Careers

Your exams have been hard, but deciding on your career path can be harder. Concepta Cadogan gives some tips on how you can figure out your next move after qualification. It’s no surprise that, as accountants, you need to put as much effort into determining your post-qualification career path as you put in for your FAE exams. The results can be as beneficial and, arguably, last longer. There are many ways to help you make informed decisions concerning your post-qualification career decisions.   Your academic background and the technical skills developed throughout your training have equipped you well for future career opportunities. The options available to you are considerable, and the career direction you choose to go should be one that you will enjoy, that will play to your strengths, and set you on the path to achieving and fulfilling your long-term career aspirations.  As a starting point, some of the areas you should take into consideration include:   The key roles and sectors suited to a newly qualified accountant; Career progression available in these sectors; Short, medium and long-term career plans; People in your network who have travelled this journey previously; Salary; and The path to progression in your chosen role. Do what you love, but do you love what you do? At this stage of your career, you will tend to have a sense of what you like, gravitate towards and stimulates your curiosity. Being aware of your preferences is a significant first step, but a sense check is needed regardless as groupthink can play a part in your decision making when it comes to sectors and roles. While there is safety in numbers, making the most popular move might not be the best direction for your career. Consider the following when deciding how your career will go post-qualification:   Know your vision  Successful careers don’t just happen overnight. Look at some of the most prominent achievers in the accounting and finance arena. You can be confident that a high degree of planning and foresight is behind every move – they were clear about the direction they wanted to go. It’s vital that an ambitious finance professional forms a career plan early on and, subsequently, only seeks out career moves that will enhance their experience and CV in a way that enables them to achieve what they want.   Colleagues and mentors All accountants should be open to continuous learning and new experiences, but it is of particular importance at this early stage. When interviewing with an organisation, meet as many of the team as practicable and inquire about your manager’s communication style and plan for your ongoing development.  One way of achieving this is to see if more experienced Chartered Accountants from a similar training background have taken roles in the organisation and where that experience led – this can give great insights into your future career prospects.  In addition, there’s immense value in learning from others throughout your career. Mentors come in all shapes and sizes, and you can reap the benefits of getting different perspectives. When you’re starting, you need a mentor you can look up to and assist you in making these challenging choices.  Compounding your transferrable skills  Accounting and finance professionals who continue to seek opportunities to learn and upskill will continue to outperform their peers. Building transferrable skills is an essential and quick way to progress your career. Transferrable skills are both hard and soft skills that can be applied in different career contexts and are invaluable in career building. The successful professional will seek to expand their experience, skillset and network on an ongoing basis. The tricky part can be choosing the right skill sets to improve or learn. Be open to soak up experiences from as many sources as possible.  Personal branding Today, a “personal brand” is essential. We would refer to one’s reputation in the past, and every successful professional will tell you that a good reputation is critical. Your brand is the same – it combines both professional and personal conduct. It aims to create a memorable impression of the unique characteristics that set you apart from the crowd. By clearly identifying and communicating what makes you different from the masses, you become memorable and attractive to your peers. However, the key to success is to find a way to stand out, to be different in a world in which it is becoming increasingly difficult to be heard, one in which we’re bombarded with noise, information and messages. Personal branding is about making a full-time commitment to the journey of defining yourself as a leader and ‘voice of the industry’. This will shape how others will perceive you. The bottom line  Career building is worth talking about and worth paying attention to. Your career success is never guaranteed, but if you plan and remain curious, you can thrive in every aspect of your career and have a greater chance of success.  Concepta Cadogan is the Director of Accounting and Finance in Lincoln.

