accountantscoach

An Accountant, a Comedian and a Parrot went to the HMRC

This month, it’s all about me: a true-life case study.   What I’ve done, what it’s done for me and what it could do for you.

I’ve been up to funny business. No, not embezzling clients’ funds.  I’m talking about learning a new trade:  stand up comedy.  Culminating in a live stand-up session at a night-club where I launched a one-woman assault on the stereotype of us accountants as just boring number-crunchers.

Busy being Busy. An Accountants' Parable

We’re busy being busy
Working the whole day through,
Stressed-out accountants
Effective or Efficient,
Which one are you?

You think that last line’s not a showstopper? Oh, yes it is - because strenuous, misdirected effort will eventually stop your show.

How to Grow Your Practice In a Recession

A specially designed Workshop for forward-thinking Partners and Practice Owners     

“How to Grow Your Practice In a Recession” A specially designed Workshop for forward-thinking Partners and Practice Owners

Practice owners and partners, now learn the tried, tested and proven critical success factors you need to implement to keep ahead of your competition, including 61 proven practice-building ideas that are ready to implement in your firm – immediately.

Designed specially for partners and practice owners

This workshop has been designed exclusively for partners and practice owners and aims to help you develop a positive vision for your future in these uncertain times, including:
•    What your prospects and clients really want from their accountancy firm in the current economic climate
•    Why this current global pain gives your firm a ‘once in a lifetime’ business development opportunity
•    How to seize that opportunity with a practical, tailored marketing and sales strategy for the next 12 – 24 months
•    Why Digital marketing is a cost effective ‘must’ for accountancy firms in this new economy
•    How to measure the effectiveness of your new plans and keep your goals on track
Whatever the size of your practice, you’ll benefit massively from the information you’ll receive. These are not impersonal seminars, but small workshop events designed specially for partners and practice owners which give you the opportunity to chat through any specific marketing issues confidentially with one of our marketing consultants. Although the workshop is sales and marketing focused, it requires no prior skills in these areas and you’ll go way with your own tailored action plan and a host of easy-to-implement activities all designed to improve your profitability.
During the course of the Workshop, you’ll discover many proven ideas, including:
•    5 Steps to formulate a Vision for your Practice
•    4 Important steps in creating a sound plan
•    5 Digital marketing ‘must-knows’
•    6 Ways to win and prepare for face-to-face appointments
•    How to profile your prospects’ and clients’ Style of Influence
•    The 10 most common direct mail mistakes
•    8 tips for successful email marketing
•    8 recession-proof ideas that cost little or nothing
•    3 cardinal sins to avoid when communicating with your clients
Plus much more
The Workshops will take place as follows:

London - Tuesday 24 February
Birmingham – Wednesday 25 February
Leeds – Thursday 26 February

Priority notification – first-come, first-served

You’ll need to hurry, though! Places are limited at each venue, so allocation is on a first-come, first-served basis only. We have also deliberately positioned the event at a price affordable for all at just £98 + VAT. As one of the first to hear about the workshops, you have the best chance to reserve your places on your preferred date.

To book, simply click here or for fastest service,
call 0800 803 0826 NOW.

 

100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE
This essential workshop is covered by our 100% Full Refund Guarantee, so there’s no risk whatsoever for you. If at any time during the workshop you don’t feel you are getting great value from your attendance, simply inform us and we will give you a full refund, without question.

The Accountant says No! Say it. Mean it. Love it.

A long day gets longer. Interruptions. Phone calls. Endless emails! Your 9 pm dinner date is looking as remote and as jolly as Scott’s Last Camp - and suddenly they’ve called an unscheduled team meeting!

Wow! You’re so popular! But love it or hate it, you’re merely human and there’s only so many hours.
So, what could help on such a day? 

Q&A: Big 4 audit

I am an ACCA Professional Stage student in Nigeria.  I work as finance manager for a small privately owned company but my real desire is to work in audit for one of the Big four audit firms.

The challenge is how to get recruited by them as employment by these Big 4 firms here in Nigeria is highly competitive. I have submitted my cv at these firms and I wonder if there is any advice you can give me in order to help me increase my chances of being called for an interview at these firms.

Your starting point should be to get a strong handle on exactly what these firms are looking for, what they really value in their experienced hires at the relevant entry point for someone with your particular background.  Your knowledge and understanding of the firms’ competency framework is vital to enable you to measure your current skills and experience against their basic requirements.  Core competencies for the Big 4 audit will vary but are likely to comprise: communication skills (written and verbal), team work/relationship building, leadership, drive and ambition, problem solving and practical intellect skills, and ability to add value.  This information should be readily available from recruitment literature, Human Resources and/or an informal discussion with a current employee. 

