From apprentice to boss: A natural pathway to partner

An apprenticeship can act as the perfect springboard for becoming partner or even CFO. But how to get there? Our experts explain all.

If you’re an apprentice starting your finance career, landing a chief financial officer (CFO) or partner’s position might seem like a distant dream. But the good news is you’re already on the right path.

Accountancy apprenticeships equip you with a skills-suite essential for any CFO/partner: a solid foundation of technical skills, along with learning about business strategy, problem-solving and critical thinking. Armed with these skills, apprentices can achieve leadership positions much sooner than expected. In fact, because they’re embarking on finance careers at an earlier stage, apprentices often have a head start over university graduates.

“It’s definitely achievable for school-leaver apprentices to become a partner or CFO in about a decade,” says Gareth John, policy director at First Intuition. “Being a finance lead at a smaller business is easier to get at a young age, even for people in their 20s.”

AAT has spoken to three experts from different fields – a CFO, training provider and accounting recruitment expert – for their advice on landing these prize positions.

Meet the experts

The CFO: Chris Argent, Founder, Generation CFO, who has been CFO at multiple organisations.

The training provider: Gareth John, Policy Director, First Intuition.

The recruitment expert: Karen Young, Director of accountancy & finance, Hays (global recruitment company).

What is a chief financial officer?

A CFO is charged with overseeing an organisation’s financial operations and is heavily involved with the overall business strategy, as well as developing revenue streams and funding. Their pay-packet usually matches these responsibilities: the average range of a CFO’s salary in the UK is £80,000-£364,000, according to Robert Walters Salary Survey 2025 (CFO salaries of £1 million aren’t unheard of).

What is a partner?

A partner, on the other hand, is a co-owner of a firm, responsible for making strategic decisions about the company, business development (bringing in new business by identifying new opportunities), overseeing the team, plus developing client relationships.

Having a chartered qualification helps… but it’s not essential

The CFO: “Being chartered used to be THE route to becoming a CFO. But it’s no longer the only pathway. Because today’s CFOs need to be more strategic and commercial [many employers] are looking at people with a core qualification such as Level 4 AAT who also have a trilogy of skill sets (accounting/digital and data analytics skills/ leadership).”

The recruitment expert: “Many CFOs at FTSE100 businesses are chartered through ACA (the ICEAW qualification), while others at start-ups or mid-tier firms tend to have an ACCA or CIMA qualification.”

The training provider: “AAT’s ‘chimney-like’ progression allows school-leavers to start at Level 2/3 before becoming chartered by 21-years-old.

Becoming chartered isn’t essential though. Because an AAT apprenticeship teaches you many strategic skills that help you progress towards senior leadership, I think the combination of AAT and a Level 7 qualification could be enough.

Sometimes, people do MBAs. I’d argue MBAs are a bit redundant – you can pick up many skills taught on an MBA through an ICEAW qualification. Beyond that, you don’t need any additional qualifications. But continuing professional development (CPD) is critical.”

Christian Koch is an award-winning journalist/editor who has written for the Evening Standard, Sunday Times, Guardian, Telegraph, The Independent, Q, The Face and Metro. He's also written about business for Accounting Technician, 20 and Director, where he is contributing editor.