You can be a successful Chartered Accountant by going into audit or tax, but there are also other options available. Judith Kelly outlines some of the non-traditional career paths newly qualified Chartered Accountants can walk down. An accountancy training and qualification is a great foundation from which to launch your career, but the career path chosen post-qualification need not necessarily be in mainstream finance. We have tracked the careers of our recently qualified candidates for the past twenty years, and some have surprised themselves in where they have ended up. Traditional careers  There are a few traditional careers that Chartered Accountants go into after qualification. If this is the route you would like to go, that’s fantastic. There are many opportunities out there for you, and you have been well trained to do them all. Here are the routes we often see Chartered Accountants go down:  Mainstream finance roles such as financial accounting, financial planning and analysis, internal audit, audit and tax. These roles typically lead to roles such as chief finance officer and financial controller, head of financial planning and analysis, audit or tax director and partner. Corporate finance and private equity roles such as corporate finance executives, credit analysts and investment analysts. These roles lead to a variety of careers from corporate finance and private equity partners, Head of Research and equity sales to operational roles including CEO and CFO – typically in investee companies. Investment funds operations such as fund accounting and middle office operations roles with the global administrators. These roles can lead to global roles with major international corporations. Roles to consider Your Chartered Accountants Ireland courses have provided great training, not just in finance and accounting, but in understanding how a business operates from a commercial perspective. From working with audit, tax or advisory clients, accountants have been lucky to get ‘under the bonnet’ of business and understand the drivers for success. There are a few routes you might not have considered for yourself. Entrepreneurship With exposure to different clients and business needs, entrepreneurs often start to notice a niche for new products and more efficient services. Accountants have been highly successful in setting up and running small businesses including: commercialising family farms, hotels and other businesses; developing real estate opportunities, including hotels, apartment complexes, etc; and running online sales platforms for a variety of businesses. Commercial operations Many candidates have moved into commercial roles, including operations and sales, across all sectors. Examples include: chief operating officers; heads of supply chain; and heads of strategy and transformation. Recruitment and executive search Every growing company in the world needs staff. The more talented and motivated the workforce, the better a company will perform. Accountants understand how businesses work, they are professionally trained and have access to a network of contacts. These skills and connections really aid in executive placement. What about AI? In my view, the role of accountants will change significantly over the next decade. Virtually all manual accounting processes will be automated from point of entry to sale.  There will be a reduced demand for accountants and finance staff in the following areas: Accounts payable and receivable;  Payroll;  Management accountants; and  Financial accountants. There will be increased demand for accountants in disciplines including: IT auditors; Operational risk and compliance; Supply chain and operations; and Financial planning, modelling, data mining and interpretation and insights. ESG opportunities Undoubtedly, there will be more opportunities for accountants both in-house with corporates, with investment managers and with the advisory and consultancy firms. Companies will have to redesign their financial systems and process to measure carbon impact, reduce energy costs, manage pollution and waste and stay current on environmental regulation. They are already designing and embedding financial risk frameworks to ensure compliance. As ever, every business and industry needs great accountants. Now, there are just significantly more options. It is a great time to venture further and explore.  I’m going to qualify soon. Is there a standard salary range I should expect? Yes – the range has remained relatively static for the past decade. Those with specialist experience (corporate finance or plc and multinational audit experience) tend to command salaries at the top of the range.  When it comes to salary, you should: ensure that an offer is comparable to those achieved by colleagues with similar experience. If not, there should be scope for negotiation. weigh up the total package value which typically includes pension contribution, bonus potential, and private health insurance. consider if the position offered will provide you with specialist training and exposure to an industry or sector of specific interest. If so, within a few years, you may be well-positioned to leverage this experience to build a future career with higher earning potential and enhanced job satisfaction. There may be marginal differences in salaries now; however, if your first job post-qualification places you on the right trajectory, this will more than equalise as you develop in your career. Judith Kelly is a Director at FK International.

