Careers: Accountancy

[OddBoots]

My ds (12) is just playing around with career ideas at the moment, as most 12 year olds are but for the past 9ish months has settled on accounting. He's a logical sort with an enjoyment of numbers, patterns and rules and is at the milder end of the ASD spectrum.

I was listening to a radio programme about late in life career change and there was a man on there who had left accounting to move into early years education. When asked why he said something like 'well as any accountant will tell you, there is pressure to bend and break the law and I couldn't fight that pressure any more'.

Does anyone here have experience in this kind of pressure? I guess it is to be expected that if there are many wealthy people with questionable tax affairs then there are accountants prepared to facilitate this but it that always the case?

I am a Management Accountant & I worked in industry. As an accountant you are closely audited at year end (both internally & externally) & we did not break any laws. We had a tax dept & our auditors to speak to when we were unsure of anything. The business does not necessarily understand why you, as an accountant, need to make certain decisions but it is your job as a professional to do what is right and prudent, to explain your reasons and be firm. I didn't find this hard as people tended to respect the decisions.

I did find the hours long and the work you start off doing boring until I got to a more senior level and was more involved in the business side of things, which I loved.
I guess it depends on who your son ended up working for.

I'm an accountant in audit (public sector) and no such pressure. Maybe he means in tax accountancy? You can be an accountant and have nothing to do with tax.

Being an actuary might appeal a bit more - there's a lot of judgement involved in accountancy, not just about the numbers. There are rules, yes, but they are liable to be interpreted in different ways!

I love maths and almost became an actuary. Accountancy doesn't require that much mathematical skill.

info on actuaries

No. Absolutely not.

I am a chartered accountant and chartered financial planner, and have never come across any pressure to break the law. I am in possibly one of the most highly regulated industries there is! If any clients are even interested in aggressive, but legitimate, tax planning, I tell them to seek advice elsewhere.

Like any professional, you behave...professionally. There might be some grey areas where people push it, but I've never come across this personally.

Am only part qualified ACA, but I so have Aspergers ds1(8), so thought I could comment.
Do not agree with radio man. Agree with other posters here.
Plus think that Actuary, which is often the hardest area to get into, could be an absolutley perfect idea for your ds. Or most areas of accountancy would probably fit him like a glove, if he is anything like a classis autistic child. Accountancy/finance is the very area that they always highlight for autistic children.

Thank you so much for all your feedback, it sounds like the chap on the radio was talking from very narrow experience. The actuary stuff looks really interesting, I will mention it to him.

Thanks again, I'm very relieved - just wait though, tomorrow he will have changed his mind anyway!

I'm an actuary, but work quite closely with accountants and have never heard of this kind of pressure. Certainly it's not something I have come across in my work as an actuary..

It sounds like your DS would quite enjoy being an actuary. I certainly do, most of the time plus it's much better paid than accountancy!

Also an actuary who works with accountants and second what trixy says.

Nope, It really depends what you do. There will always be some people in business who want to push policy to make results look good etc- but as an accountant, you'll face more of that in a business partnering role, where it's your job to support and challenge the business in equal measure. Plus, it really depends on the culture of the business that you work in.

Some accounting jobs are very 'people facing', others are very much number crunching (I'm thinking actuarial, financial modelling, technical accounting), and there is a huge range in between. I'm sure there will be something that your son can really excel at :)

What a strange comment from radio guy!
Accountancy is more of an Art than a Science. The numeric, right/wrong side of things is book-keeping; the judgement-call/management side of things is Accountancy. There are some situations where people try to push boundaries but it is part of an Accountant's skill to know what is 'a grey area that can be argued' and what is downright immoral/illegal.
If someone does try to apply the wrong sort of pressure then you just walk. That is one of the great things about it - that it is a very marketable, and not too niche, career so you can always find another (more ethical) employer/client.
An Accountant will always preserve their integrity. They are nothing without it.

DH is an accountant, and is (I am pretty sure, he is not formally diagnosed) on the ASD spectrum. He does look for allowed ways to avoid tax for his clients, but this is certainly not breaking the law.