Accountancy
- Entry requirements
- What you might do
- Training and professional qualifications
- Rewards
- Prospects
- Useful links
The business of insurance demands careful processes that record, classify, summarise, interpret and communicate financial information, underlined by the need for compliance with regulations - for example those of the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
In recent years the FSA rules have had an impact on finance departments, highlighting the need to find people with the right skills to cope with the industry's increased and changing workload. Accountants are needed to take on a variety of roles in financial accounting, management accounting, credit control and financial control.
A large number of insurance companies have a range of UK and international offices, which means you could have a choice about where you work.
Entry requirements
The general route to qualification is to pass the professional examinations of one of three UK professional accountancy bodies:
- Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
- Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)
- Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI)
Entry regulations vary, but typically a good honours degree (or equivalent) in any subject plus maths and English GCSE (grades A or B) are required. Business-related degrees are common, but other subjects are strongly represented, including science, maths, languages, arts and social sciences.
There are also vocational routes available for those without a degree, via qualification through The Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT).
What you might do
During training, you are likely to become involved, under supervision, in many of the tasks that will occupy you once qualified. Accountants are concerned with providing returns to the FSA and with preparing business accounts according to GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles), so you are likely to be involved in collating data and preparing financial statements, including monthly and annual accounts; and in preparing financial management reports.
Other tasks include financial planning and forecasting and broader business analysis. You may also find yourself carrying out wider roles in areas such as risk assessment, auditing, strategy and planning, and financial control.
Training and professional qualifications
Three institutes award the professional qualification. Usually, the qualification you follow will depend on the company you join and the nature of its business, but it is likely to include work-based assessments/targets and structured work experience.
Trainees enter into a training contract, typically lasting three years for graduates and longer for the vocational route via the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT).
Rewards
Depending on location and the size of company you join, starting salaries vary considerably, but can reach £24,000 for trainees in London and the South East. Qualified accountants can earn around £45,000 and salary levels can reach over £70,000 after 10 years' experience.
Prospects
Qualification in this field means you have highly transferable skills and you can choose to specialise in the insurance industry or move across to public practice. Many chartered accountants work as internal auditors, business analysts and general managers in industry, banking and the public sector. Around 80% of FTSE 100 companies have at least one chartered accountant on the board.
Useful links
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
Chartered Accountants' Hall, PO Box 433 EC2P 2BJ
Tel: 020 7920 8100
www.icaew.co.uk
Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI)
CA House, 83 Pembroke Road, Dublin 4
Tel: +3531 637 7200
www.icai.ie
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)
CA House, 21 Haymarket Yards, Edinburgh EH12 5BH
Tel: 0131 347 0100
www.icas.org.uk
The Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT)
154 Clerkenwell Road, London EC1R 5AD
Tel: 020 7415 7500
www.aat.org.uk
