If you are a qualified accountant, it can be a difficult decision to decide whether you want to go into practice or industry. With both sectors offering plenty of opportunities for career development which one is right for you?
Practice
Working as an accountant in practice offers plenty of opportunities to people who want a valued and varied career. Practice roles give you the opportunity to work across a range of industries, allowing you to perfect and diversify your skill set.
In large corporations, you can specialise in a specific area, such as tax, forensics, or risk. By specialising in a specific area, you will find that you can become extremely valuable and can often negotiate more attractive salaries and benefits packages. In smaller firms, you will have the chance to get involved with a wider variety of work, allowing you to develop your skill set.
A great thing about working in practice is that career progression is highly encouraged, and it offers the perfect opportunity for you to move up the ladder quickly.
The career progression would usually look something like this:
- Trainee – 3-5 years
- Associate – 2-3 years
- Senior associate – 1-2 years
- Assistant manager – 2-3 years
- Manager- 2-4 years
- Senior manager 3+ years
- Director – 5+ years
- Partner
Industry
Working as an accountant in industry means that you work with the finances of one single company – the one you are employed by. This means that you will only work with one client. The great thing about working in industry is that it allows you to focus on one area of the business rather than being spread across multiple areas.
While industry has plenty of positives, the career path is much less structured than in practice. This means that you could do a lot of side-stepping into other roles to gain experience rather than working your way up the ladder.
Which is best – practice or industry?
If you want a varied career with a clear and defined progression plan, then practice is the career for you. With practice, it allows you to work with a variety of clients and learn a range of industry-relevant skills which will make you valuable to employers.
The great thing about working in practice is that salary bands are clearly defined – which is great if you want to swap job roles – and people working in practice can have a much better work-life balance in recent years, than those in industry. Plus, if you work in practice and want to transition into industry in the future it will be much easier for you to do.
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