Can accountancy open doors to other careers?

Although some people consider a career in accountancy to be less exciting than professions, there are, in fact, many benefits to qualifying as an accountant.

For one, the average annual salary of an accountant in the United Kingdom is more than £62,000 as reported by the magazine Accountancy Age. This figure alone is enough to entice to consider a career in accountancy.

But more than that, being an accountant or holding a relevant qualification could actually open up many more career paths than you might expect. By devloping commercial awareness, an ability to the see the big picture, communication and other people skills, accountants can go on to become finance directors and, from there, many progress to becoming CEOs or other types of business leaders.

Many of the FTSE 100 companies today have CEOs who are qualified Chartered Accountants. So it’s not unusual to start off accountancy and go on to enjoy a very lucrative career in another other field as well.

There are many examples of high-profile individuals who have academic backgrounds in accountancy and are now enjoying successful careers in other fields.

Here are some success stories from people who started off their careers in accountancy.

Barry Hearn – Hearn is one of the best-known sports promoters in the UK who singlehandedly changed the face of snooker in the country. The famous Crucible Theatre in Sheffield began attracting swathes of people through his efforts. Later on, he also became the chairman of Leyton Orient Football Club.

However, before all of that, Hearn qualified as a Chartered Accountant back in 1970. He took up accountancy on the advice of his mother who was told by her boss: “Tell your son to study to be a chartered accountant. They are almost never poor.”

Denise Coates – The chief executive of online betting giant Bet365 ranks amongst the most successful self-made entrepreneurs in the UK. She is also one of the highest paid C-level executives in the country, having taken home an astonishing £217 million in the year 2017. Coates started off in accountancy which she studied while working in betting shops run by her family in the Midlands.

As an accountant, if you develop other key life skills, the possibilities are vast and the potential to be a business leader is huge.

If you are an accountant looking for the next step in your career, register with us.