But don’t overlook less formal research.  An example would be investigating the background of successful part qualified entrants and experienced hires.  This will help you build a modelling blue print to enable you to design your own recipe for success. 

Once you’ve identified the essential requirements, you can move on to develop your personal USP (Unique selling proposition).  You are looking for personal qualities and experience that make you stand out above other equally qualified candidates.  Remember though, it is vital to map this across to the firm’s requirements.  In other words, your particular USP has got to be something that the firm will value.

Your research will obviously involve acquiring information about the firm - from hard copy brochures and from their website.  But I would also highly recommend ‘people’ research; try and get to know some of the incumbent staff to add a further dimension to your knowledge and understand the underlying culture.  Use your own local networks to find employees of your target firms but also look out for open meetings (recruitment days, technical updates etc) where you can extend your network of contacts within the firm and request introductions to other relevant contacts.  You can even consider contacting the firm direct and asking them for a work shadowing opportunity – invaluable in optimising your understanding of their requirements but it also gets you on the map in terms of them getting to know you.  Don’t forget online networking too; you may be able to track down ‘insiders’ via blogs and forums. 

Once you’ve grasped what the firms really want in their candidates you can then turn to your presentation to ensure you can effectively communicate it.  You will have built up a checklist of competencies and you need to map your own experience and skills to match these. This is not just at the application stage; make sure you can clearly articulate these key qualities and be prepared to back them up with practical examples.  You may find at this point that you’ve identified gaps in your skill set; depending on the degree, you may decide to seize the opportunity seek practical experiences or further training to fill those gaps. 

Clearly your CV and/or application form will be your point of entry to the firm, so it is vital that they effectively communicate not only that you meet the firms basic requirements, but also in such a competitive environment, that you have even more to offer.  Beyond the initial application stage, the networking activities that I’ve mentioned above will also be very useful in achieving  that ‘foot in the door’, getting your face known and remembered, and possibly even short circuiting your application as a candidate ‘not to be missed’. 

All in all, the key is patience.  A highly competitive market place means you can’t necessarily expect overnight success.  Instead, take a longer view and plan your medium term strategy – and this will maximise your chances of getting you to where you want to be. 

 

Q&A: AAT career in audit

I am currently trying to embark on a career in audit.  I hold a degree in an unrelated discipline and would like advice on what is the best qualification to obtain.  I am registered disabled through an accident and am starting a 1 year full time AAT diploma in September.  I have found that as I have little accounts experience and no formal qualification I am not very employable.  For this reason the AAT will give me at least a foot in the door.

 I already know audit is where my future lies and would like to plan the best route into my idea position.  I would love a role that involves some travel (20-30%) but equally allows me to be home at weekends.

 I have worked since I was 16 years old but from 30 to 34 I have a 4 year gap in my work history due to a spinal oration and then a decision to be a stay home dad to our now 4 year old daughter.  I am now 35 so would like to be in work as soon as possible

 Any advice you could give me would be very much appreciated.

 

My first thought: are really capitalising on all the assets you already have?  For example, have you considered graduate entry programmes?  A non-relevant degree needn’t be a deterrent; many graduate employers are looking for the skills and potential conferred on the degree holder rather than the technical subject matter itself. 

Also, as a more mature candidate with 14 years work experience there will be lots of transferable skills that you will have within your repertoire.  The trick here is a bit of lateral thinking to match the relevance of your past experience to your future aspirations – tricky-but loads to play for. 

As you have already committed to the AAT diploma make sure you get the most out of it during your year of study. Once you’ve mastered the basics of double entry book keeping you should find it easy to get some practical experience, working with a charity for example.  This will be a valuable addition to your CV as well as giving you the opportunity to turn theory into practice and really hone those skills.  In fact any practical experience you can get paid or unpaid during the one year course will stand you in good stead.

 Having decided that audit is your future, I would recommend that you actually find your perfect role(s) and then look at the route to qualification.  Is it internal or external audit that you are attracted to?  What sort of organisation do you want to work for? – SME, blue-chip, not-for profit?  What are your personal financial requirements and aspirations?

First find the job you love, then travel back from the destination to find the starting point.  