The accountants of tomorrow are facing very different prospects than those of the past. Here is where the profession is likely to take you in the years after qualification. Lots of things are going to change when it comes to the future of work, but there are three areas, in particular, that are going to have an incredible impact on the careers of accountants over the coming decade. Automation Automation is here, and it’s a game-changer. Big 4 consulting teams in the areas of business process transformation are ramping up globally as companies, big and small, begin to heavily invest in automaton. In the not-too-distant future, it’s not going to be good enough to be able to just do the debits and credits. It’s going to become more about using the numbers to help the business make better decisions.  As a result, the accounting profession will be filtered into one of two routes: project/change management roles overseeing the implementation and development of automations and finance business partnering roles, as the numbers that come out the other end of the automations will still need to be interpreted and explained to the business. Sustainability Everyone knows that climate change is going to take centre stage once the pandemic subsides. It will likely become the number one strategic priority for most product-based businesses (and many service-based ones, too!). From redesigning supply chains to transforming from shareholder to stakeholder value orientations, companies will need finance professionals to play a key role in developing the financial models to achieve these new strategic priorities while ensuring the long-term viability of the businesses themselves. Accountants will play a key business partnering role in this evolution. Did someone say data?   Over the coming decade, accountants will be faced with the reality that it’s not just about financial numbers anymore – it’s about both financial and non-financial numerical data and how they interact and impact each other.  For the accountants of tomorrow, it is going to be about occupying this new space, where Excel ends and where Power BI, Tableau and other tools begin. It’s going to be about making sense of large data sets, gleaning information from them, using that information to derive insights and using those insights to inform strategic and tactical decisions. Data runs through sustainability and is wed to automation. The accountants that invest in their analytics skills and make it their business to get experience in some of the emerging tools will be the ones that end up having the greatest impact. If you’re going to qualify as an accountant in the coming years, then your future is going to look very different to that of the last generation. It will be more about business and less about accruals; more about how financial and non-financial numerical data interact and less about statutory reporting; more about soft skills and less about consolidations.  For some, this will be exciting. For others, it will be intimidating. But, for all, it’s a reality. And, for everyone, it’s an opportunity.   Ed Heffernan is the Managing Partner of Barden.

There are changes coming to the CA Diary and Nicola Sullivan explains what you need to know before it goes live. As I am sure all students are aware, it is necessary to pass the FAE and to have a completed and approved online CA Diary record before you become eligible to apply to become a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland. That means you need to regularly upload all obtained relevant work experience to the online CA Diary and have this approved twice-yearly by an approved mentor. This aspect of your training is subject to regular monitoring. Regular recording (and approval) of experience is an invaluable reflective learning tool that allows you and your mentor to measure your progress towards meeting the professional development requirements. However, the way in which you create and modify CA Diary entries will be changing soon.  Get ready for change There will be new features in the CA Diary soon. The forthcoming features will provide a streamlined way of selecting competencies and recording a corresponding narrative. It will also allow all trainees who are engaged in audit assignments to include specifics about the engagements.  Once the changes have been implemented, you won’t have to figure out what content to include, as is the case with the current description text box. Rather, you will include character-limited text against each competency element selected. You will also be able to record a brief description under the new ‘reflection’ field. Don’t worry, the Training Support Unit in Chartered Accountants Ireland will be updating the CA Diary guidance to explain how the new features work and students will be able to access onscreen recordings to help them understand the new functionality. How will this impact you? If you have been maintaining CA Diary entries offline (such as in a Word or Pages document) with the intention of uploading them later, you should act now. The current description box will not be available to you after the new features go live. This will mean that you would have to reconstruct any entries before you can save or submit them when using the updated CA Diary.  