What is accounting practice?
An accounting practice offers professional services to the private and public sector. These services can include, but are not limited to accounting, auditing, assurance, tax, consulting, advisory, actuarial, corporate finance and legal services.
Working in practice gives you the change to work with a wide range of clients and experience a wide variety of types of work. You might work in a very small niche area of practice (such as a specific type of tax planning) or in a large professional services firm that offers a wide range of client services. You may work with individuals, large multi-national retailers, charities or even start-ups.
The most well known accounting practice firms include the Big 4 - Deloitte, PwC, KPMG and EY, but there are many other large multinational practices, such as Baker Tilly, Mazars, BDO and Grant Thornton and thousands of smaller firms which focus on a local or niche market.
What type of work will I be doing?
There are a very large range of roles available in practice, including:
Audit and Assurance - Providing independent checks on a client’s financial situation, systems and records.
Corporate Finance - Supporting commercial decision making including the development of business strategies, financing, and the purchase and sale of companies (e.g. mergers, acquisitions
Forensic Accounting - Investigating fraud and other financial crime.
Insolvency – Providing guidance to businesses in difficulty, such as advice on improving cashflow or selling assets.
Tax – Advising clients on tax law and tax planning, alongside completing and submitting tax returns and working with HMRC.
What skills do I need?
The great part about working in accountancy practice is that you can learn many of the technical skills on the job as a graduate or school leaver. Strong numerical, written and communication skills are generally required for all entry level jobs.
Other key skills include:
Commercial awareness
Problem solving
Excellent communication (both written and verbal)
Analytical and numerical skills
Time management
Effective decision making
Team working
Leadership
We will be investigating different career options within accountancy over the coming weeks. Make sure that you are following us on social media so you don’t miss a future blog!