Career Profiles
Career Surgery
Volunteer And Internship Positions
|
Accountant: Private Practice The work Unlike the terms 'architect' or 'solicitor' which can only be used by people with certain professional qualifications, anyone can call themselves an accountant. However advice on investing money, or dealing with bankruptcy, the carrying out of official audits or financial examinations are legally regulated and can only be given by people with specific qualifications. Professionally qualified accountants are known as certified or chartered accountants and they provide a wide range of accountancy and financial services. They can work in private practice in a firm of accountants, in industry and commerce and the public sector. A number of associations offer training, and while they all cover the same basic subjects, there are differences. Before deciding on a particular training course, applicants need to think about the sort of work they would like to do when they qualify. However many accountants do move from sector to sector during their working life and most professional training organisations recognise each other's qualifications. Six of the main accountancy bodies form the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB). They are:
Accountancy firms offer some or all of the following services: Accounting - keeping full accounts for clients, who pass over their financial records. Audit - carrying out an independent assessment of a client's financial position, examining their financial affairs and checking they are correct. This is usually carried out on the client's premises, examining systems, checking assets and liabilities. Management consultancy - covering a wide range of services including undertaking strategy reviews, designing specialist business systems for a company and overseeing their installation. Insolvency - working with a company in financial difficulties, saving the situation by re-organising the business, or selling the assets and perhaps running the business until it can be sold. Taxation - calculating how much a client owes in tax and negotiating payment with Revenue & Customs, providing taxation advice on possible actions such as merging with a company or buying another business. Corporate finance - raising money so companies can merge with, or buy, new companies, investigating and reporting on the financial situations of the companies involved and negotiating with banks, brokers and finance houses. Information technology - varies from computerising the accounting system of a small company to working out a new finance system for a huge organisation. Forensic accounting/litigation support - acting as an expert witness in court cases ranging from commercial fraud to personal injury. Hours and Environment Working hours for accountants are normally from 9am to 5pm five days a week, although they have to be prepared to put in extra hours, including evening and weekend work during busy times. Once qualified, they may be able to opt for part-time work or job share arrangements. Accountants spend a lot of time sitting at their desks, often working on computers. They are likely to spend time working at clients' premises. They may represent clients at meetings, which can mean a fair amount of local travel. Those who work for large accountancy firms could spend time working away from home and travelling widely. Skills and Interests Private practice accountants should:
Entry Accountants working in private practice often undertake audit work and to do this they must hold a recognised audit qualification from one of the Recognised Qualifying Bodies (Example below): Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA);Association of International Accountants (AIA) ACCA has minimum entry requirements of two A levels/H grades or equivalent and three Olevel/S grades, in separate subjects including English and maths. ACCA has a Mature Student Entry Route for adults over 21 with no formal academic qualifications. AIA minimum entry requirements are two A levels/ H grades or equivalent and three Olevel/S grades including English and maths. AIA runs a Mature Student Scheme for adults over 21 years with a minimum of three years' accountancy experience. Training In general, the training for each professional body follows a similar pattern: you will need to pass examinations at two or three levels and complete three years' supervised work experience. If you have a relevant degree or any previous accounting qualifications, you will usually be exempt from some or all of the exams in the first stage - see websites for full details of exemptions. ACCA To qualify as a chartered certified accountant through the ACCA Professional Scheme, you must complete papers at three levels: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. You have ten years to complete the exams after registering. You could study flexibly, either full- or part-time, or through distance learning. You could also buy textbooks and prepare independently for exams through untutored home study if you preferred. You must also complete three years’ supervised practical accounting experience and keep a training record to document this work experience. You can do this before, during or after completing examinations. For example, you could complete Part 1 exams before applying for a position as a part-qualified accountant. The ACCA and Oxford Brookes University also jointly offer a distance learning BSc degree in Applied Accounting, which you could take at the same time as studying for the ACCA examinations. After qualifying as an ACCA member, you would also need to complete some further training to obtain a public practising certificate. See the ACCA website for further details and a list of tuition providers.
To complete your training, you must also gain practical experience through a training contract of three to five years with an authorised firm. Because ACA training is divided into stages, you could begin to study for the first stage without a training contract, but must have one in place before starting the advanced stages. AIA To qualify with the AIA, you must complete three years’ supervised training before, during or after passing papers at Foundation, Professional (I) and Professional (II) levels. You could study flexibly with the AIA, either through distance learning with a tutor or untutored independent study with manuals and online resources. All the accountancy professional bodies normally advertise jobs with training contracts on their websites or through mailing lists. See Further Information section for contact details. After qualifying as an accountant with any of the above professional bodies, you can choose to take further training to qualify as an auditor. See Auditor profile for further details. Some employers refer to CCAB qualifications as entry requirements. The CCAB is the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies and is an advisory organisation made up of six of the main professional accountancy bodies: ACCA, ICAEW, ICAS, ICAI, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants (CIPFA). There is no CCAB qualification as such and employers in this case accept an accountancy qualification from any of these six professional bodies. For more information on CCAB see contacts below. Opportunities Private practice accountants can choose what type of accountancy firm they wish to work in. Medium sized firms include those with a national network of offices and some international clients as well as firms with large practices in one particular area of the country. Their clients could include independent businesses and even some household name companies. The 'Big 5' are the largest firms with headquarters in Europe and America offices throughout the Middle East Africa and Far East. Clients include huge organisations and multinational companies. Job opportunities are good across all areas of the country. The introduction of a self-assessment tax system has meant many people now use an accountant to complete their tax returns. Charatered accountants are recognised across the world and there are opportunities to work abroad. Annual Income Further information Financial Services Skills Council http://www.fssc.org.uk |
