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Our graduate apprenticeship programme within the due diligence team will give you all the skills and support you need to unlock a future in corporate finance that’s packed with opportunities and new experiences. You’ll enjoy a fast-tracked business career that recognises your potential and rewards your ambition.
When you join our team, you’ll enjoy a powerful combination of on-the-job learning and structured training – not to mention an impressive client list to work with. You’ll discover a culture that nurtures individuality and an environment where everyone is supported to reach their potential. With us, you’ll always be moving forward.
What is due diligence?
Due diligence is an important stage within a corporate finance deal process and typically commences once a deal has been agreed in principle between a buyer and seller. Due diligence aims to give comfort and assurance to a buyer that the business is actually as has been presented, i.e. that it is making the profits and has the financial position that the buyer has been told – in this way it can confirm or correct the value of the business and the price that has been agreed and can then feed directly into subsequent deal negotiations. Relative to mergers and acquisitions (M&A), due diligence projects are shorter in duration and more detailed in nature, and represent a deeper dive into the financials and operations of a company over a specified review period which can include both recent actual results and future performance.
What does our financial due diligence (DD) team do?
Our team is one of the most active corporate finance advisers in the UK, advising on more than 1,000 deals in the past five years. We employ over 260 corporate finance professionals nationally, of which over 100 specialise in due diligence.
We typically support private equity investors, corporates and banks that are looking to complete a transaction; either to buy or invest in a business (‘buy-side DD’), or to sell the whole or part of a business or raise finance (‘sell-side DD’). We identify potential issues and assess financial risks that could impact on the purchase price, or lay the groundwork for the successful integration of the acquired business. Our clients are both national and international, and we work with RSM offices internationally depending on the location of a target company.
We analyse a company’s historical and forecast financial information, commenting on trends and key performance indicators in the context of commercial, operational and industry factors, as well as its asset base, its levels of cash and debt and its working capital profile. Broadly speaking, a typical project lifecycle will begin with you analysing data in Excel (or data analytics tools) then meeting with management to discuss and understand the analysis, and finally summarising your findings in a written report for the client. We keep in contact with our client regularly throughout each project to keep them informed of any findings or events that could change the viability or structure of a deal. No two projects are the same, just as no two days are the same!
What can you expect?
In our due diligence team you will be working on live projects from day one, after a brief intensive training course with your peers. You’ll learn what makes a business attractive to investors and buyers, and the possible funding options for companies looking to grow. You’ll be working with businesses and entrepreneurs from a broad range of industries and sectors as well as liaising with experts from other fields, such as law and banking. This hands-on experience is invaluable as you take the next steps in your career.
At RSM, you’ll benefit from on-the-job training from more senior members of the team and gain access to our internal training courses that will help you develop in the role, including courses to teach you due diligence and corporate finance specific skills. These residential courses give you the opportunity to interact with your peers and learn directly from service line experts within our departments.
When you join this team, you’ll work towards the ACA qualification with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW), or your Chartered Accountancy (CA) qualification with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) or with Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI).
What we look for
We’re on the lookout for graduates with a ‘can-do’ attitude who are prepared to work hard and take on high levels of responsibility. Due diligence requires an analytical and enquiring mindset, and a high level of interaction with both the rest of your RSM team as well as external stakeholders, so we look for team players who enjoy interacting with others and are curious about how businesses work. Time management and organisational skills are key as you may be working on multiple projects at the same time, as well as studying towards a professional qualification. You should be confident with numbers but also have excellent written communication skills and a keen attention to detail.
If that sounds like you, we know you’ll enjoy being part of our team.
Locations
Our vacancies are subject to change as we recruit on a rolling basis.
For those who perform well across all of the tasks at our virtual assessment centre, should your first geographic preference be unavailable, you will be offered a role in one of our specialist teams at one of our due diligence hubs. You may also potentially be offered a role in another department. This would always be discussed with you in the first instance.
Our specialist due diligence hubs are across the country in our Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, Reading, and Southampton offices.
