Accountant

1What you'd actually do

• Preparing or reviewing sets of accounts — pulling figures from accounting software, checking they reconcile (i.e. that the numbers agree with bank statements, invoices and ledgers) and explaining any differences
• Working through the month-end or year-end close: posting journals, accruals and prepayments so the period's figures are complete and accurate before they go to management
• If in audit, visiting or dialling into a client, requesting evidence (contracts, invoices, bank confirmations) and testing samples of transactions to check the reported figures are supportable
• Building and updating spreadsheets — budgets, cash-flow forecasts, variance analysis showing why actual spending differed from plan
• Preparing corporation tax, VAT or self-assessment computations and filings, if in a tax-facing role
• Emailing and calling clients or internal budget holders to chase missing information, query odd-looking numbers and explain what a figure means in non-accounting language
• Studying — most trainees get paid study leave for professional exams and spend evenings and weekends on coursework, especially in the first two to three years

2How graduates get in

• Graduate training schemes at accountancy firms (Big Four, mid-tier and independent regional practices) — the most common route. You are hired as a trainee and the firm funds and schedules your professional qualification. Practice schemes usually stream you into audit, tax, or advisory.
• Graduate schemes in industry — finance training schemes at large companies, retailers, manufacturers, banks and utilities, again with a funded qualification. These usually lead towards management accounting or financial reporting rather than audit.
• Public sector routes — NHS finance graduate training, civil service finance fast streams, and local authority finance schemes. These often point towards CIPFA, the public-finance qualification.
• Direct entry into a smaller firm or an in-house finance team as an assistant accountant or finance assistant, with the employer supporting study part-time. Common outside London and at smaller employers; the pay is usually lower at the start but the responsibility can come sooner.
• Starting with AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) — a practical bookkeeping-and-accounts qualification — then progressing to chartered study with exemptions. More usual for non-graduates or career changers, but some graduates take this route into smaller employers.
• Summer internships and industrial placement years with accountancy firms are a well-trodden feeder into graduate offers; many firms fill a meaningful share of graduate places from their own interns, though this varies by firm.

3What employers ask for

• Degree subject usually does not matter. Accountancy and finance graduates get exam exemptions, but firms deliberately recruit history, languages, engineering and science graduates too. A few employers still prefer numerate degrees for specialist teams such as corporate finance or actuarial-adjacent work.
• A 2:1 is the common bar at large firms, though a growing number accept 2:2s or use strengths-based or online assessments instead of a strict grade filter. This genuinely varies — check each employer.
• UCAS points or specific A-level grades (often including maths at GCSE, sometimes A-level) are still used as a screen by some employers and dropped entirely by others.
• A commitment to a professional qualification: ACA (chartered, via ICAEW, dominant in audit and practice), ACCA (chartered certified, common in industry and internationally), CIMA (management accounting, common in industry), ICAS (Scotland's chartered body) or CIPFA (public finance). The employer normally chooses which one you study.
• No accounting experience is expected before you start, but evidence of numeracy, reliability and dealing with people — a placement, a part-time job with responsibility, a treasurer role — helps at interview.
• Audit and some financial services roles require background and identity checks; audit also involves travel to client sites, so employers may ask about mobility or a driving licence in regional roles.

4Skills that matter

5Where it leads

1. Trainee/graduate accountant while studying — typically a three-year training contract in practice, or a comparable scheme in industry. You qualify once you pass all the exams and complete the required practical experience; three years is conventional, but people who resit papers take longer.

2. Newly qualified accountant — a significant step up in pay and responsibility. Many people move employer at this point, commonly from an accountancy firm into an in-house finance role, which is such a well-established move it has its own label (going 'into industry').

3. Senior or manager level — reviewing others' work, owning client relationships or a business area's numbers, and taking on staff supervision. Timelines vary widely and depend on employer size.

4. Specialisation or leadership — routes include financial controller, head of finance, tax specialist, forensic accounting, insolvency, internal audit, corporate finance and transaction services, or partner track in a firm. Some qualified accountants move sideways into general management, consultancy or running their own practice.

5. Longer term, a chartered qualification is a common route to finance director or CFO roles, though these are competitive and reached over many years, not a guaranteed destination.

6Where this varies

"Accountant" covers quite different jobs. In an accountancy firm (called 'practice'), you serve external clients and are usually streamed into audit, tax or advisory, with busy seasons driven by clients' year-ends and tax deadlines. In-house ('industry') roles split roughly into financial accounting — producing the statutory accounts and reporting — and management accounting — budgets, forecasts and decision support for the business. Public sector and charity finance follow different reporting rules again and often point towards CIPFA. Scotland has its own chartered body (ICAS) and its own well-established training routes. Hours also differ: practice can involve heavy peaks around filing deadlines and travel to client sites, whereas many in-house roles are steadier outside month-end and year-end.