Accountancy, audit and taxation
This sector covers many areas, including audit and advisory work, taxation, business consulting, and management accounting. The opportunities are generally open to all degree backgrounds.
Those who work in this field usually work towards chartered status or a qualification from one of the sector’s professional bodies. In the UK, there are six accountancy bodies, covering different locations and types of practice.
Spotlight On: Careers in finance for all
This webinar aims to show you how to enter a career in finance from any degree discipline. Learn how your degree can be valuable in a financial career, whether it is finance-related or not.
Our speakers hail from a range of financial careers, and at differing stages, to give a variety of top tips and insight.
- Alumni: Email us to gain access to the webinar
What could I do? Includes webinars with accountancy bodies and professionals
It depends on the area of work you choose to go into. There are a variety of different roles in this sector, and you should research which ones may be right for you. provide a good overview of the different areas and things you should consider before making applications. The Financial Reporting Council provides .
Below we have outlined some roles that are of interest to Nottingham students with links to further information:
Accountancy
- Chartered accountant – manages the finances of customers, from individuals to large multinational corporations. Keeps financial records and makes recommendations for strategy and business needs. Chartered status is gained after a period of relevant work experience and completion of a chartered accountancy qualification (ACA). The Prospects provides further details. Note whilst a chartered accountant tends to work in a particular country or region a has a more international brief.
- Forensic accountant – liaises with the solicitor of a client, looks at and prepares papers related to financial and contract matters and presents them to court. Answers any questions or scrutiny about the work presented. These positions tend to be taken by experienced accountants. The Prospects job profile is a useful resource.
- Management accountant – analyses, researches and reports on financial aspects of a company to support senior managers' decision making. Advises on financial spending and distribution, and future financial planning. Typically based in industry across a range of sectors. Check out the job profile from Prospects.
Hear from accountancy bodies and professionals in the sector
Spotlight On: Accounting Qualifications
Hear from representatives from CIMA, ICAEW, ACCA talk about:
- what they do
- the differences between them
- how they can help with your career plans
- Alumni: Email us to gain access to the webinar
Careers in accounting and finance
In the first half of this recorded event, hear from representatives from CIMA, ICAEW, ACCA talk about their qualifications.
In the second half, representatives from EY share why they wanted to pursue an accounting qualification and the doors it opened.
- Alumni: Email us to gain access to the webinar
Audit
Auditor ( or ) – provides an independent review of an organisation's finances, assessing their past performance and their future income generation, to see if they are 'fair and true' and to give confidence to board members and shareholders. They may also conduct an audit of a company's other business areas, including corporate social responsibility (CSR), health and safety, and so on.
For more information, visit TargetJobs job description.
Taxation
Tax is a mixture of law, administration and accountancy and it draws on a range of intellectual, presentational and personal skills.
Tax adviser – works with companies and individuals to create the best tax strategies for them. The diverse nature of taxation means that tax advisers rapidly develop areas of specialist knowledge, including corporate, personal, international, inheritance tax, VAT, national insurance, and trusts and estates.
The Prospects job profile provides further details.
Tax accountant – maintains financial records, produces reports and makes recommendations. A similar role to that of a chartered or management accountant but specialising in tax.
There are opportunities worldwide and they would typically be in:
Professional services firms - essentially, professional services involve a range of different occupations that provide support to businesses in the form of advice or performing tertiary roles. You may have heard of the ‘big four' which refers to PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY. There are also many other professional services firms and accountancy firms in the UK and worldwide.
Industry and commerce for example, manufacturing, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG)
Public sector such as civil service, local government and the NHS. You may qualify through the (CIPFA) if you choose this route. HMRC are one of the largest employers of tax specialists and offer a .
What is the future of the sector?
There are a variety of trends that will affect the future of the profession from hybrid working practices to digital and technological advances.
Some of the key issues are covered in . However, the industry is positive about continued need into the future, even if the nature of the roles may change. Read the article from
Where can I find jobs and internships?
- - Our vacancy portal (only available to Nottingham students and alumni)
- You can find roles in larger professional service consulting organisations such as and directly through their websites.
- Generic jobsites, such as , , and are also worth searching for vacancies too.
- The Nottingham Internship Scheme offers spring and summer paid internships for Nottingham students with a number of these roles in the technology sector.
- Also try HIGHERiN and other internships sites
What can I do at Nottingham?
Accounting, audit and taxation career options are complicated and so there are several links depending on career path chosen
- - information about the AAT qualification, career progression and job hunting
- - information about the ACCA qualification and a student blog
- - information about the AIA qualification
- (medium-sized chartered accountancy firms) - careers section provides a list of member firms, training information and hints and tips for getting your first job
- s (IIA) - information about IIA qualifications
- ) - information about the CIMA qualification, case studies and graduate opportunities
- (public sector accountants) - information about the CIPFA qualification plus graduate job vacancies
- - a training consortium of 50 small-medium sized firms of accountants, their website provides information about training, a list of member firms and vacancies
- - provide careers information working with professional accountancy institutions
- - information about IFA training and careers
- - offers the Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) qualification and provides training vacancies and job hunting advice
- - the Scottish equivalent of ICAEW
- for a professional insight into the in this
- - graduate career information and vacancies
- information on qualifications, careers profiles and case studies