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A look at a first move from practice.
So you have finished your exams, you finally have time to relax and have a social life!
But what next? Below, we look at your options as a newly qualified Accountant in practice.
A BIGGER POND?
Transition: Easiest
Competition: Low
Earning potential: Medium
Long term future: Director, Partner, Industry
Candidates in smaller firms often consider moving up to a larger firm. From the outside looking in, moving from a top 10 firm to a top 4 firm does your CV no harm, but we find it doesn’t accelerate your career any quicker than moving straight into industry. However, if you are in a smaller firm (sub top 25), moving into a larger firm for a year or two can be a great move. A blend of smaller and larger audit firm experience is very well thought of in industry and it is challenging to find candidates that offer both.
INTERNAL AUDIT
Competition: Low
Earning potential: High
Long term future: Internal Audit Manager / Director / Group roles / Compliance Director
Internal Audit is one of the most natural fits and often comes with the least competition. Many candidates complete 3 years of audit and are keen to branch out, whilst others don’t wish to take on the travel that is often required. Salaries here are often high, with higher salaries offered for those with more travel and sometimes a car. Great if audit or travel is your passion! You will rarely struggle to find your next career step
MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING
Transition: Medium difficulty
Competition: Medium
Earning potential: High
Long term future: Any role in finance: sets you up for group roles, “core” accounting roles, FD roles, management roles, or just steady 9-5 roles. Very transferable.
Management accounting provides you much more scope to engage with the monthly results and the wider finance function. These roles get you involved with the management accounts, budgeting, forecasting and often have more of a commercial edge to them as the salaries get higher. Competition for these can be higher due to the CIMA and ACCA qualified industry based candidates with relevant experience. Management Accounting is very versatile and can move you into pretty much any other niche further down the line.
BUSINESS PARTNERING
Transition: Medium difficulty
Competition: High
Earning potential: Medium-High
Long term future: Snr Finance business partner, Head of Commercial Finance
Often considered one of the most business facing roles in finance, this sees you engaging with a range of internal and external stakeholders to improve the performance or profitability of a business function. An exciting and varied role, they can be at times difficult to get into, with stiff competition from industry based candidates (CIMA/ACCA) and other first time movers. There is however, once in, always a good demand for qualified business partners with an audit background.
GROUP FINANCE
Transition: Low difficulty
Competition: Low-Medium
Earning potential: High-Very High
Long term future: Group Accountant, Group FC, Group FD, CFO
A hand-in-glove fit for any audit based candidate particularly those that hold experience in dealing with large companies with numerous statutory entities or complex consolidation requirements. This role requires a strong technical grounding and Practice-based candidates often flourish here. Training is also often excellent as the department often has multiple ex ACAs who have been in your shoes.
These roles can often pay well and have quick routes of progression, with good group accountants always in demand, especially in the Birmingham, Solihull and Warwickshire areas. Because of the important part you pay in large, complex PLCs, group roles offer fantastic routes both money wise and to FD.
FP&A
Transition: Medium Difficulty
Competition: Medium-High
Earning potential: Medium-High
Long term future: FP&A Manager/ Head of FP&A
FP&A has had a real focus since Covid, with many more companies looking to look forward as well as back. FP&A and Finance Analyst roles will change depending if the role sits at a divisional or group level. Divisional roles tend to be more “commercial”, whilst group roles often have quicker progression and higher long term pay. FP&A itself is a great blend between hands-on business partnering and more desk/excel-based accounting. These roles fit well for audit based candidates and those with more analytical backgrounds, often found within larger companies.
SPECIALIST FUNCTIONS
Transition: Low-Medium
Competition: Low
Earning potential: Medium-High
Long term future: Head of Tax, Head of Treasury, Group Tax & Treasury roles
Specialist functions such as Tax and Treasury can offer a brilliant route for candidates that want something a little different. Competition in these areas is often less and as with Internal Audit you can carve out a niche in large well respected businesses.
CORPORATE FINANCE
Transition: Medium
Competition: High
Earning potential: High
Corporate Finance is an interesting and unique option. Whilst CF can often pay less initially, it arguably has the most upside long term and throws you into a highly demanding but equally as rewarding environment. A career in Corporate Finance is often highly sought-after and attracts some of the brightest minds in finance. Invariably you will also need to show a real passion for the sector to get a foot in the door.
STAY PUT
Transition: Easy
Competition: Low
Earning potential: Medium-High
Long term future: Director, Partner
One of the most obvious, but overlooked options is to stay where you are! Whilst staying put doesn’t always improve your value to the outside market, the larger audit firms have some excellent progression routes if you enjoy what you are doing. Very few companies can give you the structure and guaranteed career ladder to climb, but that’s where the bigger audit firms excel. You are walking a well trodden and respected path. If you enjoy what you do, why not aim high and go for Partner?
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