W

hich academic achievements

are you proudest of?
|e acaoem|c ac||evement lm most
rouo ot wou|o be scor|ng an average
ot 80 on 8 aers |n t|e !une 2011
s|tt|ng {88 |n l4 Law, 81 |n lS l|nanc|a|
ertormance ano 76 |n ax,. l was
art|cu|ar|y |easeo w|t| t|e l4 resu|t,
because |ts suc| a c|a||eng|ng subject ano
requ|res extens|ve |now|eoge ot re|evant
|aw cases. l ut |n a |ot ot eort our|ng
bot| t|e teac||ng ano rev|s|on stages. lor
exam|e, l reorgan|seo t|e |aw cases ano
stuo|eo t|em |n grous to en|ance my
unoerstano|ng ot re|ateo |eg|s|at|on.
l am a|so very rouo to |ave graouateo
trom a to S 0k un|vers|ty, w|t| an |8c |n
Lconom|cs, by t|e age ot 21. l was |easeo
w|t| |ow we|| l manageo to comb|ne wor|
ano stuoy. lt oen|te|y requ|reo sacr|c|ng
my soc|a| ||te, but l ac||eveo muc| more
on a o|erent |eve|. lt was oen|te|y a case
ot no a|n, no ga|n.
ACCA SUCCESS STORY
Wenlin, from China, is a current ACCA student at LSBF. She
decided to study with us after speaking to programme
advisors at our campus.
W
hat are you doing to be a
better student?
l t||n| a gooo stuoent oares to ooubt, ano
|as t|e courage to quest|on. l use |n|t|at|ve
to conouct my own researc| to no t|e
r|g|t answers. lt may mean wast|ng t|me
to conrm w|at |as a|reaoy been roven
r|g|t, but t||s state ot m|no benets me |n
t|e |ong run.
|me management |s a|so cruc|a|. |ere
are on|y 24 |ours |n a oay, so l a|ways
ensure t|at lm organ|seo ano ma|e t|e
most ot my t|me. Atter a||, wor||ng |aro
|s t|e |ey, ano t|eres no subst|tute tor
eort.
W
hat are you doing in order to
improve your career prospects
for the future?
lm current|y an Accounts |anager,
|ano||ng genera| tas|s suc| as ban|
reconc|||at|on, mont| eno reorts ano
creo|t contro|s. 8tuoy|ng ACCA w|||
s|gn|cant|y boost my c|ances ot no|ng a
||g|er |eve| job. Aart trom t||s, lve been
|c||ng u ract|ca| s||||s |n my sare t|me,
|nc|uo|ng aovanceo Lxce| tec|n|ques ano
8age, etc. |e econom|c env|ronment |s
not very rom|s|ng r|g|t now, but t|e |east
l can oo |s to reare myse|t tor ucom|ng
oortun|t|es.
W
ho are your favourite tutors
and why?
|y tavour|te tutors so tar are
lob 8owerby, lS/l9 - les a very
rotess|ona| |ecturer, w|t| |n-oet|
|now|eoge ot nance ano econom|cs.
lt wou|o be |aro to ta|| ||s c|ass s|nce
everyt||ng |s so c|ear|y structureo ano
we|| organ|seo. le can ex|a|n a com|ex
t|eory ex||c|t|y ano eort|ess|y. l |ove ||s
teac||ng sty|e ano ||s |umour.
Caro|yn Ha|er, l6 - l |||e t|e tact t|at
lm a|ways bra|nstorm|ng |n |er c|asses
ano l enjoy concentrat|ng 100/ our|ng
c|ass. 8|e us|es us very |aro, but a|ways
ensures we |ave |enty ot t|me to reect
uon w|at weve |earnt. lve been |e||ng
|er ameno t|e l6 rev|s|on ||t, w||c| |s a
great |onour.

lranc|s 3raganza {l7, ano Lebb|e
Crossman {l4, are bot| exerts |n
t|e|r e|os. lranc|s |s a|ways arouno at
|unc|t|me ano |ate atter c|ass to answer
eo|es quest|ons. l |||e ||s oevot|on ano
ass|on tor teac||ng. As tor Lebb|e, s|e
ma|es t|e otten ory subject ot |aw very
|nterest|ng.
WENLIN XU
LSBF STUDENT
Find out more at our main open days, or visit our website for other drop in dates.
www.LSBF.org.uk
10
PQ Magazine January 2012
PQ news
We can all hope for happier new
years, but they wont come until the
institutionalised tide of sleaze is
rolled back. The pursuit of personal
riches and the maximisation of
shareholder wealth are major
reasons for the sleaze.
