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Corporate Governance

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Economic growth and enterprise in today’s financial climate need to be carefully balanced against behaving responsibly, within regulatory frameworks and financial reporting guidelines. Corporate governance is the combination of risk management, accounting, corporate law, internal audit and project strategy. Corporate governance is more about the adequacy of the systems of risk management, internal control, accounting – and also compliance with corporate law and best practice, board processes, information flows, communications, internal reporting and ensuring the standards/culture set by the board are applied throughout the organisation, as well as ensuring the quality of external reporting.  There’s a lot of relationship management – at board level and between senior manager and it also includes things like being the ‘eyes and ears’ of the board/senior manager by identifying areas of weakness or failure and being the person to whom others can raise concerns (possibly including whistle blowing).  Corporate governance roles also exist within investment companies and these roles analyse the external reporting by companies and make recommendations on voting at Annual General Meetings.

Salary

Some people move into corporate governance with substantial business experience, and therefore salaries offered are generally generous. Starting salaries can be from £25,000 per annum. With the right experience, qualifications and skills you could earn in excess of £180,000 per annum. This does not include potential bonuses or additional benefits. Salaries will vary considerably based on location and employer and the qualifications/experience of the individual.

  • Setting internal strategic reporting controls
  • Collating financial and project information from different stakeholder teams
  • Ensuring every team submits information in a timely fashion according to reporting schedules
  • Analysing information to prepare Group level updates and reports 
  • Using this information to update key business stakeholders and board members on strategic progress and direction of projects
  • Reporting on variances between actual performance and budget performance, recommending corrective action
  • Conducting internal business and project audits
  • Preparing and reviewing Group level project plans
  • Numerical and analytical skills
  • Objective, logical and enquiring mind
  • Excellent people skills, due to the extent of liaison with senior management
  • Practical understanding of accounting and project reporting systems
  • Business and wider economic awareness
  • Accuracy and attention to detail
  • Excellent negotiating and influencing skills
  • Assertive and confident, comfortable presenting information to senior board members and stakeholders
  • Articulate, both verbally and in writing
  • Good project management and team working ability

Previous accountancy, company secretary, project management, compliance or substantial business experience is helpful before working in corporate governance.

  • How to forecast and measure expenditure against budgets 
  • Comprehensive commercial awareness of the sector and business environments they operate in
  • The disclosure of financial and operational information
  • Legal reporting and corporate governance responsibilities for directors and board members.

Analysts in corporate governance will frequently use project management software packages like MS Project and Workbench to track delivery against strategic goals, so prior knowledge can be an advantage. Familiarity with PRINCE2 or PMBOK project methodology is also helpful.

Many corporate governance professionals are qualified accountants, lawyers or Chartered Secretaries However, as large corporate governance teams require a mixture of skills, any practical work experience in business, law or finance is helpful. Most people entering corporate governance jobs have a degree, postgraduate or professional qualification. Project management, business, law, finance or economic orientated degrees can be useful. The number of employers recruiting people with a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) is increasing. Being able to interpret figures, work out budgets, tally project costs and convey information clearly in presentations and reports is a big element of the job. The most important elements of the job are people management (including relationships between individuals) and persuasion/influencing skills

There’s no one route into corporate governance. The majority of corporate governance careers lie within the company secretarial and finance functions. Some switch from accountancy, internal audit, risk management or legal.

All of the professional accountancy qualifications cover corporate governance within their syllabus. These are offered through:

  • 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)
  • Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)

If you were taking the Company Secretary route and working within a plc company, you would need to have either qualified with The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) or be a qualified accountant, solicitor or barrister. See the ICSA website for details about their qualifications.

Larger organisations may have dedicated corporate governance teams, located in their finance and company secretarial departments. Dedicated positions are predominantly found in large commercial companies, especially banks, insurance and investment firms. Many limited companies also encompass elements of corporate governance within their project management, finance, operational and risk management teams. In light of recent regulatory transformations, opportunities are also opening up in the large accounting, consulting and risk management firms, who are offering their own corporate governance client services.  Job opportunities tend to be centred within head offices. In financial services these are predominantly in London and major city centres nationwide.