Working in the accountancy industry is an exciting, dynamic and rewarding career. You will work with teams across a range of sectors, building strong relationships with business leaders and individuals, and contribute to the success of their organisations.

A Diverse Career

A career in accountancy can cover a wide range of roles and specialist areas. Some companies work with both individuals and businesses in every aspect of their financial wellbeing to help them achieve their financial goals.

Working with Businesses

Working with businesses means that chartered accountants are involved with every step of their journey from advising start-ups, right through to helping business owners with exit strategies. Chartered accountants will provide a wide range of support and advice on an ongoing basis, including tax services where they help business owners navigate a complex world, providing technical advice whilst ensuring they pay the right amount of tax and meet their compliance requirements.

Chartered accountants also work closely with businesses in providing audit and advisory services, which not only help them comply with regulatory requirements but can provide invaluable insight into how the business is functioning, the business risks and how to address these, and where improvements can be made to benefit the organisation.

There are so many ways in which chartered accountants contribute value to their clients and their financial decision-making, as well as more hands-on support including payroll services or outsourcing solutions where businesses may not have the resources to do this in-house.

The range of organisations that chartered accountants work with also makes a career in accountancy extremely interesting as they understand each industry in detail and the predominant needs and concerns of that sector. Many members of a firm have personal experience having worked in different business and industry areas, which helps to provide real insight for their clients and also benefits the firm as a whole, as knowledge is shared across the teams.

Chartered accountants work with organisations across a range of sectors including:

• Hospitality, Sport and Leisure
• Retail and Consumer Goods
• Technology and Media
• Healthcare
• Financial Services and Fintech
• Education
• Farming and Landed Estates
• Manufacturing
• Professional Services
• Transportation and Logistics
• Property and Construction

Working with Individuals

Chartered accountants work with individuals and their families, providing a wide range of services including personal tax advice, financial planning and estate planning. Often, they work with the same individual to help with both their business interests and their own personal needs.

Relationships are key

Across every service chartered accountants provide, the relationships they develop with their clients are extremely important. These relationships are key to the quality of the support and advice that they offer and this makes working as a chartered accountant interesting as the range of clients is so diverse.

A Dynamic Career

The constant change of legislation and the way in which chartered accountants do things are other factors which make accountancy such a dynamic and rewarding career. It is an accountants job to report on sometimes extremely complex areas in a constant and rapidly changing environment, and to do so in a way that is practical and easy to understand.

The development of technology and how it can be used is dynamic and exciting. This can be seen in the improved ability to work flexibly and remotely since the pandemic; it is also evident in the pivotal role technology now plays in both the financial reporting and audit processes, as well as across other disciplines. The technology used in accountancy is ever-changing and is affording chartered accountants even better ways to produce the in-depth insight that their clients need.