MPs have fiddled expenses and
peers have gone to prison for fraud.
Despite this they remain legislators
and pass laws to govern the rest of
us. Political parties are available for
hire to the highest bidder, while a
large donation will get you the ear of
senior policymakers.
Credit rating agencies published
false credit ratings, but continue to
thrive. Bankers have brought the
economy to the edge of disaster but
continue to receive mega bonuses.
Many UK companies cant compete
and their share values have
plummeted, but executives still
collect huge salaries. Profits are
restored by closing pension
schemes and wage freezes. How
many have been condemned to a
life of misery? Tax dodging
companies get public contracts and
then promptly move them to tax
havens. Banks published opaque
accounts but received unqualified
audit reports. Auditors did not notice
the billions of pounds parked off-
balance sheet, but still collected
their fees and are defended by their
professional bodies.
Eventually, the economic crisis
will pass, but a solid recovery is
unlikely until institutionalised sleaze
is tackled.
PREM
SIKKA
Its time to
roll back
the tide of
sleaze
Prem Sikka is professor
of accountancy at the
University of Essex
The break up of the Big 4 firms
and mandatory rotation of audits
are among the key proposals of
sweeping reforms outlined by the
European Commission.
The EUs international market
commissioner, Michel Barnier, said
audit firms will be prohibited from
providing non-audit services to
their audit clients. In addition, his
report says large audit firms will be
obliged to separate audit from
non-audit activities in order to
avoid all risks of conflict of interest.
The EU is pushing for the
rotation of auditors after a
maximum engagement period of
six years (with some exceptions). A
cooling off period of four years will
also apply before the audit firm
can be engaged again by the same
client. However, the period before
the rotation is obligatory can be
extended to nine years if joint
audits are performed.
Barnier thinks that if an entity is
being audited by more than one
audit firm this will improve quality
the four-eyes principle. Joint
audits are not to be made
obligatory, just encouraged.
But KPMGs Rolf Nonnenmacher
said audit quality is best provided
by multi-disciplinary firms. He said:
The capability of firms to provide
quality audits will be diminished if
auditors are separated from wide-
ranging advisory experts including,
crucially, risk management in the
financial sector.
KPMG is also against the
mandatory rotation of audits, which
it says could cause serious
disruption to corporates and have
no positive effect on audit quality.
BIGFOURBREAKUP
NOWASTEPCLOSER
PQ Awards deadline extended
Everyone in 2012 will be going for gold and you should be no different.
The PQ magazine Awards has 13 categories where you or a nominee
could get your very own medal (actually its a lovely big trophy). To help
we have extended the deadlines for nominations the new D-Day is
13 January 2012, with the ceremony on 21 February. Our awards really
do give you a chance to get your CV to stand out. Its also a great party
and there may be few of them next year! All we need is 250 words on
why your nominee should be a winner see page 14 for more.
The GFP PQ of
the Year is...
Wendy Richmond (pictured), an
ICAEW trainee at HMRC, was the
PQ winner at the Government
Finance
Professions 2011
awards recently.
Throughout her
studies Richmond
was a model
student with an
exemplary exam
record thats 11
exams and no
failures, with an
average score of
76%, including
two scores of 90%.
Other winners on the night
included AAT of the Year Lynn
Williams from the DWP, and NQ of
the Year Faisal Mir. Mentor of the
Year went to Captain Paul Cardone
of the British Army.
ICAS unveiled a new
identity and website,
which it hopes
reflects its increasing
diverse membership
this month. The
brand evolution
includes a new
master logo. ICASs
Atholl Duncan said:
We have modernised a
traditional institute. Our new look
and feel represents both our
current membership of CAs and
the next generation of
CAs currently under
our tutelage. He
added: We now call
ourselves ICAS
because thats how the
vast majority of people
already refer to us and
search for us online.
The AIA has also
changed its corporate image and
has turned from blue to green.
The AIAs Phil Turnbull stressed
that the profession is changing
and so is the AIA, to adapt to and
shape accountancys shifting
needs. And why green? Turnbull
said it is the colour of life,
signifying growth and renewal.
Green also occupies more space
in the spectrum visible to the
human eye and is second only to
blue as a favourite colour.
Ultimately, Turnbull felt the new
identity will make the AIA stand
out from the crowd, while
reinforcing our credentials as a
premier accountancy body.
NEWLOOKSFORICASANDAIA
Get ajob
There are four ways jobless
accountants can help themselves
stand out from the crowd, says the
Chartered Accountants Benevolent
Association (CABA). They are:
1
Learn to network, both inside
and out of the profession.
