Considering a career in accountancy? Many are surprised by how exciting this profession can be and the range of fantastic career opportunities it offers. There is a lot more to the role than sitting in front a computer staring at spreadsheets!
What an Accountant Really Does
There’s a lot involved in being an accountant, apart from crunching numbers. As a career, it necessitates plenty of problem solving, taking part in strategic decision making, collaborating with a variety of departments, and analyzing data. The latter entails using financial information to inform business department heads and executives regarding a company’s performance, understanding market conditions, identifying trends, and making future projections.
Accountancy can also play a key role in leading process improvements; as strategic objectives shift, process change is vital to support this, and accountants’ work is crucial here. As well as creating new processes, accountants are integral to redesign or re-engineer old systems to meet a company’s goals.
A Diverse Range of Specialties
A career in accountancy offers a diverse and exciting range of specialties. These include management accounting, tax accounting, government accounting, bookkeeping, auditing, cloud accounting, and forensic accounting. The latter involves investigating financial crime and fraud through the meticulous analysis of financial transactions and records to uncover irregularities or discrepancies. Environmental accounting, meanwhile, is concerned with the effect of a business’s operations from an environmental, social and governance perspective, which could mean assessing energy emission and consumption data to measure costs and benefits.
Why Accountancy Is a Great Career Choice
There are many reasons why accountancy is a great career choice. All businesses need a financial expert within their organization, meaning there’s never a shortage of job opportunities for accountants. Furthermore, there are plenty of opportunities for growth within the profession, whether this is through a specialty, joining larger companies, or climbing the career ladder. Many accountancy skills are highly transferable, opening up even more opportunities to move sideways, as well as upward, professionally. Accountants can even choose to work for themselves, either in a freelance capacity or by setting up their own business.
Many seasoned accountants, such as Paul Simonson, appreciate how they can use their skills and expertise to help a business grow, working behind the scenes to help a company enter a new market, acquire a new business, or develop new products or services.
Take a look at the embedded PDF for more information about a career in accountancy.