A day in the life of an accountant
Lesson plan overview
This A2–B1 ESL lesson is focused on careers in accounting and finance. Students learn essential vocabulary related to bookkeeping, payroll, tax, auditing, and financial reporting while exploring the daily responsibilities of different accounting professionals. Learners build confidence discussing accounting tasks, workplace routines, and financial documents in English.
Speaking:
The lesson begins with a lead-in discussion where students talk about the role of accountants, the skills required for the profession, and whether every company needs an accountant. Throughout the lesson, students discuss different accounting careers, describe their own (or ideal) jobs, talk about daily responsibilities and deadlines, and role-play realistic workplace situations.
Reading:
Students read about five professionals working in the accounting and finance industry: a bookkeeper, a tax accountant, a payroll officer, an external auditor, and a forensic accountant. They identify each person’s responsibilities, answer comprehension questions, and compare the different career paths within the profession.
Vocabulary:
Students learn and practise key accounting collocations and workplace expressions, including record transactions, reconcile bank accounts, process supplier invoices, verify expense reports, prepare tax returns, calculate salaries, issue an adverse opinion, and investigate discrepancies. They also complete activities based on an accountant’s daily to-do list, reinforcing practical business English vocabulary used in accounting departments.
Listening:
Students watch the video “What is bookkeeping and what does a bookkeeper do?“ and complete a variety of listening tasks. They identify bookkeeping responsibilities, tick the tasks mentioned in the video, and explore how bookkeeping differs for freelancers, small businesses, and large organisations.
Practice:
Students complete realistic workplace dialogues by choosing appropriate accounting verbs and expressions before practising the conversations in pairs. They then prepare and perform role-plays based on common accounting situations, such as unpaid invoices, payroll issues, missing documentation, payment reminders, and discrepancies between financial records.
For additional speaking practice, you can use the printable conversation cards.
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Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Pre-class activities
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In-class activities
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Additional resources
Each video-based lesson plan includes links to additional resources (videos and articles), which are FREE can be found online (in the pre-class activities page. These links aim to extend the learning experience, enabling students to connect classroom knowledge with real-world applications.
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Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
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