To avoid having to re-work your entries after go-live,  you should upload all entries into the system and submit them to your mentor for approval as soon as possible. Once the new system goes live, you won’t lose any of your existing diary entries and will still be able to modify and submit any entries that originated in the current functionality. Your mentor will still be able to review, lock (and unlock) entries in the normal way. Only new entries created after the go-live date will be recorded using the new functionality.  Before attempting any changes or updates to your CA Diary record, we strongly recommend that you review the latest trainee guides, including the Sample Entries and Professional Development Requirements guides. These are available for viewing/download on the CA Diary resources page.  Additionally, a series of short, online tutorials are available for trainees and mentors. These tutorials supplement, rather than replace, the PDF documents that are available on the CA Diary Resource page. There are a number of webinar recordings that answer commonly asked questions and advise on common CA Diary errors. When will the new changes come into effect? It is anticipated that the streamlined CA Diary will be available to all students in late March. When the Training Support Unit have a confirmed date, they will contact all trainees and training firms/organisations. Becoming a Chartered Accountant If you are nearing the completion of your training period, you may be wondering about the Chartered Accountants Ireland membership application process. Even if you are just starting out on your trainee journey, this is valuable information. Before becoming eligible to apply, you need to have demonstrated that you have met the professional development requirements through the CA Diary. If you have passed the FAE and have a completed CA Diary, you will be given the opportunity to complete your online application for membership. In order to access the online application to membership, you will first need to become eligible for a final mentor review. For information on the eligibility requirements for the final mentor review and how to obtain one, refer to the CA Diary Guide for trainees.  Once you have access to the online application for membership, you will submit a summary of your training experience along with a completed application form signed off by your training partner/member of the Institute.   When an application is submitted to the Chartered Accountants Ireland Admissions team, it is scheduled for an Oversight Board review. Students should receive communication from Admissions approximately 7-10 days after each deadline. Deadline dates are published here. As always, the Institute is here to help. Please do get in touch with any CA Diary questions you may have at trainingsupport@charteredaccountants.ie. Nicola Sullivan is a Student Support Executive in the Training Support Unit at Chartered Accountants Ireland.

As a soon-to-be newly qualified accountant, you might not fully understand how you go about taking the next step in your career. Sinead Smith guides you through the most asked-about aspects of job hunting. Every year, I speak with hundreds of newly qualified Chartered Accountants who are trying to figure out what their next step looks like. The rare few know exactly what they want to do, but the majority are unsure, and many are looking for answers to help them figure it out. In my experience, most lines of questioning will be varied and largely influenced by individual interests but, within all conversations, some topics prove universal: contracts, companies and counteroffers. Contract work 2020 was a year like no other and it follows that the current job market is not like anything we’ve seen before. While signs are very positive, it is worth remembering that the market is evolving and, in a time of great flux, there is a marked increase in the volume of contract roles to take advantage of. Where traditionally contracts were largely considered inferior to getting a permanent role, they are now regarded as highly dynamic career opportunities that can offer a wider breadth of experience across some unique fields of interest. For instance, hard-to-find skills like systems implementation, commercial accounting, business intelligence tools and financial modelling are currently among the most requested in the market and contracts can provide the opportunity to quickly develop this experience, adding long term value to your CV. It is also a misconception that contracts automatically mean that you are counting down the clock to being unemployed. Some companies, particularly larger PLCs and multinationals, have set a strong precedence for hiring ACAs to cover specified purpose contracts (projects, maternity leave, etc) and then keeping them on. Ultimately, by the end of 9 to 12 months, you will know the business inside and out, and will be a valued team member. It is a no-brainer for them to ask you to stay if they can. Company size We tend to gravitate towards what we know. Those who trained in large firms may find it hard to imagine themselves in a smaller environment whereas the opposite is often true for those who are used to being part of close-knit team.  However, it is important to understand that company size often determines the scope of a role and that is why it is important to identify what you want from your new role, rather than basing it solely on what you think you know. For instance, if you want to work “close to the business” by having a hand in everything, being privy to decision-making and seeing where you add value, you will likely only find this in small and mid-sized companies. Conversely, larger companies offer the security of knowing that you are one part of a process, that you have a wide network of support at your disposal and a clearly defined progression path. Counteroffers You have identified that you want to leave your current company. You have gone through multiple rounds of interviews and, at the end of it all, you find yourself with an offer that you are excited to accept. Happy days!  