2
Accentuate your people skills.
No hiding in the back room
any more!
3
Get an online presence. A
strong LinkedIn profile can
really help.
4
Research potential employers
jobs are not just about
technical ability, you have to fit with
the culture as well.
Cheers! Party-goers enjoy PQs hospitality
PQ Magazine January 2012
22
PQ governance
OUR NEW
YEARWISH!
We werent going to get it for Christmas so we thought we better make it our New Year wish. All we want is
the actual salary details and name of the top-paid employees at CIPFA and CIMA!
I
n mid-September business
secretary Vince Cable unveiled
plans to provide investors with
greater clarity on how top businesses
are run and how executive pay is
matched to performance. He has
asked whether it should be a
requirement that each board of
directors total remuneration should be
published. That includes basic salary,
bonuses, share schemes and
pensions. Another proposal is for the
ratio between the CEOs pay and
median earnings in a company to be
published.
The answer, of course, to both of
these suggestions is a big yes, in the
name of transparency and openness it
has to be the right way forward.
So how are the accountancy bodies
doing, ensuring they are at the cutting
edge of good practice and
accountability? Well, if you are a
member of the ICAEW then the
answer is very well. All senior
members of its management are
named and their total package is on
show for everyone to read in each
annual report. The AAT has this year
introduced a ratio comparison
between the highest and lowest paid
employees (currently 9:1).
SALARY RANGE
But this leaves two professional
bodies that seem unable or unwilling
to provide this information, even to its
members! Both CIMA and CIPFA
provide a salary range (eg 200,000
210,000) and dont name the
person receiving this package.
Several years ago the AAT also did
things the old way, but PQ magazines
editor Graham Hambly campaigned for
change. Finally, the AAT had a change
of heart and agreed to say exactly
what CEO Jane Scott Paul was
earning. The world didnt suddenly
stop at the AAT; as you can see above
the AAT has even gone a step further.
So why do CIMA and CIPFA
continue with their outdated practice.
We let them explain then you can
decide whos right.
CIMA said: While the annual review
is constantly being updated CIMA
believes that all the necessary
components to its senior management
teams remuneration packages are
provided within the financial
statements.
CIPFA said: The annual report and
accounts has the auditors opinion
that the financial statements have
been prepared in accordance with UK
GAAP and in accordance with the
Charities Act 1993 to which CIPFA is
subject. We believe that we comply
with both the letter and spirit of the
Charities SORP 2005 (revised 2008)
which is the relevant GAAP for our
sector, as we are a registered charity.
And amongst the many comments and
queries we receive on the report and
accounts, this is not an issue which
has been raised by our members at
any stage. With regard to the specific
point concerning remuneration for
senior management, we are fully
compliant (see page 34 paras 234 to
238 of Charities SORP for the specific
disclosure requirements). The
Charities SORP is under review, and
the disclosure requirements could
therefore change in the future. Were
that to happen we would automatically
vary our practice in order to confirm
with any new or different
requirements. [A SORP is a
Statement of Recommended Practice
Ed.]
I honestly believe there is a bit of
personal embarrassment involved
here. I have found that most people in
the UK dont like talking about what
they earn (unless they are a banker).
Having your name and your
remuneration package printed next to
each other can seem strange. But like
or loathe it, this is the way we are
going. If it is good enough for the PM
and other public sector employees
why not heads of the accountancy
bodies?
REAL ENGAGEMENT
It does seem a shame that these
accountancy bodies have never been
challenged by their members to
explain the numbers, perhaps that
reflects the real engagement the
bodies have with their members.
Remember, I have been to all the
AGMs and in most cases they would
have fewer than 30 members there (if
you asked Council members and staff
to leave). And I am being generous
with 30 in some cases.
The two bodies are right; they do
conform to charity legislation, but that
doesnt make their argument any
better. They should surely want to be
leading good practice not merely
follow the rules thats when we start
to get problems! If these bodies want
to influence whats going on in UK plc
they have to show they are part of it,
not above it living in ivory towers.
So now we have told you our wish
and not kept it a secret does that
mean we wont be getting it this year?
I think we all know the answer.
PQ
The CEOs: from
left, Helen Brand,
ACCA; Steve Freer,
CIPFA; Jane Scott
Paul, AAT; Charles
Tilley, CIMA;
Michael Izza,
ICAEW; and Anton
Collela, ICAS

24
PQ Magazine January 2012
PQ ATT focus
Looking to further your tax knowledge or progress
your career in tax?
The ATT has the answer with its new exam structure
offering a choice of seven subjects.
