Graduate Profiles
Andrew Thompson

Why I chose accountancy

Having studied finance and areas of accountancy at university, I felt that a job in accountancy was a natural progression from my degree. I have always been comfortable in using numbers and thought accountancy would enable me to gain an understanding of their importance to companies. Also this career path enables me to study for the ACA, further adding to my university education and specialisation within accountancy. The qualification was an important part in my choice of profession as it gives the potential to move in a variety of different jobs in the future.
 
Why I chose haysmacintyre

The main attraction of haysmacintyre was the varying client base giving the potential for me to obtain skills in numerous areas. Our clients are in both corporate and charity sectors but the areas I was most interested in were the sports governing body and school clients. I was always looking to join a mid-tiered firm and with its single office location, I believed haysmacintyre would be a perfect choice as I would be working around other graduates and getting to know most, if not all, of the people within the firm. Also, in working for a mid-tiered firm, you feel a greater sense of involvement in the firm and a valued member of the team.

Roles and responsibilities

The main focus of my job is assisting the completion of audits and preparing accounts for our clients.  I have the necessary experience to complete the audits or accounts for smaller clients and can assist an audit team on larger clients. The job allows us to see a variety of clients and therefore the work changes depending on the type of client and their level of yearly activity.

When you begin your career at haysmacintyre, you start at the audit trainee level 1 where you often go to client’s sites and assist with the audit fieldwork, led by an audit trainee level 3. They will assign you work when you first begin, but as time goes on, your confidence and understanding grows giving rise to greater responsibility until you begin to lead audits yourself.

What skills do you need to make a success of what you do?

As the job is highly client based, people skills are a necessity as you need to be able to communicate well with both your audit team and client. It is also important to have the ability to work to deadlines as jobs can change on a week-to-week basis sometimes leaving tight time restraints on completing a given job. Dedication and taking ownership for work is also a key requirement for those looking to move into the sector. In being assigned work, the preparer needs to be responsible for this and ensure that the work is completed to the appropriate standards when handing over to a manager.

What's the best piece of advice for people coming into this sector?

I think it is important for those looking to enter the sector to be focused and have a clear understanding of the goals they are looking to achieve. There are times, especially during long spells at college, where the qualification can seem a long way off, but people need to persist with the work to obtain the rewards at the end.  In working for such a client-orientated company, the work can be diverse and rewarding so it is important for people to remain flexible and be prepared to take on new challenges.