Like other professions, AAT jobs or accounting careers have various pros and cons that facilitate or hinder the job. But it is worth noting that trade is good or bad but depicts that it is more suitable for some people and not fit for others.
The present article will enlist ten pros and cons of AAT jobs in London and worldwide to help you make your accounting career decision.
Ten must-know pros of an accounting career
Adopting an accounting career is a wise choice as it has various pros that can guide you through the paths of prosperity to the destination of success. The ten must-know advantages of undertaking an accounting career are as follows.
Accounting has a clear career path.
Accountancy studies equip you with practical skills to understand the numbers and analyze the cost and assets that employers require. It means that you will be a revenue generator, enhancer, protector, and spending advisor for the businesses, making your position the strongest in the company. It will help you ensure that your job is well protected, and with the right learning and skills, you can get promoted to a more senior position in the organization.
It offers you a chance to travel.
Believing that accounting is a dry career with no innovation and fun is unwise as it offers guaranteed employment and a traveling chance. Being an auditor or financial advisor, you can visit your clients or move with your boss to discuss financial matters with other companies. If you are a freelance accountant, you can travel to your clients in different cities or countries.
Accounting is a growing field with career stability.
After the mayhem of the global pandemic where every profession faced a crisis, accounting emerged as a stable and demanding career choice with ensured career stability. The career path will expand more in the future as businesses need to calculate their taxes and manage their accounts every day. They will require an expert accountant to facilitate tax calculations and offer them an economic edge over their competitors.
You can develop a vast network.
Accountants need to deal with every department in the company and move out to promote their business or generate resources through investments. It allows them to develop their contacts with a wider business network, expanding their circle and enabling them to have a firm grounding in the market.
It offers you diversity.
An accounting career is of a different kind and covers almost all areas of life. Being an accountant, you would not get stuck with a single accounting or audit firm calculating and predicting numbers. But you will get a wider scope where you can work in forensic accounting, environmental accounting, research or educational accounting, public accounting, tax accounting, financial accounting, governmental accounting, or audit.
It will allow your professional growth.
After graduation in accounting, you will work as a junior, associate, or assistant accountant. However, after gaining the required experience, education, and skills, you can advance in your career, choosing jobs that match your skills and preferences.
Accounting has high earning potential.
The earning potential of accounting careers and fields is relatively high than other professions in the UK. You can start an associate-level job with a salary between £15,000 to £18 500 per year that increases up to £50,000 to £65,000 with advanced knowledge and skills. Moreover, full-time accountants have other healthcare benefits, retirement plans, vacation times, and children education scholarships.
You can work from anywhere.
As other fields require you to uproot your life and shift to a more developed industry hub, accounting does not have these requirements. Every company, be it agricultural or software developers, need accountancy services. Therefore, the career offers you the flexibility to work anywhere or department of your choice in any firm. Moreover, digitalisation in accounting following COVID-19 has shifted accountancy to online services. So, you can work anywhere with various clients in different counties or countries.
Accounting has entrepreneurial potential.
Being an accountant, you can work for any company to learn accounting technicalities and skills. Afterward, you can establish your firm and become your boss. Having an entrepreneurial spirit, you can start your firm right away to advance in your accountancy career.
You are always learning new things.
AAT jobs require continuing study and skills acquisition that always keeps you in the student and learning circle. The advancement in technology is bringing rapid changes in practices, and now tax laws are constantly changing. You need to learn these skills and knowledge to progress in your career.
Ten must-know cons of an accounting career
Accounting can be stressful
Accounting comes with various challenges for accountants, such as making a perfect audit from missing financial details or filing a tax return from the government. The end of the financial year is extremely busy for accountants.
The working environment is sedentary.
Unlike auditors who can enjoy site visits or financial advisors who can travel with employers, other accounting jobs are passive and boring. You only need to sit behind a desk with a computer and enter and analyze numbers.
Your reputation is boring.
The accountants need to be in a professional mode that some people can read as dull or boring. Though accounting is not as fun as being a cruise ship captain, career paths are stable and offer you a good career in the future.
You always need to learn.
As discussed previously, accountants need to remain updated about new tax laws or technological development in accounting. It requires them to acquire that new certification to stand out to their employers. Such as, after getting an AAT job, you need a more professional degree to progress in your career.
It would help if you had a work-life balance.
Balancing your work and life is often difficult but a requirement for accounting jobs. You cannot carry your professional issues to home or bring domestic conflicts in an office environment.
It would help if you worked in an office.
Your accounting roles are mostly confined to an office where you perform your bookkeeping or payroll tasks. You can file or claim tax or tax returns on your computer while sitting in the office.
The hard work during studies is mandatory.
You cannot become a successful accountant without hard work. So, to get an AAT job, efforts are mandatory.
The competition is fierce.
The accounting field is continuously evolving and you always need to learn new technologies and skills to preserve your job. If you do not meet the competition requirement, you can lose your job.
You have a busy season.
Though accounting is a 9-5 job, you need to work additional time with impending deadlines during the end of the financial year. During tax or audit season, you remain busy with work to complete the audit or tax fining.
You need to be technologically literate
Technological literacy is a requirement for accountants as the dynamics of accounting are changing, and you need to become more technologically aware of accounting software to progress in the field.