Career Research Report: Accounting Industry Trends, Skills & Qualifications

This report analyzes the trends, skills, and qualifications required in the accounting industry. It discusses the impact of globalization, technology, and data analysis on the industry. The report also evaluates a job advertisement for an Assistant Management Accountant position in London and identifies the skills and qualifications required for the job. The report concludes that the accounting industry offers various opportunities for fresh graduates and provides a bright future.

Career Viewpoint
CW1 – Career Research Report

Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................4
General trends influencing the chosen industry or profession.............................................................5
Globalization....................................................................................................................................5
Technology.......................................................................................................................................5
Data Analysis...................................................................................................................................5
Skills and knowledge required.........................................................................................................5
The required skills, experience and knowledge....................................................................................7
Personal Skills..................................................................................................................................7
Knowledge Required.......................................................................................................................7
Expertise..........................................................................................................................................7
Evaluation.............................................................................................................................................9
Interest.............................................................................................................................................9
Preference of this job.......................................................................................................................9
Emerging Role.................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion..........................................................................................................................................11
References..........................................................................................................................................12
Appendices.........................................................................................................................................13
Appendix 1: Primary Research Evidence......................................................................................13
Appendix 2: Relevant job advertisement ......................................................................................15

Introduction
This report aim are as follows:
 Analysing the Trends of the accountancy industries
 Collecting information on the skills, knowledge or expertise required
 Observing an advertisement and its consideration
 To gather more knowledge of the accountancy industry
 Identifying the importance of the job
This report will discuss the job of accountant professions and its advantages. It discusses various
skills or trends which is related to this profession. Also, why a person should get involved in this
industry. It will discuss an advertisement for a company which is providing job related to the
accountant profession and what are the qualification which will be required for this job.

General trends influencing the Accountant Profession
There are various trends in the profession of Accountancy which may have positive or negative
impact on the accountancy profession. Some of them are discussed further in the report.
Globalization
It has positive impact on the accountancy profession as it invites various new firms in the
country. This increase the demand of accountants which increase the opportunities and job mobility.
As the demand of accountants will increase the chances of entering into accountancy profession will
also improve for the new graduates (Norina, and Camelia, 2018).
Technology
There are various introduction of new technologies in the organization. This also includes
the accountant professions as there are various new technology which provide ease of work to the
accountants as they are provided accuracy and reduction in the errors. Technology helps various
businesses to avoid penalty related issue and other issues. This is beneficial for a fresh graduates as
they have knowledge of new technologies. This will create an opportunity for new graduates as
every firm will want those candidates who have excellent knowledge of accounting technologies
(Melnyk, and et.al., 2020).
Data Analysis
The industries are now focusing on the data analysis as technologies has made the
accounting easy. Accountants are now adjusting with their role as advisors which is opening various
new opportunities for them. This will also be benefit for the new graduates as it is now generating
more jobs.
Skills and knowledge required
 Global Market — The candidates should have knowledge of global market. It is because of
the globalization which is generating more opportunities for the candidates. The candidates
should know about the trends and innovation which are there in the global market. They
should know the pattern of accounting done for global market (Venter, Gordon, and Street,
2018).
 Technologies — The candidates should know about the working on the new technologies as
it makes the work easier. They should know how the work is done on those technologies as

well as what are the innovation in the technologies which will be coming in the future.
 Time Management — The candidate should be able to manage their time as it takes more
amount of time to complete the work of accounting. They should not make any mistakes
while they are doing their work.
 Communication skills — The candidate should have both written and oral communication
skills. As in any job these skills are compulsory to express themselves in their work or
during any presentation.
 Critical thinking — This is also a very important skill which an accountant should have as
it will improve the quality of work. They can also come up with new ideas because they can
think for future.

The required skills, experience and knowledge
Personal Skills
 Numeral Skills — It is common skills which is necessary for a person who want a career in
accounting. This is normal mathematical skills which disclose their ability of understanding
and analysing numerical information. Accountants field require preparing final report which
can only be done when a person has these skills.
 Eye For Detail — This is important for an accountant to have sharp eye which will help
them to scan errors effectively. This will reduce any errors from occurring which will make
the work efficient. If a person can search the mistakes then it will make their work reliable
and improve the organization image.
 Organizational Skills — It is important because accountants have to manage the time line
which make them juggle between work. If a person has organizational skills then the work
will be give perfect outcome otherwise it may happen that it will affect the quality of work.
 Computer skills — The graduate should have computer skills as they have to work with
various new technologies. This skill will help the person to do their work in efficient way
without any problems. These skills include excel, ERP Tools and various others (Gulin,
Hladika, and Valenta, 2019).
 Adaptability — It is very important for the candidate to have adaptability. As there are
various changes which happens in work environment which sometimes are not that easy to
work with and achieve success. If the person is adaptable then they can work in pressure
with accuracy (Zhang, Dai, and Vasarhelyi, 2018).
Knowledge Required
 Accounting Knowledge — The candidate should be acquainted with the accounting such as
book keeping, preparing balance sheet, data analysis, etc. This is the basic knowledge which
is expected from the candidate to have which make them work in effective way (Berikol,
and Killi, 2021).
 Laws and regulations — The candidate should have knowledge of laws and regurgitation.
It is because it will help the business to avoid any penalties. Also, as the organizations are
more inclined towards globalization which makes this knowledge important. It helps the
organization to expand smoothly without any problems in legal environment.

