Hi All,

Anonymous

December 2,2023 at 2:19PM UTC

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Hi All,

I am a soon to be qualified accountant and I have seen great disparities between different companies in their accounting department.

Unfortunately, I did not qualify via a big 4 company or a top 50 accounting company.

I have worked for both private and FTSE listed companies and have noticed a difference in their accounting methods/styles.

I have spent the majority of my career as an assistant accountant. However, my new role is focused on management accounts and client reporting.

I am nearing 30, and I am very worried I am lacking core accounting experiences that would put me in a favourable position with employers.

My current employer does not have a distinct hierarchy/support systems for promotions or any development opportunities.

I would like to be in a position where I can know the integral parts of accounting which will allow me to be confident in taking on a management role.

I have seen all the finance directors have been ex big four auditors / ex auditors in general so they have a wide breadth of knowledge.

How can I improve my accounting knowledge , so I can learn about all departments and begin to think as a strong accountant.

I would appreciate if someone could provide advise on how to climb the ladder in accounting . My interest do lie in treasury accounting but I believe I have mistakenly joined this company without thinking about the development opportunities available to me.

What is the normal career path of an accountant? I graduated in 2019 .

How can an individual become a strong accountant and differentiate themselves from their competitors?

Thank you in advance.

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Kristie WhiteDecember 2,2023 at 3:19PM UTC
You might consider shifting to a financial systems analyst position for a couple of years. This position could give you a broad exposure to the entire financial system
AnonymousDecember 2,2023 at 4:19PM UTC
Consider broadening your systems capabilities. Hot topics are dashboarding, Power BI design and analysis. Understand KPI metrics and how your company is performing against peer organizations. Check out LinkedIn Learning courses on it. Agree, more analysis and understanding drill down and variance investigation with account reconciliation.
AnonymousDecember 2,2023 at 5:23PM UTC
This is brilliant advice. And, knowinf the fundamentals with data exploration will put you in a. Good position to work with the IT team who is responsible for implementing these tools in partnership with the accounting team.
AnonymousDecember 2,2023 at 6:23PM UTC
Getting a CPA helps.
The type of company should not be a basis to determine what kind of system they have, though. I worked for a big multinational company that still used a DOS-based system. Said company also went bust in 2008, so hopefully there aren't any more like that out there.
AnonymousDecember 2,2023 at 7:13PM UTC
It's not to late to go into public and get the background that many companies want to see, and you also get quite an education in doing so.
The "normal" path for a CPA is to spend two years in public accounting as a staff accountant, 3 years as a senior accountant, 5 to 8 years as a manager/senior manager, then move into a Director or Partner role depending on the career path and responsibility you are seeking. Where you start to see them move in private companies is along the manager track, and the more years of experience you have the higher up you can generally get yourself placed in a private company. Some move into private at the senior level, but that generally means they are moving laterally into a lower supervisory position, though depending on your industry specialty and your own personal qualities, you can find quite a bit of variation in this.
Downside is public can be brutal, the hours tend to be really long and in the early years usually doesn't pay as well as a private, but your earning capability increases dramatically as you hit the later years.
I personally went into public in my thirties, and made partner in ten years, but I worked my butt off. I also loved every minute of it, it was a good choice for me. Most of us taking the path get lots of job offers along the way.