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Accountant
Accountants deal with the finances of organisations. They check financial records, assess the financial implications of business decisions, and prepare company accounts to make sure that they show an accurate picture of a company’s activities and finances.
Work activities
Accountants help organisations and individuals to manage their money. They prepare financial records and statements and check them for accuracy. This allows them to provide managers or clients with a clear picture of their financial activities.
Accountants work in various settings:
- Industry and commerce, where they tend to be based in one company.
- The public sector, where they work for bodies such as the NHS or the local council.
- Public practice, where they work for firms of accountants whose clients can vary from individuals to commercial and government organisations.
Some accountancy firms also act as business consultants and advise clients on ways to improve profits. Some accountants specialise in taxation or in helping to rescue companies that are insolvent. External auditors are professionally qualified specialist independent accountants. They examine an organisation’s accounts to check that they have been accurately prepared in accordance with the Companies Act and to make sure that the accounts provide a true and fair view of the organisation’s financial affairs. Public sector bodies are also audited, to make sure that they are delivering good value for money and that public funds are being spent appropriately.
Personal qualities and skills
As an accountant, you should have:
- Good written and spoken communication skills.
- An interest in how organisations work.
- IT skills – most accounting systems are computerised.
You will need to be:
- Capable of analysing and interpreting figures and explaining them to non-specialists.
- Confident and decisive.
- Able to prioritise your workload.
Pay and opportunities
Salaries for accountants vary, depending on the employer, role and branch of accountancy and location. For example, management accountants, who work in house, can expect to earn between £22,000 and £55,000, depending on seniority. Public finance accountants, on the other hand, can expect to earn between £22,000 and £65,000. You may earn less as a trainee.
Accountants can expect to work 37-39 hours per week, Monday to Friday. However, they might need to work late or at weekends at peak times, for example, at the end of the financial year.
Employers in the private sector are accountancy practices (known as public practice), and firms engaged in industry and commerce. In the public sector, employers include local and central government departments, the NHS and charities. Opportunities for accountants occur in towns and cities throughout the UK.
Self-employment opportunities occur for experienced accountants to set up their own practice.
Where are vacancies advertised?
Vacancies are advertised in local/national newspapers and professional magazines, on accountancy job boards and employers’ websites, and on the Government’s Find a Job service.
Entry routes and training
To practise as an accountant, you will usually need to qualify with one of the industry bodies. The professional body you qualify with will depend on your specialism (e.g. management accounting or public finance accounting), as well as your employer.
- Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA)
- Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
- Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
- Institute of Financial Accountants (IFA)
Many accountants are university graduates. However, apprenticeship programmes are now available for those wishing to begin their training straight from school or college.
If you choose to go down the graduate route, you can do any degree before beginning your training as an accountant. However, maths degrees, or degrees with a strong maths component, are sometimes favoured by employers. Examples include:
- Accounting and finance.
- Business and management.
- Politics and economics.
- Public administration.
Once you completed your degree, you can begin your training with an employer. Qualifications are typically completed through three years of on-the-job training and assessed through a series of exams. They include:
- ACA chartered accountant training programme, offered by the ICAEW. You will gain ICAEW’s certificate in finance, accounting and business (ICAEW CFAB).
- ACCA certified chartered accountant qualification.
Alternatively, you could complete a level 7 accounting professional degree apprenticeship. These are combined with the ICAEW programme (ACA, leading to ICAEW CFAB) or alternatively the ACCA qualification. These on-the-job training programmes take between 36 and 48 months and when you complete your apprenticeship, you will be qualified to work as an accountant.
Progression depends on the branch of accountancy you are in. Some accountants might specialise in audit. Some accountants in private practice might set up their own business. Accountants in industry and business could progress to senior management, company secretary and finance director posts. In the public sector, accountants can progress to senior positions.
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act: Working as a chartered or certified accountant is an exception to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This means that you must supply information to an employer about any spent or unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings, if they ask you to. This is different from other careers, where you only have to reveal information on unspent convictions if you are asked to.
Qualifications
For entry to a degree course in any subject, the usual minimum requirement is:
- Two to three A-levels.
- GCSEs at grades 9-4 in two to three other subjects.
To get onto a degree apprenticeship, you will need:
- Two relevant A-levels.
- GCSEs in English and maths, and potentially other GCSEs as well.
Alternatives to A-levels include:
- Edexcel (BTEC) level 3 National qualifications
- International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma.
Adult opportunities
Age limits: It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) offers a certificate in business accounting. Candidates without relevant qualifications can study with ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). However, your entry point and exemptions from certain parts of their qualifications depend on the qualifications or relevant skills you have already gained. The Open University offers a Certificate in Accounting, which also provides entry to higher level professional qualifications. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) offers a route to qualification for people without the usual entry requirements if they have three years’ experience and support from their employer.
If you don’t have the qualifications needed to enter your chosen degree or HND course, a college or university Access course (for example, Access to Business) could be the way in. These courses are designed for people who have not followed the usual routes into higher education. No formal qualifications are usually needed, but you should check this with individual colleges. Some local colleges of further education offer professional courses, for example, ACCA qualifications, on a part-time basis, either day, evening or weekends.
Sponsorships from some of the larger accounting or professional services firms can be available for those studying degree-level courses.
