subject: Beginning Your Career As A Management Accountant [print this page] If you are interested in business and finance, you may find the job of a management accountant to be an appropriate opportunity. The task of these professionals is to handle the accounts of a company and plan to enhance its growth and profitability. How do you become a management accountant? Here are the entry related details for this field.
You need to get the appropriate training from any of the professional accountancy bodies to become a management accountant. The institutes that provide this training for prospective candidates are as follows:
Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA): The training available from this institute comprises of two levels Certificate in Business Accounting (the basic stage of qualification) and Professional Qualification (the second stage of qualification).
You need to have a good standard of English and Math to study the entry level. However, you may skip this stage of training if you have a business or finance related degree or an accounting qualification from another professional accountancy body or from an Open University.
You need to complete the required exams at the different levels, Operational, Managerial and Strategic, to get the Professional Qualification from CIMA. You also need to pass the Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting and get three years of relevant work experience before you start looking for accounting positions.
Institute of Financial Accountants (IFA): You may get training in financial management from this institute. The different stages of this training are at the Technician, Associate and Fellow levels.
Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA): The training available from this institute incorporates business management modules. Therefore, instead of the audit and taxation choices, you learn about the business management processes.
If you think that you can work as a management accountant with this qualification, you are mistaken. You need to update your professional knowledge to work in this field. For this, you may opt for continuing development programmes available from the professional accountancy bodies.
Qualifications and work experience matters when you have to find work opportunities in this field. However, the most important thing that employers look for is the right set of skills necessary to handle the accounts of a company. Here is a quick look at the skills you need to have to succeed as a management accountant.
Comprehensive understanding of business and finance
Competent mathematical skills
Good communication skills
Proficient knowledge of computers
Good organisational skills
Logical capability and analytical approach
Ample knowledge of financial technicalities
It is possible to find office vacancies in Hertfordshire in the accounting and finance departments of many companies in the public or private sectors after you get the necessary training and experience.
You may find job opportunities from the newspapers. You may also check the industry magazines to find out prospective opportunities. A network of contacts in the field is also another helpful option to find jobs.
To locate the appropriate opportunities, you may register with a specialised recruitment agency. They will help you find good job opportunities that suit your profile, competencies and expectations. However, you need to work with them, instead of depending on them, for finding suitable job opportunities.
