Accountancy

Introduction

The accounting sector is enormous and covers many areas, including:

• audit and advisory work;
• taxation;
• business consulting;
• insurance;
• actuarpracial work;
• Management accounting.

There are plenty of different areas for graduates, but competition is fierce.

What kind of work can I do?

Public Practice

The majority of Chartered Accountants work in public practice, also known as professional services. These accountancy firms offer fee-paying clients a range of services from audit to management consultancy. There are three broad categories of firms:

• The ‘Big Four’ accountancy firms - KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) - style themselves as professional services providers. They present themselves to clients as advisers, offering solutions to all of their business problems.
• Large to medium-sized firms vary significantly in terms of numbers of partners, offices and employees. They offer similar services to the ‘Big Four’, with client lists that vary from independent businesses to household name companies across all sectors.
• Small firms provide all-around service to clients. Small firms tend to deal with small businesses and private clients.

The main career opportunities within public practice are:

• Assurance and audit - inspecting accounting records and procedures of a business, government or other organization, and verify the accuracy and completeness of the records.
• Corporate finance - working with mergers and acquisitions of organizations, fund-raising and public/private partnerships.
• Corporate recovery/insolvency - helping businesses recover from and overcome financial difficulties.
• Environmental auditing - a growth area, examining how companies may avoid wastage and looking at costs of setting up environmental controls, such as recycling.
• Forensic accounting - quantifying losses from thefts, frauds and accidents and advising on disputes that may arise from mergers and acquisitions.
• Taxation - includes two main areas, tax compliance (completing and submitting tax returns) and tax advisory and planning (analyzing and recommending changes on how organizations structure their finances).
• Financial outsourcing - providing the total finance function and payroll services for a business.

Management consultancy - the ‘Big Four’ may also offer actuarial services, insurance and pensions services, human resources/people services and IT solutions in addition to services mentioned above.

Internal providers

This includes public sector companies as well as industry and commerce. Multinationals, charities, local authorities, educational institutions, banks, insurance companies and manufacturers have internal accountants. They provide some or all of the following services:

• Internal audit; produce audit reports and recommendations. Practitioners do not have to be members of a Recognized Qualifying Body (RQB).
• Financial accounting; involves keeping track of all financial transactions and preparing accounts.

Management accounting; providing management with information needed to make decisions as well as financial support to business divisions, preparing and controlling budgets, financial management reports, etc.

What’s it like working in this sector?

• Graduates entering the profession must be prepared to devote a great deal of time and self-discipline to study for the various professional exams required through the early years of their career.
• Work/life balance has become an issue in recent years. Some larger employers are taking steps to address this, offering flexible working, for example.
• Due to the high profile of the profession, dress code is usually formal.
• Graduate employers recognize the importance of diversity in the performance of their teams and implement various diversity initiatives during the recruitment process.

Average starter salary:

2359€/month

Included with the permission of AGCAS and Graduate Prospects. For permission to reproduce, contact copyright@agcas.org.uk.

www.prospects.ac.uk/links/accountancysb