and are the key client contact within KPMG. You are due to send a report to them and are proof reading it when you notice something that none of the team seem to have picked up on regarding a key piece of tax legislation that you think may be inaccurate. The client is chasing for the report as they are very keen to see the outputs. Rank 2 of the following options one as the Best; and one as the worst.

Option A

Best

Worst

Check the legislation and then change the report yourself to make sure the legislation is represented correctly.

B

Go back to the team member who wrote that part of the report and ask them to review it. Go back to the client and confirm the report will be with them as soon as your colleague has corrected it.

C

Send the report to the client as it is - your colleague who wrote that part of the report is more senior than you and therefore you may be mistaken.

D

Carry out some research on the piece of legislation to confirm if it is inaccurate, before raising the issue with your colleagues. Explain to the client that there are some minor amendments to be made to the report and you will send it through to them by the end of the day.

You are currently working with a client on an IT Controls Program and you are working to very tight timescales. You need some additional data from one of the client team members, which they had agreed to send you via email after the last meeting. You have chased the individual once for the information, reminding them of the deadline, but you have still not received it. They responded to your email chase with an abrupt reply stating that they will send it to you when they have time. Rank 2 of the following options one as the Best; and one as the worst.

Option A

Respond to the client team member reminding them of the deadline and highlighting the potential delay they may cause.

Best

Worst

B

Send an email to your manager and the client team manager summarising your progress on the project and what is still outstanding, highlighting the potential delay to the deadline.

C

Complete the work to the best of your ability and highlight where the information is missing.

D

Respond to the client team member and copy in your manager and the client team manager, reminding them of the deadline for the information required.

As part of your role within KPMG's Tax team, you have an ongoing client project which involves testing client data using a specialist tax software package. You need to keep on top of the work to ensure you do not get behind. You are feeling under pressure and have a lot to focus on. One of your peers contacts you for some help and advice as he is carrying out an urgent piece of client work using a tax model you recently wrote a study report on. He has specifically come to you as he knows you have a better understanding of the model than he does.

Rank 2 of the following options one as the Best; and one as the worst.

Option A

Agree to help him but explain that you have a lot of deadlines at the moment. Ask him questions to find out about his timescales and put in some extra hours to make sure you do not get behind.

B

Leave it a few days before going back to him as he may have found someone else to help by then.

C

Tell him you are really sorry but you simply do not have the time to help him at the moment, as you cannot let any of your deadlines slip.

D

Agree to send him your report so he can use it to get up to speed on the tax model, explaining that you have a lot of deadlines on at the moment.

Best

Worst

You are currently working for two managers on two separate client projects and have reports to complete for each client by the end of the week. You are confident you have enough time to complete both reports by the end of the week. A third manager approaches you and informs you that you need to attend a half day internal briefing meeting this week in order to plan for a new client meeting you will be attending next week. This additional task means you will struggle to complete the two reports you are currently working on.

Rank 2 of the following options one as the Best; and one as the worst.

Option A

Best

Worst

Speak to all three managers to assess the priorities and deadlines. Be prepared to work flexibly to meet the deadlines set.

B

Work late each night to make sure you get the client reports done to a high standard and to give you time to attend the briefing meeting.

C

Spend some time reviewing all three priorities and establish which would be the least problematic to move.

D

Tell the existing clients that an unforeseen issue has arisen and you will need to have an extension to the agreed deadline.

You are working on a client's tax return and have been reviewing the company accounts to check that the information represented in the tax computations reconciles to the information disclosed within the company accounts. The KPMG team you are working with are also doing a similar piece of work for a different client and are working on the two sets of information in parallel. As part of your training in understanding how KPMG work with clients to review their tax returns, you are sitting in on a conference call that your senior colleague is holding with the first client. They are due to talk the client team member through the information the team has reviewed to date and highlight any areas which may have been misrepresented by the current information. During the call, you realise that your colleague has told the client incorrect information, and that they have actually got a spreadsheet of data mixed up with that of the other client you are both working on. The call is almost over and the client seems to be happy with what your colleague is telling them. Rank 2 of the following options one as the Best; and one as the worst.

Option

Best

Worst

A

Wait until the call has finished, check that you are not mistaken then immediately call your colleague and highlight the issue so that they can look into it and explain this to the client. Offer to assist them in reviewing the correct information, as this will need to be done immediately.

B

Explain on the call to the client that there is still some analysis to be done and therefore the team may come back to them at a later stage with different conclusions about the data, as this will cover any incorrect information your colleague may have told the client.

C

Wait until the call has finished and then send an email to your colleague saying that you think they may have been using the wrong data. Send them the correct spreadsheet so they know which one they should be using.

D

Speak up immediately on the call that you have noticed a minor problem with the data, and send your colleague an email during the call to let them know what has happened. Tell your colleague on the call to check their email so they can find out and correct the problem before the end of the call.

You are working on a project for a client and have been asked to attend a briefing meeting with the key client contact for your specific part in the project. The client is short on time and the meeting, which was scheduled for an hour, has been reduced to half an hour. During the meeting, the client appears rushed and keeps checking her mobile phone. She explains that her department is working on a big deliverable, with a deadline at the end of the week. The client hands you a piece of A4 paper which she says contains all the information you need to get started. After you leave the meeting, you review the information and feel that you may not have everything you need to be confident in carrying out your piece of work.

Rank 2 of the following options one as the Best; and one as the worst.

Option A

Call the client to ask if there is anyone else who can help to answer your questions.

B

Send your manager an email explaining how busy the client is and suggesting you wait until the client has more time to go through the details before starting the work.

C

You know the client is busy working on other things so do the best you can with the information you have - she can then let you know if there are any areas you have missed.

Best

Worst

D

Call the client to ask when she can make time to clarify the information you need to do the work. Get started in the meantime with the areas you feel more confident about.

You have been working on a project which has come to an end earlier than expected. You go into the office but nobody is available to tell you what you need to be doing for the next week. Rank 2 of the following options one as the Best; and one as the worst.

Option A

Best

Worst

Send an email to your manager asking whether there is anything you can help with next week.

B

Speak to the team and find out what other work your colleagues have on at the moment to see what you can help with.

C

Sit down at your desk with the aim of finding some online training to complete until something more important comes up.

D

Call your peers to see if they are working on anything interesting that you have not had experience of, with the aim of finding something you would like to help with.

You have received a brief piece of written feedback from a manager you worked with recently, highlighting that they felt you could have been more diplomatic when handling a client challenge. You recall that, in the meeting, the client challenged your data and you felt you were able to completely justify your findings. You do not agree with the manager that you could have been more diplomatic as you felt you had to stand by your data. Rank 2 of the following options one as the Best; and one as the worst.

Option A

Ask your colleagues if they agree or disagree with the feedback to gauge further opinion on the matter before going back to the manager.

Best

Worst

B

Arrange to meet the manager to understand more about their feedback, particularly as it was provided in written format and was rather brief.

C

Decide not to make an issue of it as you know that you took the right approach and the outcome was positive.

D

Reply to the manager with an email explaining what you think you did in the meeting and why it was appropriate in the situation.