Expertise
 Financial Reporting and Analysis — The candidate should have worked in financial
reporting and analysis. It can be either in the previous job or in any academic assignments.
This assures the management that the person is suitable for the accountant position and
provide work with accuracy (Thottoli, Thomas, and Ahmed, 2019).
 Project Management — The candidates should be efficient in managing the project for the
company. It is because it helps to allot proper budget for various projects of the company
and can help them grow.

Evaluation
This is a job opportunity in Media industry which is of Assistant Management Accountant. This job
is based in London with various responsibilities & qualification. The reasons of this advertisement
can be preferred is discussed further.
Interest
This is interested for me because it helps to develop various skills which is related to the
responsibilities. The job is related to the field of accountant which have a huge scope in the future.
The responsibilities will help me to work in various areas which develop interest in the work as well
as suitable for the qualification requirements. The compensation factor will also attract a person as
they are providing amount which can be considered competitive. Location of the job is a place
where anyone will want to work. This job requires various qualification which increase the scope
for a candidate to apply for it. This will arise the interest as they are partnering with other
organization which will provide various new opportunities. These new opportunities will contain
various benefits. This job requires hybrid working which is an attractive point as I can work
according to my comfort level.
Preference of this job
This job is preferred because of various reason and one of them is the company and post.
The company have a good market position and the post is challenging. The post requires various
responsibilities which will be challenging for the candidates and motivate to do the work
effectively. This work will also need eye for details as it requires preparing balance sheet
reconciliation or conducting of audit. These responsibilities are important for an organization and
does not contain any chance of error. So it will be preferable as I can conduct the audit in efficient
way also the time management is required which is beneficial for me as a punctual person. It will
provide me with various new opportunities which will help me in the future when I will want to
expand my career. This company has already established a reporting format which is good as I can
know the person before joining the organization.
Emerging Role
This can be considered an emerging role because it will require to work with various new
technologies and techniques. The role provides various beneficial factors which also include the
future related to this job. Audit is a most important part of an organization which will be there in the
future, also it requires a person who is efficient and effective as there is not any scope of mistake.

This job will provide various opportunities too because of its merger with another company.

Conclusion
It is concluded from this report that there are various skills, qualification, expertise,
knowledge & responsibilities are required in the job of accountant. The important skills is
adaptability and computer skills as without it the job cannot be done. The important which can be
concluded is globalization & technology. It is because this is important in a job of accountant and it
creates various new opportunities for a fresher. It also concludes that for accepting a job can have
various reasons which can depend on location or payment and various other factors. This job have
various scope which can be beneficial for the person and its future.

References
Books & Journal
Melnyk, N. and et.al., 2020. Accounting trends in the modern world. Independent Journal of
Management & Production. 11(9). pp.2403-2416.
Norina, P. and Camelia, M., 2018. The Impact of Globalization on Workforce–The Future of the
Accounting Profession. Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series. 18(2). pp.684-689.
Venter, E.R., Gordon, E.A. and Street, D.L., 2018. The role of accounting and the accountancy
profession in economic development: a research agenda. Journal of International Financial
Management & Accounting. 29(2). pp.195-218.
Gulin, D., Hladika, M. and Valenta, I., 2019. Digitalization and the Challenges for the Accounting
Profession. ENTRENOVA-ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion, 5(1). pp.428-437.
Berikol, B.Z. and Killi, M., 2021. The effects of digital transformation process on accounting
profession and accounting education. In Ethics and Sustainability in Accounting and Finance,
Volume II (pp. 219-231). Springer, Singapore.
Thottoli, M.M., Thomas, K.V. and Ahmed, E.R., 2019. Qualitative analysis on information
communication technology and auditing practices of accounting professionals. Journal of
Information and Computational Science. 9(9). pp.529-537.
Zhang, C.A., Dai, J. and Vasarhelyi, M.A., 2018. The impact of disruptivetechnologies on
accounting and auditing education: how should the profession adapt?. The CPA Journal. 88(9),
pp.20-26.

Appendices
Appendix 1: Primary Research Evidence
Name of contact Samuel
Company Tesco Plc
Job title Senior Accountant
Date of contact 15/03/22
How did you contact them? Digitally
Questions asked & summary
of their answers
 What are the skills required in a graduate for getting
job in your company?
 What are the qualification required to get the job in
Tesco?
 Technologies used for accounting?
According to his answer, the main skills are computing and
communication. Qualification should be AAT qualified and
have certificates related to accounting. The technologies are
constantly upgrading but main excel is used.
Name of contact Robert
Company GLOBAL MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT
Job title Accountant
Date of contact 15/03/22
How did you contact them? Digitally
Questions asked & summary
of their answers
 What are the skills required in a graduate for getting
job in your company?
 What are the qualification required to get the job in
Tesco?
 Technologies used for accounting?
According to his answer, the main skills are computing and
adaptability. Qualification should be AAT qualified and have
certificates related to accounting. The technologies are
constantly upgrading but main Quickbooks is used.
Name of contact Michael
Company Unilever
Job title Assistant Accountant
Date of contact 15/03/22
How did you contact them? Digitally
Questions asked & summary
of their answers
 What are the skills required in a graduate for getting
job in your company?
 What are the qualification required to get the job in
Tesco?
 Technologies used for accounting?
According to his answer, the main skills are adaptability,
computer and numeral. Qualification should be AAT qualified
and have certificates related to accounting. The technologies

are constantly upgrading but main excel is used.
Appendix 2: Relevant job advertisement