Guide To Becoming An Accountant
What do accountants do?
Accountants help businesses maximise profit and manage their money by providing financial advice. The job involves advising on finances, making sure financial documents are accurate, and preparing financial reports. Topics that may be handled by an accountant include procurement (sourcing services or goods), budgets, pay, and taxes. If you are based in the Yorkshire area and are looking for an accountant then see bookkeeping York.
The daily role varies depending on what your accountancy specialty is.
Public practice accountants provide businesses with support by managing their finances. Usually, they are employed by professional services or accountancy firms and may enjoy the variety of being able to work with a broad range of different types of clients.
Management accountants are responsible for managing a business’s budgets and look at ways to increase the profits of the organisation. Much of their time is spent looking ahead, so strategic and forecasting business planning may be part of their daily routine.
Public finance accountants are employed by public sector organisations which include government departments such as HM Treasury, schools, the NHS, and local councils. A critical part of the role is financial reporting (providing stakeholders that are outside of the organisation with information) and they are responsible for ensuring that public sector financial activities are conducted properly and efficiently.
What is the difference between public finance and public practice?
It can be easy to confuse the two. Public practice accountants help a number of different business clients to assist them with managing their money. Usually, they work at accountancy firms. By contrast, public finance accountants work within the public sector to make sure that public money is spent appropriately.
Steps for becoming an accountant
To become a chartered accountant you will need to earn a degree and then obtain certain professional qualifications. Or instead, you can work at getting a degree apprenticeship as either a taxation or accountancy professional. Another possibility is working your way to charted status by beginning in a junior role, such as an accounting assistant, and then working at obtaining professional qualifications.
So let’s dispel a couple of accountancy myths:
• To be a good accountant, you don’t need to have mastered all maths areas. However, being good with numbers is helpful.
• Having a degree is not necessary, although the academic route is followed by many people for qualification.
• If you decide to take the degree route, it is not necessary to study economic, math, or accounting. Sciences or languages can be just as helpful.
Various professional qualifications will be required depending on the specific kind of accountancy you are specialising in.
What an accountant can expect
Lewis Currie works at Grant Thornton UK LLP as an audit associate. He moved directly into the role following A level is this summer will be completing his Association of Accounting Technician (AAT) qualifications before moving into the qualifications for the Association of Chartered Accountants (ACA).
According to Currie, what is great about working in audit is there is no such thing as a typical day. He works within different sectors for a variety of clients, from schools and universities within the education sector to commercial manufacturing companies. The work stays interesting since the clients he works with are all unique and different, and the testing performed is individual.
Common accountant skills
Employability skills that are needed for the sector include being able to handle and analyse figures, show attention to detail, and communicate effectively. You also need to have IT, leadership, organisation, and problem-solving skills, while not forgetting about integrity, adaptability, and commercial awareness, which should help you to progress as well.