I am currently doing a Level 3 Accounting Apprenticeship in a manufacturing company. I am conscious of future planning so am often looking online at the kind of roles available in my area or areas I am considering moving to in the next 5-10years. Before I started in accountancy, I did not know there was a difference between industry and practice until a lot of the jobs that I have looked at stated they required practice experience. I am now worried that I have gotten myself stuck in an industry role and every article is telling me I won't be able to go back. The company I work for at the moment is lovely and supportive with my studies and pay me very well (more than national living wage) even though I am basically not qualified in anything yet so moving company whilst studying would give me a 50% pay cut (I am 25 with bills so this isnt really feasible). I also do like my job but I am bored 2 out of the 4 days a week I am in work (the 5th being a study day).
I am just wondering if anyone ever did their Level 4 AAT in industry and then managed to do their ACCA or equivalent for a practice? Ideally I would want to move to Wales in the future and the amount of accounting apprenticeships there are basically non-existant so I have to study in England and I am worried without the experience that when I move I won't be able to get a job working hybrid/remote in order to move where I want due to the limited number of jobs.
Any constructive help from people who have done this themselves or hire partly-qualified/trainee accountants would be greatly appreciated!
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I trained in practice and am currently working in industry.
Practice is a great place to learn as you constantly get exposed to issues you've never come across before.
Practice accountants will also tell you that all of the best accountants come from practice. While this *may* be true to a certain extent, it is much more down to the individual. I have worked with some useless accountants in practice and some brilliant accountants who have only ever worked in industry.
The downside of practice is literally everything else. Money will be worse, hours will be longer and, worst of all, you'll likely have to account for your time in 6 minute increments all day every day.
If you're currently in a job you like and are getting paid well, I'd be pretty hesitant to move. There are as many bad practices out there as there are good ones.
I think before I knew there was such a divide between industry and practice I gravitated towards a non-practice role naturally as I was worried about being a number in a firm rather than a person who contributes to a business. I am now just worried of the implications of that decision in the long run as no one knows where they will be in time.
Thank you for the reassurance that I haven't necessarily made a bad choice. And like you said, I am hesitant in that I have found somewhere good and I don't want a whole grass is greener situation. I just also don't want to shoot myself in the foot either. I think I would potentially enjoy the pressure and fast pace of a practice but I also don't want to end up somewhere that drains my soul just because I was worried about what I was missing out on, so it is nice to read that not everyone thinks practice accountants are the best and I made a bad call - thank you.
I also do like my job but I am bored 2 out of the 4 days a week I am in work (the 5th being a study day).
What is boring you about your job on 2 of 4 days a week?
- Is the work monotonous?
- Is it that as you're progressing through AAT the work is now too easy and not challenging you?
- Is it that the company has a small finance team so you've no one to talk to?
I think it is more that as I am still in the early stages of AAT and the work is not that challenging. I have done a degree in an unrelated subject and have worked in fast pace environments before this career so it is just a different pace to what I am used to. I know as I work through I will get more responsibility but I don't want to be naive as to the potential limitations of an industry accountant in a small business.
As for a small finance team, I am essentially the only finance member of staff! Their plan is to grow me into their own company accountant so they no longer have to outsource the accounting work and have rerouted all bookkeeping jobs dished out amongst the admin staff to me. That being said I do have people to talk to as I am not shut away in an office. I think it boils down to me being used to their being more stress and pressure and now I feel none which I know isn't a bad thing but it also can be in some ways as well.
One thing that may help is to engage with the other departments in the business - get to understand what they do and what they need from finance (analysis, reports etc.). What does management need - daily, weekly, monthly etc. Then you can start to see how what you do adds value.
There are a fair few industry plus points:
1. Your decision making /actions day to day help the business realise the profits not just report them, you are in real time not post event. (some practice is ahead of what is happening but a lot is reactive)
2. You can often still learn a bit from the external accountants/auditors who visit.
3. You are more exposed to broader business matters rather than just accounts and tax.
There are others.
Frankly I do not miss practice anymore (when I left in 1999 I did ,so started a PT practice)
Finally if you land on your feet with the right industry employer you can earn quite a lot (I appreciate big 4 partners "earn" a bigger lot), but if looking at the more humdrum levels of accountancy I suspect I have earned significantly more in industry employment than I ever would have done in practice. (trust is valuable and rewarded in my experience more in industry, practice has you churning and you are often only as valuable as your fee output)
Thank you, when I was researching you see very little about the pros of industry accounting other than you have slightly better pay and shorter hours - so it is nice to see another take.
I worry that I would jump ship and join a practice and enjoy it initially but then get sucked into the work 60hrs a week for little extra pay as it appears most do and then burn out. But then at least I would have the experience if I ever wanted to change my mind? It's all just a minefield.
Slightly different topic but do you think an industry accountant could set up their own PT practice (obviously after many years at the job and potentially having worked in multiple sectors), or is it just not feasible with the difference in experience? And, are their opportunities for industry accountants to hybrid or wfh? I don't know a lot about the differences that lie between practice and industry when it comes to these questions so any advice would be great :)
Re PT practice depends upon your particular Institute regulations re getting a PC and that likely depends upon your experience.
I traded with no professional accreditation avoiding these sorts of issues.
I initially set up by myself in 1994 after 5 years in practice and 4 years in industry, but I was mainly subcontracting via an ICAS firm and it was less than a year, totally out on my own it was only after circa 10 years practice and circa 10 years industry that I had the itch to return to practice PT.
So main work was five years practice, 4 years industry, 5 years practice again, 25 years industry but for circa 13 of these 25 years I had a PT practice as well. (gave that up in 2019)
I always say these are two different jobs divided by a common title.
I've always been in "industry", education these days - formerly manufacturing.
Loads of board level work, no problem with earnings etc.
Good luck with whichever you choose, but there are opportunities in both areas - and no particular ceiling in either case.
I did AAT Level 4 in industry, qualified 5 years ago at 25 so was in a very similar position of trying to move into practice without any experience but not able to take on an apprentice role due to having bills to pay.
I didn't have a problem making the jump - when interviewing back in 2020 (with covid being a terrible time to try and switch jobs!), I still had interest from practices for decent paying jobs (around £25k in Cambridgeshire to give you an idea). I found employers valued your experience working in industry - compared to some of my colleagues who have only been in practice, the industry experience gives you a better idea of where an FD or similar is coming from in a conversation, the concerns they have going on and an ability to communicate better on their level. At the end of the day, it's all still work experience - I think you would struggle if you just had AAT and no experience at all.
I went on to work for a tax advisory firm and am now working towards my CTA qualification. Not every employer will take someone with no practice experience but there are definitely employers out there that will take the chance on someone, especially with AAT Level4 under your belt.
Best of luck!