Accountancy and business services : Overview

The industry in a nutshell

The accountancy and business services industry covers many areas including audit and advisory, business consulting, insurance, financial and management accounting, and taxation.

Following the recession of 2008/09 some accountants have assumed new roles as finance specialists, risk managers, auditors and advisers. As such graduates entering this industry should be excellent communicators, teamworkers, self-disciplined and motivated to succeed in the industry.

The sector has seen an optimistic increase in graduate vacancies in 2010 in comparison with 2009 (High Fliers, 2010).

What kind of work can I do?

Public practice

The majority of chartered accountants work in public practice, also known as professional services. These accountancy firms offer clients services from audit to management consultancy. Some of the main career opportunities within public practice are:

• Assurance and audit - inspecting accounting records and procedures of a business, and verifying the accuracy and completeness of the records.
• Business recovery and insolvency - helping businesses recover from and overcome financial difficulties.
• Corporate finance - working with mergers and acquisitions of organisations, fund-raising and public/private partnerships.
• Taxation - including tax compliance and tax advisory and planning.

Internal providers

This includes public sector companies as well as industry and commerce. Multinationals, charities, NHS Trusts, local authorities, educational institutions, banks, insurance companies and manufacturers have internal accountants. They provide some or all of the following services:

• Internal audit - producing audit reports and recommendations. 
• Financial accounting - keeping track of all financial transactions and preparing accounts.
• Management accounting - providing management with information needed to make decisions as well as financial support to business divisions. ent reports, etc.

What’s it like working in this sector?

• Working in this sector is considered to be hard work with long hours, but at the same time challenging and highly rewarding.
• Graduates entering the profession must be prepared to devote a great deal of time and self-discipline to study for the various professional examinations required through the early years of their career.
• Salaries vary considerably depending on location, size of company and specialisation. The national average starting salaries range from £26,000 - £29,000 (salary data from UK Graduate Careers Survey, High Fliers Research, 2010).
• Graduate employers recognise the importance of diversity in the performance of their teams and implement various diversity initiatives during the recruitment process.

How big is this sector?

• According to the Professional Oversight Board (POB) there are over  290,000 members (qualified accountants) of the six chartered accountancy bodies in the UK and the Republic of Ireland and over 400,000 members worldwide (POB, 2010).
• Over 168,000 students in the UK and Republic of Ireland are currently working towards achieving an accountancy qualification (Key Facts and Trends in the Accountancy Profession, Financial Reporting Council (FCR), 2010).
• The finance and business services industry employs almost 5% of the UK workforce (Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics 2010).
• The UK accountancy market is dominated by four global accountancy firms - Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (the 'Big Four'), which audit almost all of the top 100 public limited companies (PLCs) and most of the top 350 PLCs.

Where can I work?

• Given that London is a global financial centre, the majority of jobs are located in London and the South East, but roles may be found throughout the UK.
• Some of the accounting qualifications (e.g. ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants)  are recognised in over 170 countries. It is possible to train and work anywhere in the world.
• Multinational companies and international employers have offices worldwide.