For A Great Career Consider An Accountancy Apprenticeship

You may still hold the traditional view that accountancy is all about juggling numbers. That’s still true, but there’s more to accountancy than that: if you’re a good communicator, have good English skills and can solve problems there could still be a great future for you in accountancy. It’s a professional that can take you around the world, because accountants are needed anywhere there’s a business, and the best place to start is right here at home – with an accountancy apprenticeship.

AN ACCOUNTANCY APPRENTICESHIP? WHAT DOES THAT INVOLVE?

There are two main ingredients to an accountancy apprenticeship: a company, and a course. The company should be willing to support you through your studies, and the course should be one run by the AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians). Companies and courses like that aren’t difficult to find: many organizations are more than happy to support you on your way to an AAT qualification, and courses are available at local colleges or from BPP, Kaplan and other professional tuition providers.

The courses are structured programmes to give you theoretical knowledge and practical training and experience, and throughout those courses you’ll be assessed on an ongoing basis… and getting paid, too.

AND AFTER THE APPRENTICESHIP?

You’ve got a huge selection of accountancy roles to choose from once you’ve qualified, and in pretty well any kind of company you want – in any business sector. Here are just a few to start with:

Public practice would be working for a firm of accountants. You could be dealing with clients’ requirements in fields such as tax, audit, forensic accounting, business recovery, insolvency, and corporate finance.

Working in the public / not-for-profit sector, you could find yourself employed by charities or government departments like the NHS or the NAO (National Audit Office), and your role could include any of the following: bookkeeping, invoicing, financial reporting, budgeting, payroll, invoicing and credit control… or even fundraising.

In the private sector, you could choose to work for companies of any size, from a single person operation to a high-street business, to a bank, an insurance broker or even a multinational corporation in one of these roles: payroll, management information, report production, budgeting, invoicing and credit control or risk analysis.

AND IN THE FUTURE?

That initial qualification you’ve gained during your accountancy apprenticeship could well be your stepping stone to a high-paying career in chartered accountancy via that AAT-ACA Fast Track. And that really would be your fast track to a prestigious career: for example, over 67% of all the qualified accountants working as CEOs or Finance Directors in the FTSE 100 are ACA qualified.

Tags: Bookkeeping Training

Category: Bookkeeping Training