By Sophie Cross Students23 reasons why you should become an accountant12 Oct 2022 Aside from being one of the most trusted professions, there are many other great reasons to become an accountant; here are 23 of our favourites. 1. It will allow you to work across any industry and role.“One of the things that appealed to me was not only the breadth of opportunity in accounting but also the height. You can work in treasury, purchase or sales ledger, or work your way up to the board of an FTSE 100 and not even just as a Chief Financial Officer, but you could be an Operations Director, Commercial Director or CEO. Because all business decisions are driven (at least in part) by accountancy decisions, having a depth of financial understanding can lead you in many directions.” – Gareth John, Director at First Intuition2. You’ll learn the language of money.3. You can be self-employed.“Having my first ever invoice paid was a really great feeling, but one of the most rewarding things is not monetary but about lifestyle. You can’t really put a price on the freedom of working when you want to work, where you want to and dressing how you want to dress.” – Michael Beech, Michael Beech Accounting4. You can grow your own accountancy company.5. There is excellent earning potential.6.You’ll get a foundational set of skills that will set you up to be a good business person.7. You’ll be known as the person who helps the business make better decisions.“I like to work with the type of client who wants someone who’s been there, who knows what it’s like to be in an entrepreneur’s shoes and who understands a lot of the pitfalls that can occur. I have that experience to share.” – Sharon Burrows, STB Accountants8. You don’t need to be brilliant at maths.“I am personally terrible at mental arithmetic. What is needed is an understanding of how to get to an answer mathematically, not necessarily being able to work it out in your head – we have spreadsheets for that!”- Rob McClay9. You don’t need a degree.10. You can work remotely from home or as a digital nomad.11. You’ll be able to get a job in another country if you’d like to live and work abroad.12. You can specialise in a particular area if you want to, like tax or a specific industry.13. There will always be work for you, and your skills will always be in demand. As recession-proof professions go, it’s up there.“I’d always recommend AAT as a career route because everyone studying it in my college went on to get a job in the field.” – Georgia Duffee, Benedetto Accounts & Tax14. It’s a job where you’ll be helping people and can be seen as the go-to expert.15. You’ll be valuable if you want to volunteer for charities or social enterprises.“Start Small Think Big would not be who we are without our volunteers. Finance volunteer Justin Sabatino has provided financial clarity to and worked directly with small business owners on their entrepreneurial endeavours, including during the pandemic. It’s also always great to hear that our volunteers like Justin find this work to be challenging yet rewarding. His pro bono work has challenged him to explain and apply financial concepts on different scales across different businesses, which has improved his communication and overall business acumen. – ”Start Small Think Big16. There are plenty of development and promotion opportunities.17. You can have exposure to every department in the business and all levels of people that you’re working with.18. It’ll make you happy! In general, accountants report feelings of high job satisfaction.“It’s amazing to get the gratification when the plan we’ve put in place for them works.” – Georgia Duffee, Benedetto Accounts & Tax19. You’ll never be bored with things constantly changing and so many avenues that you can go down.20. Your soft skills like communication, attention to detail, problem-solving and time management will all improve.“You have to be very engaging and communicative with the people you work with to help to translate finance for non-finance colleagues.” – Rob McClay21. There’s a clear educational path for you to take if you’d like to continue your qualifications.22. You can work with brilliant teams of people or, if you prefer, on your own.“I have a huge sense of pride for the team and hearing them say that they love their jobs. They work like a machine, get on like a family, and it’s so nice to have them to hand it down to.” – Laura Whyte, Whyfield Accountants23. You’ll feel a real sense of purpose in your work.“I love what I do and enjoy helping people.” Sharon Burrows, STB Accountants Sophie Cross is the Editor of Freelancer Magazine and a freelance writer and marketer at Thoughtfully.