Your career plan starts here

Large and small practices alike are well known for offering clear career paths and providing good learning and professional development opportunities.

‘They provide everything you need to learn,’ says Andrea Ivan FCCA, who worked at KPMG Romania for four years as a financial auditor before moving into various industry roles. ‘Only when starting to work in industry did I realise that the abundance of learning tools and opportunities is rare.’

The practice focus on learning and development can foster a collegiate atmosphere in which people encourage one another to develop and study. The exposure to different types of businesses and sectors is another key attraction, with no two days the same. And there is the opportunity to work abroad, as small and large firms are often part of international networks.

Practice can have its downsides, though. ‘Practice often involves a lot of travelling and overtime during audit season, so personal lives and work-life balance come second for months in a row,’ says Ivan.

The work is also very intense, with deadlines constantly looming, and the considerable effort required to continuously learn, to adjust to the many types of clients, and to switch rapidly from one issue to another can be tough.

Industry attractions

Working for a business involves ‘getting stuck in’, according to Stuart Gear FCCA, who spent five years at a small provincial practice before moving to industry. He says that in industry you actually get to implement, change, organise and see your results take shape in a real way, while in audit you analyse, test and advise.

Gear points out that your skills as an accountant can directly benefit the business you’re working in, while you also gain a complete overview of how a business is constructed and works, and how it changes as circumstances, and regulations, also change.

According to Sinead Byrne, a senior consultant in public practice at recruitment agency Morgan McKinley, entry-level salaries in industry are generally higher than in practice, and there are opportunities to move into other areas of accountancy and finance, such as business analysis or business partnering.

However, the amount and weight of responsibility in industry can be a stress factor. Often, you may be the only decision-maker, and your decisions directly impact people.

Going solo

Affordable cloud accounting technology has made being a sole practitioner more accessible than ever. And because a social media presence can help build a new business quickly, this can be an appealing option for those with an entrepreneurial mindset.

Things to consider, however, are the risks around setting up on your own. Do you have the necessary knowledge and experience to take such a leap? Are you comfortable with risk? Do you have a fallback plan? Are you willing to live and breathe your business for at least the first few years?

Making the right decision

Switching from practice to industry is common, as people often start their careers and finish their training in practice. Once they have chosen their sector or industry, it’s usual for them to move within it, and become experts.

Some prefer the structure, client variety and collegiate atmosphere of practice, while others are drawn to the decision and impact making that comes with feeling part of a business.

Gear points out while a decision to join a practice or go into industry is not irreversible, it is one that should be considered carefully. ‘After finishing your exams you can often feel pressure to move on to the next challenge, but you have a long career ahead of you, and a few months of consideration will seem short after the passage of time.’

Byrne advises candidates to consider several other points before making a decision. One is the size of the practice or company. ‘Generally speaking,’ he says, ‘the smaller the organisation, the broader and more diverse your role will be.’

Practice is very commercial and client-facing, particularly as you become more senior. ‘It is about solving issues, maintaining relationships and offering advice,’ Byrne says.

Industry requires accountants to partner with the business and explain how the numbers affect certain parts of it. ‘But both industry and practice will require you to be a confident communicator and able to translate complex information into simple answers that non-finance people can understand and utilise,’ he adds. ‘People who work in practice have to effectively liaise with clients, and people in industry have to work effectively with internal stakeholders. Both sectors demand credibility and technical delivery.’