For many students at business school, on a CCA master’s or preparing the DSCG, the busy-season internship (stage de saison) is their first real contact with an audit firm. A few months at the heart of the year-end closings, between January and April, during which you move from one client to the next with a team, learn the accounting cycles on live files and discover the pace of the profession. It is also, for the firm, a full-scale trial period: a good season often leads to an offer of an end-of-studies internship or a first job. Here is how this internship works, when and how to apply, what the tests and assignments look like, and how to build a convincing CV.
What a busy-season internship is
In firms’ vocabulary, the “season” refers to the period when year-end work is concentrated. Most companies close their accounts on 31 December; statutory auditors then have to carry out their final work and issue their report before the meeting that approves the accounts, which concentrates a large share of the year’s activity between January and April.
The busy-season internship is an internship timed for this period, often lasting three to four months, sometimes six if it runs on into the spring assignments. It differs from other formats:
- the end-of-studies internship, often six months long, which leads more directly to a job;
- work-study, which runs over one or two years at the school’s pace;
- the gap-year internship, which takes place during a year out of studies.
The large networks, mid-tier firms and regional practices all take on busy-season interns. Arrangements vary: some firms favour six-month internships, others organise intakes of interns who all arrive together in January. Firms’ careers pages specify their format.
Timing and applications
When to apply
Firms recruit their busy-season interns several months ahead, because engagement schedules are built in the autumn. In practice:
- campaigns often open at the start of the academic year, between September and November, for a January start;
- the last places are sometimes filled until December, especially in smaller firms, depending on withdrawals;
- school recruitment fairs and lecture-hall presentations in the autumn are an opportunity to meet recruiters and auditors.
The exact timing varies from one firm to another and from one year to the next: check it on each firm’s careers site rather than relying on a general date.
How to apply
Applications usually go through the firm’s careers site, with a CV and sometimes a cover letter. In the large networks, a candidate account then lets you track the progress of your application. For regional firms, a speculative application to the office head or a partner remains effective.
A few practical tips:
- apply to several firms of different sizes, adapting your CV; our overview of audit firms beyond the Big Four helps identify targets;
- state your exact availability dates in the CV summary: a firm schedules its seasonal staff to the week;
- indicate your city or your mobility, because interns are assigned to an office.
Tests and interviews
The process varies with the size of the firm. The careers pages of the large networks generally describe a sequence along these lines: CV screening, sometimes a phone call, one or two rounds of online tests, then one or more interviews with operational managers or seniors.
Online tests may cover:
- logical and numerical reasoning;
- English, written and sometimes spoken;
- personality or behaviour in professional situations;
- the basics of accounting, at some firms.
Interviews combine motivation questions (why audit, why this firm, why this period) and sometimes a short case study: a change in margin to explain, an entry to comment on. Our article on the case study in an audit interview provides a method and worked examples.
In a regional firm, the process is often shorter: an interview with a partner or a manager, sometimes with a simple accounting exercise.
The work you are given
A busy-season intern joins engagement teams, generally under the responsibility of a senior or an audit lead, and moves from one client to another over the weeks. The most common tasks:
- tests of details on simple cycles: bank reconciliations, supporting supplier or customer account balances, reviewing expenses;
- confirmation procedures: preparing, sending and following up confirmation requests to banks, customers, suppliers and lawyers;
- physical stock counts: attending inventory counts at the client, test counts, reconciliation with the files;
- cut-off tests on year-end invoices and deliveries;
- keeping working papers in the firm’s tool, with references to supporting documents;
- preparing simple summary documents, reviewed by the senior.
The pace is intense, with travel to clients and heavy weeks in February and March. It is also the best way to discover several sectors in a short time.
Adapting your CV and cover letter
The CV of a busy-season applicant is a student CV, but a student CV oriented towards accounts. Our audit CV method details the structure; here are the points specific to the season.
The summary gives the degree, the dates and the position:
- Before: “Business school student, curious and rigorous, looking for an audit internship.”
- After: “First-year master’s student at business school, audit and control major, available from 5 January to 30 April for a busy-season financial audit internship, mobile in the Paris region and Lyon.”
Education highlights courses in accounting, audit and consolidation, and any DCG or DSCG unit already passed.
Experience brings out anything to do with accounts, even remotely: an internship in a finance department, a job in accounts payable, the treasury of a student association, a job that required rigour in handling cash or stock.
Skills specify your Excel level and your English with a score or concrete experience.
For the cover letter, when one is requested, three paragraphs are enough: why audit, why this firm, what you bring to a season. Our article on the cover letter for an audit internship gives an annotated structure.
The audit assistant CV example shows how a completed season is then presented on a CV, with the number of engagements, stock counts and confirmations.
After the internship
A successful season opens several doors:
- an offer of an end-of-studies internship or a first job at the same firm, often discussed at the end of the season with the manager;
- a second season at another firm, to compare environments;
- a work-study placement during the master’s degree, if the firm offers one.
Whatever you choose, update your CV as soon as the season ends, while the details are fresh: number of engagements, sectors, cycles, procedures. These are the elements that will make the difference for the next application. The CV editor lets you do it in a few minutes: it handles the layout and produces a PDF that firms’ screening software reads correctly, without losing the order of your experience.
Sources
- KPMG France, recruitment in audit roles 🔗.
- Deloitte France, recruitment FAQ 🔗 and students and recent graduates 🔗.
- Forvis Mazars, careers in France 🔗.
- Compagnie nationale des commissaires aux comptes, accessing the profession 🔗.
Frequently asked questions
Is a busy-season internship paid?
Yes: in France, an internship lasting more than two months with the same organisation must be paid a stipend (gratification), whose minimum can be calculated with the Service-Public simulator 🔗. Some firms pay more; the internship offer usually says so.
Can you do a busy-season internship without an accounting background?
It is possible from a business or engineering school, if you have taken accounting courses and show a genuine interest in audit. Firms then train you in the procedures.
Are busy-season interns hired afterwards?
Often, but not automatically. The firm assesses the intern on each engagement; a good assessment makes an offer of an end-of-studies internship or a job more likely.
Do you need a cover letter?
It depends on the firm. When one is requested, it should be short and precise: why audit, why this firm, and your availability dates.