For those seeking a challenging business
career with unlimited development opportunity and a professional
qualification respected the world over, accountancy is hard to beat.
Unrivalled career prospects exist for graduates or ‘A’
level school-leavers with talent, commitment and ambition.
What do accountants do?
In essence, accountants offer financial advice to clients and aim
to increase the value of the client’s business. The work of
an accountant is extremely broad and the exact nature of the job
will depend on the area of specialisation you choose.
Audit
As an auditor, you will be carrying out an in-depth investigation
of a business in order to form an opinion on whether the company’s
accounts are ‘true and fair’. This means identifying the
major areas of risk inherent in the business, which calls for a
high degree of judgement and an in-depth understanding of the client
and it’s industry. As an auditor, you have to be able to see
how a company is going forward, to understand its strategy and how
it stands within the industry as a whole. To do that successfully,
you have to build strong relationships with the client.
Tax
When you become a tax consultant, you are capable of making a significant
impact on the finances of corporations and individual tax payers.
You will advise clients on a variety of money-saving issues, from
tax efficient remuneration methods to international tax planning
and computations. Tax is an intellectually demanding career which
calls for excellent analytical and problem-solving ability, but
which offers tremendous mental stimulation.
Corporate Finance and Corporate Recovery
The other two main areas of accountancy are Corporate Recovery
and Corporate Finance. Corporate Recovery is about helping businesses
that are failing to get back to financial health. It is often very
pressurised as your team can be called in at a moment’s notice
to run the business on behalf of its creditors. There’s a lot
of fire-fighting and responsibility but this is what makes it exciting.
You have to think on your feet and, even in the early years, be
making decisions.
Corporate Finance deals with companies at the other end of the
spectrum - those that are growing. As a Corporate Financier you
will be helping businesses to raise money to fund their growth or
perhaps advising on acquisitions, take-overs or flotation’s
on the Stock Exchange. Corporate Finance requires both strategic
and lateral thinking. Your clients will look for proactive advice
on such issues as which businesses they might acquire or which ones
they should sell. In effect, you have to put yourself in the chief
executive’s shoes.
What are the entry points?
In the United Kingdom most students train within the accounting
profession in one of the main accountant’s practices and choose
to study for either the Association of Chartered Accountants (ACA)
or Association of Chartered Certified Accountants’ qualifications
(ACCA). Opportunities do exist, however, to train in industry while
studying for the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
or Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA)
qualification. Providing certain academic criteria are met, the
cost of training is almost always borne by the employer under a
training contract with the employee.
What does the training involve?
To qualify in chartered accountancy in the UK, you need three years’
practical work experience combined with passes in the examinations
set by the various institutes. The chartered accountancy examination
syllabus includes three sets of exams, each comprising several subjects.
The chartered taxation examination syllabus includes two sets of
exams covering a broad range of taxation, accounting and law issues.
Certified accountants also undertake practical work experience
combined with study for professional examinations. The training
programme is flexible although there is a maximum time limit of
ten years within which you must have passed all the exams. However,
most organisations who offer a training contract for the ACCA qualification
will usually expect passes within three to four years.
Are the exams tough?
Yes, very. You are seeking to gain a highly prestigious qualification
which is respected throughout the world. You will usually receive
a great deal of support from your employer - including generous
study and excellent tutors - but your commitment is essential.
Is accountancy for me?
Knowing if you are going to be successful in accountancy means
knowing yourself: your strengths, your weaknesses, what interests
you and what does not. Some of the key characteristics and competencies
people who succeed in accountancy have are identified below.
How do you match up?
Clients can be very demanding, you will need to build close relationships
with them and provide excellent service. Are you quick to see what
others need or are driving at? Have there been times when you have
put yourself out to help somebody even when it isn’t your responsibility?
Essential quality: ability to respond to clients’ needs.
You will work with people at all levels in different environments
from company directors to warehouse staff. Do you relate well to
people from all walks of life? Have you ever been in a situation
where your flexibility and sensitivity have been crucial? Essential
quality: good communicator.
A successful project depends on the whole team pulling together.
This can only happen through strong leadership. As you progress,
you will need to manage terms of increasing size. Have you been
involved in an activity where you found team membership stimulating?
Can you manage and motivate other? When involved in a project, do
people naturally turn to you as a leader? Essential qualities: ability
to lead and be a good team player.
During your training you will have to balance a full time job with
study and leisure activities. Projects have to be finished on time,
every time. You need to know your limitations, know how to improve
performance, cope under pressure. Is your week full of activities?
Do you get your projects in on time without too much panic, loss
of sleep or missing out socially? Can you prioritise between different
needs? Essential quality: ability to manage tight deadlines.
Being an effective business adviser is about looking forward and
advising clients what to do next. It means understanding the business
environment and how companies operate. Do you take an interest in
how businesses are doing? Has your experience to date given you
an insight into factors affecting business? Essential qualities:
commercial awareness and business interest.
Accountancy and tax work are based on investigation, analysis,
and presenting information in a form to support a professional opinion
or business solution. Through your studies, have you learnt to analyse
information objectively and critically and use if effectively to
support a point of view? Can you think round a problem and come
up with a creative solution? Essential qualities: judgement, initiative
and broad-based thinking skills.
Projects don’t always run according to plan. Problems can
seem insoluble. You need tenacity and self-motivation to see a project
through. Have you ever faced an unexpected challenge and achieved
what some people considered impossible? Do you stick with a problem
until solved? Essential qualities: energy, drive and motivation.
Academic requirements
Academic qualifications are an important part of accountants’
practices selection procedures. As a graduate entrant, you will
normally require at least a second class honours degree and good
‘A’ levels. Your degree does not have to be in accounting
or a numerical discipline, although some degrees, such as economics
and law, will exempt you from certain aspects of the professional
exams. Some practices offer training programmes to ‘A’
level school leavers, you will normally require 3 good ‘A’
levels plus good grades at maths and English GCSE.#
The rewards
In the large London practices, starting salaries range from approximately
£11,500 for school leavers to £18,00 for graduates. Within a few
years it is possible for both to be earning between £24,000 and
£28,000.
Interested - then go for it!
A professional accountancy qualification opens the doors to many
exciting possibilities. If you choose to stay in the profession,
you will constantly find new challenges, whether in a new specialist
area or perhaps a secondment overseas. You will also be valuable
to many other organisations and will be able to choose from a number
of exciting alternative careers.
Further information
Contact: Sarah Farrar at KPMG, Accountants
& Business Advisers, 8 Salisbury Square, London EC4Y 8BB U.K.
Tel: (0171) 311 1000.
This article first appeared in School Leaver magazine
