Business Advisory

  • Description
  • Tasks
  • Skills
  • Useful Knowledge
  • Entry Qualifications
  • Professional Qualifications
  • Trends
  • Resources

Business advisory work is regarded as a vital service in today’s financial climate. Giving external professional advice to corporations and clients, you might provide a well-rounded view of how clients can address the legal and statutory challenges and reach their long-term business aims.  One thing’s for sure, in light of the many scandals to hit ‘big businesses’ globally, overhauls in the regulatory and statutory landscape mean there are great opportunities for people with the right skills to help businesses sustain, emerge stronger and flourish.  Accountancy and professional services firms offer a complete suite of advisory services, from audit and assurance, tax advisory and compliance, corporate finance and consulting, forensic and investigations, corporate recovery and insolvency, and financial planning. If you want variety, this is the place many qualified accountants and business specialists head towards.

Salary

Trainee level positions start at approximately £25,000 per annum. With the right experience, qualifications and skills you could progress to senior roles and earn in excess of £70,000 per annum.  This does not include potential bonuses and additional benefits.  Salaries will vary considerably based on location and employer.

  • Providing an external viewpoint, analysing the client's requirements to come up with a detailed and appropriate business solution
  • Reviewing business policies and procedures, recommending new ways to approach things
  • Ensuring clients are complying with legal requirements, industry regulations, organisational policies and professional codes
  • Formulating new business strategies and identifying new ways for businesses to engage in their market
  • Overseeing the implementation of corporate governance procedures, risk management and internal business controls
  • Providing an external viewpoint on how efficient resources are
  • Supporting and providing specialist advice to businesses during transitional phases of mergers and/or acquisitions
  • Informing operational and management business decisions
  • Recommending ways to reduce costs and increase profits
  • Strong numerical skills
  • All-round commercial business awareness
  • Articulate, both verbally and in writing
  • Excellent interpersonal skills, able to communicate confidently with external clients
  • Objective, logical and enquiring mind
  • Strong analytical skills and methodical
  • Diplomacy and tact, to give constructive client feedback
  • Good project managers, with effective planning and organisational skills
  • Team focused
  • Resilience under pressure
  • Commitment to gaining professional qualifications and ongoing self-development
  • Flexibility and willingness to travel extensively to visit clients

A new entrant will not always be required to have this knowledge. Employers usually provide training to acquire skills for:

  • Commercial awareness of the businesses they are advising and current trends in the wider sector
  • In-depth knowledge of the latest UK Financial Reporting Standards
  • Specialist knowledge of tax and audit compliance if advising in this area
  • Identifying upcoming compliance and statutory issues to address, prioritising action plans

The normal route into this area would be via a three-year graduate training contract at an accounting firm. Most firms have an annual intake. Typically, employers accept any degree subject, usually a 2:1 or equivalent. Maths, accountancy, business studies, economics and finance degrees may be more relevant, although it is not essential as employers often take students with a non-finance background. Certain degrees may provide exemptions from the professional accountancy examinations. It may be possible to enter the role after completing an accounting technician qualification, and then undertake your professional accountancy training. People usually move into business advisory and professional services as professionally qualified accountants. Being able to interpret figures and convey information clearly in presentations and reports is a big element of the job.

To be able to offer the full range of accountancy and business advisory services, including audits, entrants usually study towards professionally qualified accountant status with one of the following professional accountancy bodies:

  • Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
  • ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales)
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)
  • Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI)
  • Association of International Accountants (AIA)
  • Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)

Because business advisors provide an outside viewpoint to commercial clients, they’re not employed in-house. Instead, they provide fee-paying services and work for accountancy and professional services firms that have dedicated business advisory divisions. You might also work for a registered auditor, tax consultancy, bank or other lending organisation. Although key offices are in and around London and other major cities, there are often regional opportunities too. You’ll be travelling around the country to visit clients. There are usually opportunities for accountants working in a business advisory capacity to travel domestically and overseas, particularly in public practice when supporting international businesses. Overseas secondments may also form a crucial part or training.