But, when you go to hand your notice in, your employer throws you a curveball. They offer you more money to stay. Or perhaps a promotion. Or maybe they let you know that they have shortlisted you for an upcoming secondment. Your head is spinning and you don’t know what to do. Counteroffers are exceedingly common in a market where it is hard to get good staff but, it is important to remember that 50% of those who accept counteroffers leave within 12 months. Why? Because they were leaving for a reason and, likely, those reasons have not changed.  While there is no right or wrong way to respond to a counteroffer, it is worthwhile being prepared for the upsell on staying and knowing how to handle it.  It is important to hear them out. Likely what they are offering won’t have changed your motivations for leaving and you can politely explain to them that you are keen to pursue options outside your current firm. They will probably wish you well – you won’t be the first person to leave, nor will you be the last – and accept your notice letter. However, if it is something you wish to consider, thank them for the offer and tell them you will discuss it at home and revert by a certain date. This gives you space to think. It can be hard, after working with someone for so long, to set loyalties aside but, it is advisable to ensure that the decision you make is motivated by your own preferences and not theirs (a good old pros and cons list can help!). Remove everything but the facts and figures and make the decision that feels right for you, rather than the one that feels easy. Sinead Smith is Director of Newly Qualified Accountants at ACCPRO.  

Rachel Power, D&I Senior Manager at PwC Ireland, outlines how a robust diversity and inclusion strategy can help organisations cultivate a sense of calm and control amid the uncertainty. With over 60 nationalities and a 3,000 strong intergenerational workforce, PwC has long focused on diversity and inclusion. It undoubtedly features on the agenda of many organisations as employees, customers, and investors increasingly demand that the organisations they do business with model the values of equity and inclusion. Benefits are being seen, now more than ever, in terms of higher employee engagement, increased productivity, better problem solving, innovation, creativity, reputation and competitive advantage. The list goes on. COVID-19 has challenged us all to be more inclusive, even though most office-based employees will operate from a home office for the foreseeable future. While this makes inclusion challenging in one sense, it has also accelerated the need for organisations to think differently about diversity and inclusion, forcing us all to find new ways to connect. The core elements of PwC’s people strategy remain the same around inclusion, wellness and flexibility, although our delivery vehicles may differ. In fact, our longstanding diversity and inclusion values have helped us navigate this crisis. And we are not alone. COVID-19 and the overwhelming global response to Black Lives Matter earlier this year have certainly elevated the need for organisations to do better. In a recent PwC Global Survey across 40 countries with over 3,000 responses, we found that organisations are investing at unprecedented rates in diversity and inclusion programmes with 76% now citing it is a value or priority. More important than ever Several things already high on PwC Ireland’s strategic agenda have helped us transition relatively seamlessly to the remote working world, where building on our culture of inclusion and belonging is vital. Our focus for diversity and inclusion before COVID-19 was on three areas, and they will persist into the future: Nurturing an environment of inclusion and belonging; Living our values, putting wellness and flexibility at the core; and Leveraging tools and training for the future. We set these objectives before the pandemic, but they remain relevant. Why? Transforming workforces and the way we work requires diverse, talented people from different backgrounds; people who have different experiences and who bring innovation, creativity and fresh perspectives. But having these people is only half the battle, it is inclusion and giving our people a voice and a sense of belonging that brings the true benefits to the fore. Connection and belonging are areas of focus right now, not least because we know that a sense of belonging can reduce stress levels. When we feel that we have support and are not alone, we often cope more effectively with difficult times in our lives – something we want to support our people with as we navigate these uncertain times. While many worked flexibly before the crisis, the approach to flexibility has been taken to a new level. It’s all about balance and finding ways to make it work. Again, this comes back to having inclusive and values-based leaders, who ensure that the right conversations are had to find ways to make it work for everyone. There is undoubtedly more to do, and the end to this pandemic is far from sight. But values, strategic direction and technology will guide us through the uncertainty and continue to strengthen diversity and inclusion in organisations throughout the world.