If you are considering undertaking a qualification in accountancy, you may be wondering what sort of job opportunities are available to you. If you decide to study a lower level qualification – such as a HNC or HND, this will give you enough knowledge to hopefully secure a role as an accounts assistant. An accounts assistant is a varied role, which can often be quite challenging. It is a great entry level role and in some cases, your employer might subsidise a top-up degree for you. This is what you can expect from a role as an accounts assistant.
Daily tasks of accounts assistant jobs
With this role, you would be responsible for reconciling accounts and direct debits and you may also act as a credit controller; chasing up debt and controlling credit. Other significant duties may include checking the accuracy of the accounts and sorting incoming/outgoing mail. There are many other possibilities for a role as an accounts assistant and you should expect no two days to be the same!
Salary
The average salary for an accounts assistant jobs is £19,000. However, if you are completely new and have just recently qualified, you might receive a lower salary. The good news is that you can expect your salary to improve as you become more experienced.
Opportunities
There are plenty of opportunities available for accounts assistant jobs, as every company needs an accounts department – no matter how small they may be. As a minimum, every business will have an accounts assistant in place, even if they only work on a freelance basis. An accounts assistant jobs is extremely valuable to a business and if you are really good at your job, you can expect to progress to higher levels within the industry.
Skills and interests
If you think this sounds good, you should consider whether you have the attributes and interests for this type of role. You should definitely love working with numbers and have a keen eye for detail. A career as an accounts assistant is not for someone who tends to make a lot of mistakes with calculations! You should be able to work well with technology and have the ability to prioritise your workload, as well as working calmly and in an organised manner. If you want to develop a career in accountancy, this a good role to start in, as it will give you the experience to understand if a career in accountancy is the right one for you.
Accounts assistant jobs – The key skills you need know in future of accounting profession to be a finance auditor
Starting your career in financial audit can be a great way to start off your career in the accounting profession; it offers exposure, diversity, and technical knowledge. Check out this guide to see if auditing is the right career for you.
What qualities make a accounts assistant jobs?
If you have decided that auditing is the path you want to go down, it is necessary to be aware of the skills you need so you can prepare in advance and be a strong candidate.
1.How Communication work’s in the future of the accounting profession
Although accountants have often been stereotyped as socially awkward individuals, the audit profession involves a significant amount of communication both between the client and the audit team.
As an auditor you will have to directly liaise with clients effectively for them to not only want to cooperate with you but trust and respect you in order for the client to want to use your services again next year.
Communication with the audit team is also key; the team has to ensure that they are fully aware of what each team member is doing so they can ensure full coverage of the financial statements and can work with each other to resolve any issues or problems identified.
2. Time-management and organisational skills.
Simply put, audits have time-scales which have to be adhered to – there are statutory regulations in place for when an audit has to be completed.
As a result, each member of the audit team must have good time-management skills in order to ensure that they are carrying out their work at a pace which will enable their area of the audit to be completed in a timely manner.
3. Logical reasoning
A common phrase used in the audit world is ‘professional-judgement‘; this is when a member of the audit team uses their knowledge and experience to make a decision on whether they think a particular area of testing has been completed in a reasonable manner. One has to be level-headed and free from emotional bias in order to do apply professional judgement.
In addition to this, the auditor has to be able to articulate this in their write-ups and use accounting facts, evidence found, and financial regulations to support their arguments.
It goes without saying that an auditor has to have an analytical mind and be good with numbers in order to be good in their role, however encompassing the above three elements will help to further boost your auditing abilities.
One of the biggest dilemmas facing accountancy students is how quickly they should jump into the employment pool, and how long they should take to build their qualifications.
It really has a lot to do with the personal choice whether you want to progress from a Foundation Degree or HND to the everyday experience of the world of work, or stay on and do a final year degree. If you are already in work and have accountancy qualifications, it could be that you too are wondering whether the time out to study for a degree is a good investment in your future?
Are graduate vacancies falling or growing?
According to 2017, High Fliers report on the UK Graduate Market “The country’s top employers plan to increase their graduate recruitment by a further 4.3% in 2017, the fifth consecutive year that graduate vacancies have grown.”
The more comprehensive 2016 copy of the report pointed out that the biggest growth in graduate vacancies is expected to be in sectors that include banking & finance
Ramping up your qualifications to a degree level is clearly going to open up increasing numbers of doors for you. Something to keep in mind is depending on your existing qualifications, you can also consider a top up degree in a different speciality, such as business for example.
Accountancy and business finance are tough marketplaces, developing at a rapid pace thanks to new technology and increasingly complex economic pressures. The way in which practical and theoretical education is balanced in a top up degree does provide you with greater opportunities to start or resume a few more rungs up the career ladder. A Management Top up Degree shows employers that you mean business, and it can give them confidence that the up to date knowledge you have warrants more attractive positions and salaries.
Advantages of getting a degree via the top up route
One of the best reasons to do other qualifications before doing your degree final year is that it provides you with an opportunity to “take a break”. Three years of study can be intense. Being able to return to college in London with 12 months of work experience under your belt may change your whole perspective on what you learn. Incidentally, the door is still open for that top up degree if you use the break year to back-pack round Thailand too!
Top up Degree is different, not more of the same
Another thing to think about is that a top up degree is not just “more of the same” or fine-tuning what you already know. At Mont Rose college in Ilford, the top up degree year for accountancy creates greater understanding and insight into how it translates into corporate reporting, business strategy, international finance and investment management, for example.
And who knows, this year of study could inspire you to go even further, with a Master’s Degree or Ph.D. in your chosen subject.
It’s as much about your ambition and where you see yourself in a few years, as your abilities. The point you choose to exit college for the “real world”, depends on how big an impact you want to make in the “real world”.
