Accountant Essex - Private Practice Accountants

Private practice accountants provide accountancy services for businesses or individual clients. They may work for large or small accountancy practices, or freelance.

In general, accountants manage and monitor financial systems and budgets, and offer business financial advice to clients. Day-to-day activities vary according to the size and type of practice they work for, but may include:

A key role for private practice accountants is carrying out audits, which are independent assessments of a company’s financial position. During an audit, accountants examine the company accounts, look at the company's current practices and recommend improvements.

Private practice accountants deal mainly with audits, tax and accounts for fee-paying clients, whilst management accountants deal more with strategic financial management within companies (see the Accountant: Industry and Commerce profile for more details).

Hours and Environment

Accountants normally work 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. They may need to work extra hours at busy times. Flexible working is common. Part-time work and job sharing may also be available.

Accountants are office-based. They may carry out audits at clients' premises, so they may need to travel and spend time away from home. Dress code is usually formal.

Skills and Interests

Entry

To become a private practice accountant and be legally allowed to conduct audits, you must qualify as one of the following:

Before starting your training, you will need to decide which professional body to study with. You should consider your age, existing qualifications, experience, and whether you want a job with a training contract or prefer to pass exams before looking for work.

Please check with the professional bodies about acceptable equivalent qualifications.

The ACCA will also accept the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) Intermediate or Technician level, or an ACCA Certified Accounting Technician (CAT) qualification. See the Accounting Technician profile for more details.

If you are aged 21 or over and do not have the standard entry qualifications, you could enter through an open entry scheme:

the ACCA Mature Student Entry Route, where you must pass the first two ACCA exams within two years of registration
the AIA Mature Student Scheme, where you need at least three years’ accounting experience to enter.

To do ACA training with the ICAEW, ICAS and ICAI, you must find a job with a training contract with an authorised firm. Most ACA trainees are over 21 and have a good degree in any subject. However, you could enter ACA training earlier, as some firms offer training contracts to school or college leavers with good A level grades. See ICAEW, ICAS or ICAI websites for lists of training vacancies for graduates and college leavers.

Some firms also offer the AAT-ACA Fast Track Scheme, where you would take the Association of Accounting Technicians qualification in the first two years and qualify as an ACA in the next two years. See the ICAEW website for full details.

If you already have a relevant qualification such as a degree in accountancy, business or finance, you may be able to miss out some stages of professional training. See each accountancy body's website for details of any exemptions that may be available.

Some employers ask for CCAB qualifications in their entry requirements. The CCAB is the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies, an advisory organisation made up of six of the main professional accountancy bodies: ACCA, ICAEW, ICAS, ICAI, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants (CIPFA). There is no single CCAB qualification - employers in this case will accept an accountancy qualification from any of these six professional bodies. For more information on CCAB see contacts below.

Training

In general, the training for each professional body follows a similar pattern: you must pass examinations at two or three levels and also complete three years' supervised work experience. If you have a relevant degree or any previous accounting qualifications, you will usually be exempt from some or all of the exams in the first stage - see websites for advice.

ACCA
To qualify as a chartered certified accountant through the ACCA Professional Scheme, you must pass exams at three levels: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. You have ten years to complete the exams after registering. You could study flexibly, either full- or part-time, or through distance learning. You could also buy textbooks and study independently for exams at home if you preferred.

You must also get three years’ supervised practical accounting experience and keep a training record to prove it. You can do this before, during or after your exams. For example, you could take Part 1 exams before looking for accountancy work, then apply for a job as a part-qualified accountant and take Parts 2 and 3 whilst working.

The ACCA and Oxford Brookes University also jointly offer a distance learning BSc degree in Applied Accounting, which you could take at the same time as studying for the ACCA exams.

After qualifying as an ACCA member, you must also take some further training to qualify for a public practising certificate. See the ACCA website for more details and a list of training providers.

ACA with the ICAEW, ICAS or ICAI
To qualify as an associate chartered accountant (ACA), you must pass:

You must also gain practical experience by having a three- to five-year training contract with an authorised firm. You could possibly begin to study for first stage of ACA training without a training contract, but you must have one in place before starting the advanced stages.

AIA
To qualify with the AIA, you must complete three years’ supervised training before, during or after passing exams at Foundation, Professional (I) and Professional (II) levels. You can study flexibly with the AIA, either through distance learning with a tutor, or independent home study with books and online resources.

All of the accountancy organisations normally advertise jobs with training contracts on their websites or through mailing lists. See Further Information section for contact details.

After qualifying as an accountant with any of these professional bodies, you can choose to take further training to qualify as an auditor. See the Auditor profile for more details.

Opportunities

Job prospects are good, and there is scope to move into industry and commerce or the public sector. See Accountant: Public Sector or Accountant: Industry and Commerce profiles for more information about working in other sectors. Accountants often move between firms of different sizes to gain promotion and experience.

Accountants working for private firms may become partners of the firm and so increase their income and reputation.

UK accountancy qualifications are recognised across the world and there are opportunities to work abroad.

Annual Income

A graduate starting training would usually earn between £16,000 and £23,000 a year.
A recently qualified accountant could earn between £28,000 and £40,000.
A private practice accountant with ten years' experience could earn up to £100,000.

Starting salaries for trainees working in private practices vary depending on the size of the firm and the qualifications of the trainee. Salaries are likely to be higher in London than in the rest of the country.

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