Dear future accountant,
The future is important but never settle for something you don’t want to do.
My journey into the accounting profession wasn’t the typical route, I began studying in the ’90s and 2000s, during that period a university degree was the be all end all. A degree was the minimum requirement for a job back then, so it was the most important thing to get under your belt. I studied investments and financial risk management while at university, I had no idea about what I wanted to do with my career although, as a child, I always knew at some point I was going to be a chartered accountant because I have two uncles who were partners at accountancy firms, and they always inspired me.
I left university with my degree and due to my course, I got a work placement at an investment banking firm and realised pretty quickly it wasn't for me. During my time there I soon discovered that in order to be fulfilled, I wanted to perform work that I could see results in. Back when I was studying, working for a top 10 accountancy or investment firm was a goal for so many university graduates. I kid you not, every Tom, Dick, and Harry was going to work for an investment bank or accountancy firm. The day I got that placement at the investment firm, I honestly felt like I made it, until I discovered that I was 1 out of 40 graduates in the firm. When I was made aware of that it changed my whole perspective on huge top 10 firms. I realised that working for companies at that size, you are a small cog in a big machine and the service itself wasn’t personal enough for me.
This realisation ultimately led me to Raffingers because I knew that a small to medium-sized firm would give me much better experience compared to a top 10 firm that doesn't let you truly develop your skills.
From the 90s and 2000s, the world has changed, the pressure to get a degree has been lifted. To become an accountant a degree is far from necessary, you can become an accountant as a school leaver and just sit the necessary exams. There’s a variety of exams you can take, these include AAT, ACCA, CIMA and CTA (only necessary if going into tax). Going down the degree route does get you exempt from around 10 of the 15 exams too which is always good to know but in accountancy I would say that the most important thing is having good number skills, to be able to process information for clients quickly and be good at thinking of solutions for your clients.
Working in accountancy offers two choices, working for a practice or working in industry. This decision does boil down to personal preference, working for practice means a lot more variety of work whereas industry can get repetitive, I would ask yourself whether you want to work for a variety of clients or stick your teeth into just one?
As I said earlier, working in that investment firm allowed me to realise that I wanted to undertake work that I could see results in and that is one of the things that makes this job so rewarding. Being an accountant gives you a certain level of respect from your clients and people value and trust your opinion, it’s rewarding to be able to help with your knowledge and see those changes and improvements within people’s lives and businesses. Out of everyone I know, I have the most exciting and dynamic job, no day is the same. I find that people have stuck to the stigma that all accountants are boring but that’s far from the case.
Since we are an accountancy firm, you’ll be surprised to know that we have a stand-alone marketing team. Whenever I tell people that, they are so shocked but their reaction surprises me just as much because they clearly don’t understand business. A marketing team is vital to making your business successful. We also have a huge support team here at Raffingers, people see the 11 partners here and think it’s just us that are doing the work when it isn’t, it’s all the amazing and hardworking people behind us helping our success.
I qualified as an accountant much later than most, but I did qualify in a year and a half because I was working for a huge firm. The firm I was working for pushed me to complete all my exams and the qualification I completed in a year and a half should’ve really taken me 2-3 years. Although it was stressful, it was one of the best things I ever did because it gave me that springboard to success. Completing your exams between 2-3 years is the most vital and important thing because you don’t want to waste time.
I am always amazed at how the industry has changed since I started. I was one of the last generations that didn’t use software, we completed all our work on excel spreadsheets and red ledger books. I would say that the biggest transition has by far been from paper to digital, another transition has been all the different touchpoints with clients, we’ve gone from being accountants to business advisors and when our clients have an inquiry they want and expect a response straight away just like amazon prime delivery.
I read an article some time ago saying that we have the lowest number of people coming into the profession now than ever. This is because young people are now more ambitious than ever, they are seeing these business owners on Instagram have overnight success and they want that for themselves, they want to be their own boss. I’m seeing that side of young people and then I’m also seeing young people who are still taking these accounting jobs to learn the skills and gain the qualifications for 3-4 years because they understand that these skills give you the best grounding to starting your own business. When working as an accountant you are seeing the behind the scenes of a business from beginning to end, we speak to clients and find out their mistakes, secrets to success, and challenges, this provides our motivated employees with the best insights to then go and start their own ventures.
For any young person pursuing any type of career, make sure you are passionate about it. Make sure you enjoy what you do because success will follow. There is no point dragging yourself through a career you aren’t passionate about.
Mehul Thaker,
Partner
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