Paul Simonson is a Florida-certified public accountant who has been a member of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants since August 1998. This article will take a closer look at accounting as a career and how finance and accountancy offers a rewarding career choice with excellent opportunities.
People generally associate accountancy with spending time locked away in rooms, crunching numbers and poring over spreadsheets. However, in reality, accountants are involved in important financial decisions that help businesses to not only survive but grow and evolve, enabling founders to take their venture to the next level. This behind-the-scenes work helps companies to create new products and services, launch into new markets, and even buy-out other businesses.
All businesses handle money, with many enlisting outside help to handle their financials. This means that, for accountants, there is no shortage of job opportunities. An accountant may find themselves working for a chain of restaurants or national stores, a record label, or at a football stadium. The possibilities are endless. For those with specialist knowledge of international finance laws and currencies, there are also opportunities to work for businesses based in other countries.
In addition to generous remuneration, accountants can also benefit from a variety of other perks such as a budget for training, membership of professional organizations, and a company car. Generally speaking, the bigger the company, the greater the potential financial rewards and opportunities for ambitious accountants, with significant scope for experienced personnel to climb the career ladder and make a real difference for the companies they work for.
The great thing about finance and accounting as a career is that the profession instills transferable skills, enabling accountants to move from one business or industry to another should an attractive proposition come their way, while accountants who prefer to work for themselves can start their own business as a consultant or freelance accountant with relative ease.
Sherba Beausoleil serves as finance manager for Standard Motor Products. She points out that while most people think accountants are attracted to the profession because they like to crunch numbers, in reality, there is more to it than that. The work that accountants undertake for their clients on a daily basis is both rewarding and important for the businesses they serve. Accountants solve problems for clients, keeping the job interesting and diverse and enabling them to exercise their problem-solving capabilities, strategizing and implementing solutions to achieve desired outcomes.
An important role of accountancy is making strategic recommendations and participating in decision-making. Depending on the accountant’s level within the organization, they may have the opportunity to take an active role in making decisions that help decide the organization’s long-term objectives and goals, helping to shape its future. Accountants are often required to make important strategic recommendations, such as strategising corporate restructuring and growth and expansion.
For newly qualified accountants, a multitude of opportunities are available, according to Chris Goulding, Managing Director of Wade Macdonald, a specialist HR recruitment firm. When seeking out potential roles, it can be helpful for accountants to analyze their skills and interests, he suggests. For example, for those with commercial acumen, a position as an internal auditor may be a good fit, while those with a talent for finding and communicating a ‘story’ from financial data may be more suited to a reporting role. However, as Chris Goulding points out, skills can be developed, and it is possible for accountants to change career direction later on.
