5 simple steps to becoming an Accountant

In-demand and integral to the success of every well-functioning business - that’s right, we’re talking Accountancy!

In fact, recent reports have shown that nearly half of London based businesses rely on their Accountants for business advice and support. Why? Accountants are called on by Business Owners to really crunch numbers, and develop a financial strategy that will help their business grow and succeed.

Sound like the career for you? Not sure where to start? E-Careers reveals five simple steps to Accountancy success:

Strong interest in numbers

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to have a degree in Mathematics to become an Accountant. In fact, you don’t have to have a degree at all – but A Levels in Maths, Economics or similar, together with a strong interest in numbers will act as a good foundation.

According to Accountancy Web, excellent organisation and time management skills, combined with top attention to detail and dedication to both clients and the accountancy sector will go a long way too.

Minimum qualifications

The first step to every successful Accountancy career – and in fact the minimum requirement for all Accountants – is to secure an AAT qualification.

As the UK’s leading qualification provider and membership body for the accountancy sector, the AAT, or Association of Accounting Technicians, currently awards 90% of all vocational qualifications in Accountancy across the UK.

For aspiring professionals with minimal experience, the AAT offers a Foundation Certificate in Accounting for entry level roles – providing the opportunity for progression with the Advanced Diploma in Accounting, which is a popular route to professional AAT Accountant status or more widely known as ‘MAAT’.

Specialise

Many Accountants choose to specialise in particular areas of the field. From Tax Accountants, who are required to be specifically tax-certified, to Forensic Accounting, which entails court and litigation cases, fraud investigation and other legal matters.

As your career progresses, you can choose to undertake training courses specific to your area of interest, increasing your knowledge and experience – whilst giving you the edge when it comes to job interviews.

CPD

Like all professions, Accountants benefit from Continuous Professional Development – whether that’s getting to grips with the latest accounting software packages, or specialising in different areas to aid career progression.

For onlookers, accountancy can appear as a dull profession, swamped with spreadsheets, calculators and number crunching. But, it is an exciting and progressive career that relies on dedicated professionals to keep pace with the latest changes in taxes, the latest developments in digital software, and not to forget the integral role of making a real difference to the growth of businesses large and small.

Go it alone

Fast forward 5-10 years, and picture this: You boast many years’ experience within Accountancy, across a range of industry sectors and have invaluable experience in helping businesses to grow and develop. So, where do you go from here? You go it alone.

Whether as a Freelance or by launching your own consultancy, the great thing about Accountancy is that every business needs your skillset to survive, function and succeed, so you will never be short of a client base.

Other benefits include flexibility of being your own boss, the financial rewards of running your own business… and as an Accountant, you won’t need anyone else to do the number crunching for you!

Convinced? Here at e-Careers we boast a host of Accounting courses to suit a range of experience levels – from beginners just starting out to advanced Accountants looking to boost their CPD.