Moving away from commerce

Anonymous wrote:

"I have been working within commerce for the past five years. How easy is it for me to move into another area such as banking or public practice?"


A divisional manager for IMI at Marks Sattin responded:

It really depends what you have been doing in commerce and what level you are at. The more senior you are the harder it is generally to make the switch as people are spending significant sums of money to acquire skilled people in positions that are often more client or commercially facing, and so industry experience becomes more key.

A move into practice is a good possibility if you possess year end statutory skills, or applicable skills to corporate recovery, insolvency, tax or transaction services. Accountancy practice is undergoing a boom in demand for their services, so demand for good candidates is also strong and they are very good at providing the necessary training to get you up to speed.

The financial services industry is somewhat different. Financial services is famed for paying huge salaries and is an attractive sector, so the supply vs demand equation is more skewed towards the employers. For roles that are management reporting focussed, particularly around costs, the industry experience tends to matter less as typical costs in financial services companies are very similar to any other service sector. When it comes to statutory reporting in financial services, companies tend to demand relevant industry experience because of the unique nature of the business and the complexity of their balance sheets. With recent accounting standards changes under IFRS that apply mostly to financial services companies around, eg embedded derivatives, revenue recognition and deferred accounting, experience of financial services becomes more important. The breadth of financial services roles for accountants is often wider, eg in risk and fund reporting, so applicable skills are sought.

I hope this helps, and please feel free to call any financial services consultant for more tailored advice surrounding your own individual experience.