We answer some of the most frequently asked questions about PER during the pandemic.
If you are furloughed/on extended leave, then you will not be working and therefore not gaining PER. You should record this period of time in your PER record by end dating your role from the date your furlough began and starting a new role from the date you return to work.
You may wish to use this time to keep your accounting knowledge up to date, or increase your business skills by completing some of our free online courses, helping you to achieve your performance objectives more quickly once you get back to work.
If you are working remotely, then you can continue to achieve your PER provided that your practical experience supervisor is still overseeing and checking your work.
If you’re still working but have been diverted to other non-finance tasks, then you can adjust the percentage relevance of your role during this period to reflect your current work situation.
If you are not doing any accounting or finance work at this time, then you will not be able to gain time towards your PER. However, the new work that you are doing may still count towards achievement of some of the performance objectives.
You will be able to use this non-finance experience towards achieving performance objective 2 (Stakeholder relationship management), 3 (Strategy and innovation), and 5 (Leadership and management) as these can be gained in non-finance roles.
Employers are very busy at the moment and may not have as much time to help support you with your PER. However, provided that your practical experience supervisor is still overseeing and checking your work, then it can still count towards your PER.
If your practical experience supervisor is too busy to have dedicated PER meetings, then make the most of any other ongoing meetings with your manager to inform them of your progress – for example, weekly catch-ups or appraisal meetings.
While we normally recommend that you get your PER signed off as you go, we understand that this can be difficult in the current circumstances. Don’t worry – just keep recording your progress and there will be opportunity for your supervisor to review and sign off your PER in future.