And once you’ve done a bit more delving, to paint the picture of your dream job, come back to us and we’ll talk more specifically about qualifications. 

Q&A: Graduate audit, non relevant degree

I am currently at the stage of final assessment for various firms for a graduate audit position. I do not have an accounting background (degree in Biology) but have read up on auditing and have a fairly good feel for what the job is. Could you give me a few things that you feel are crucial for me to know about within auditing so that I am fully prepared for my final interviews.

 The key point here is that the interviewer is much more interested in assessing your potential as opposed to testing your breadth of knowledge.  That’s precisely why recruiters are happy with non-relevant degrees – it’s not the discipline that’s important it’s the potential demonstrated by the achievement of that degree.

 That said, it is vital to demonstrate a genuine interest in business, particularly where you don’t have an accountancy degree.  So be sure to keep up to date with the latest business stories; scan a decent newspaper on the day of your interview(s) and make sure you know more than an inkling of what’s going on economically – at least in the UK.

 The interviews and assessments will be designed to measure you against the core competencies required for the job.  These will vary depending on the organisation you are applying to, but here’s an indication:

• ·         Communication skills, written and verbal
• ·         Team work, relationship building
• ·         Ethics, professionalism, personal motivation
• ·         Attention to detail, high quality standards
• ·         Problem solving and practical intellect skills
• ·         Ability to work under pressure, to deadline

 And typically for a graduate entrant:

• ·         Drive, ambition, leadership potential

You can expect a good return on the time you spend investing in a strong articulation of how you can demonstrate these qualities.

As for the technical side of auditing, it’s actually your practical understanding that will count.  For instance, be sure you can articulate what you perceive as a typical ‘day in the life of an auditor’, crucially for that specific organisation.  Your research could include speaking to an incumbent staff member in this or a similar firm. 

And be ready too, for some very practical questions, calling for common sense and creative problems solving skills.  A favourite in my previous firm was: ‘as an auditor at a chocolate biscuit factory, how would you go about verifying the stock figures’.

Lastly, but somewhat down the priority order, it could be handy to be up to date with  developments in auditing (eg the world post-Enron, ISA – International Auditing Standards, UK IFRS convergence) but this will be specific to the organisation to which you are applying.

The real crunch will be the aforementioned: general business awareness, core competencies and a practical understanding of the job. 

PS a real differentiator is an ability to articulate a strong, convincing business case for choosing a particular firm. Challenging but priceless.

 

 

Q&A: audit and accountancy job moves in the recession

“Considering the current state of the UK economy, is now a good time to move jobs?”

 The current credit crunch and its implications - alarming forecasts of slashed consumer spending and imminent job losses – is never out of the news.  But the actual impact on the labour market, particularly in finance and audit sector is a little less easy to read.

While we can’t deny the front pages news of jobs losses at KPMG and Citigroup, some commentators are pointing to a resilience in the employment market .  Of ‘labour hoarding’ -  supporting current employment levels by curbing pay rises as opposed to major layoffs.

 So what does it mean to your career plans?  Well the short answer is, it depends.

 A natural reaction of job seekers is to fear the LIFO (last in first out) mode of operation.  And maybe in the old ‘jobs for life’ days this was a very realistic fear.  But in the 21st century where the ‘war for talent’ is rife, is this still a logical outcome?  If an organization has spent heavy, in time and money, to recruit you - you’ve clearly made the more than likely competitive cut.  Are they really going to axe you at the first sign of economic downturn?  Unlikely, though not impossible.  But it does all comes down to competition.  Any slowdown in the job market is going to intensify the ‘war for talent’ and increase competition.  This is where the quality of your CV, the relevance of your skills and experience, will count big time. 

 But it’s not just about the market.  It’s primarily about you.  The real test will be your strategic plans and how a career move will ties in.  You need to do your own ‘career audit’.  You don’t want to move ‘just for the sake of it’ which could be a real temptation if the number of vacancies is depleted.  You need to take stock of where you are now in your current role.  Are you still getting the level of stretch you need to develop your skills?   Are you running out of learning opportunities or at risk of stagnating?   How is your quality of life, your work life balance?  These questions are all paramount in making that decision - whether the time is right for you, personally, to tackle a potentially more challenging job market.

 So to sum up.  Right time to move jobs?  Well it depends.  It depends on where you are in your career plan. It depends on the competitiveness of your skills and experience.  It depends, of course, on your location, sector, level and role.  But above all it depends on you.  Your quality of life, your tolerance level, your values and your aspirations.