Gain a Certicate of Competency or continue to
full membership of the leading professional body
dealing with UK tax compliance.
The choice is yours!
For further details please visit the ATT website at
www.att.org.uk or call the Association of Taxation
Technicians on 020 7340 0551
Reached the top?
The Association of Taxa TT tion Technicians TT
NEW LEASE OF
I
n paper 1 of the ATT qualification, many
students seem to struggle with leases.
Leases can be assigned or granted, can be
long or short. Leases can also be chargeable to
capital gains tax or a mixture of capital gains tax
and income tax. You need to remember that a
short lease is a lease expected to last 50 years
or less.
If a short lease is granted, the premium will
be split and part will be chargeable to income
tax and part to capital gains tax.
So how can you remember the different
treatment between sale and grant and the
difference between a long or short lease?
Learn the points below:
1
When there is a sale of a lease, you have
a normal capital gains tax disposal.
When there is the grant of a lease, you
generally have a part disposal to calculate (with
use your tax tables. From the tax tables you will
take the lease percentage and apportion the
cost by an appropriate fraction.
3
When you are selling a short lease you
will take the lease percentage for the
years remaining at sale and divide this by
the years remaining at acquisition. Remember
this by taking the first two letters of SALE.
4
When you are granting a short lease out
of a short lease you will apportion the
lease percentage for the headlease years
remaining at grant of the sublease, deduct the
percentage for the headlease years remaining
when the sublease runs out then divide by the
years remaining when the headlease was
acquired. I remember these as the first three
letters of GRANT.
5
Where your premium has already been
subject to income tax (short lease has
been granted) we need to strip out the
income element to leave the capital part.
6
The proceeds for your calculation where
there is a grant of a short lease out of a
long or freehold will therefore be just the
capital element even though the full premium
joins the reversionary interest on the bottom of
the part disposal calculation.
However, the proceeds for your grant of short
lease out of a short lease calculation will use the
full proceeds but include a deduction for the
already charged income element after the
apportioned cost has been deducted. This
cannot create a loss.
Claire Gallagher is a senior tutor at Tolley,
part of LexisNexis. She can be contacted at
examtraining@lexisnexis.co.uk
PQ
LIFE
Are you stumped by the various aspects of leases? Well, Claire Gallagher
is here to help with her six-point plan to help get you through paper 1
exception of the grant of a short lease out of
short lease).
2
Where you either selling a short lease or
grant a short lease out of a short lease
(no mention of long lease), you need to
25
PQ Magazine January 2012
interview PQ
J
ohn Whiting, the tax director of The Office
of Tax Simplification (OTS) is a busy man,
and much in demand. PQ magazine
recently managed to catch up with him just
before he was due to attend his official
confirmation hearing at the Houses of
Parliament. Whiting, pictured above, has been
effectively doing the job for a year, but that
was on a temporary basis; now he has the job
for the life of this Parliament.
He has to balance his new role with that of
his other day job, as tax policy director at the
Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIoT). He
laughs when he explains the OTS is supposed
to take up one day a week of his time: They
forgot to tell me it was a 24-hour day! But he
isnt complaining, he just needs to squeeze
more hours out of his waking hours.
For his work he is now being given an
honorarium of 12,000 a year and told us he
jokingly asked if it would be tax free! If that
were not enough he sits on tax tribunals when
he is looking for some light relief. There is no
doubt that he is putting in as many hours now
as he did when he was a partner at PwC.
Whiting believes you can trace the
beginning of the OTS back over the past 10
years to various rumblings and comments. It
would be hard pressed, he said, to find anyone
who doesnt think the UK tax system is far too
complex. However, he believes a major driver
to the actual creation of his department was
Lord (Geoffrey) Howe, and he points to his
ICAEW Hardman lecture that really helped
start the momentum for change.
Drive for simplification.
A Tory party (then in opposition) tax
commission then put forward its thoughts to
formalise the drive for simplification and it got
into the manifesto. OK, it was buried in the
small print, but it was still there. The Lib
Dems immediately identified with the drive,
explained Whiting (although he also explained
that Labour would probably have signed up to
it as well).
So last July the OTS was formally launched
and come the end of this Parliament it will be
Whitings job to sum up what has been
achieved and what is being recommended.
Will we have finished, he wondered? Thats
very unlikely.
The independence of the OTS is key for
Whiting. We are an independent agent of
Treasury, he stressed, although he and his
small team do work in the Treasurys Horse
Number three on the SME list is HMRC
administration. But number one is coping with
the sheer volume of change. Whiting
emphasised the OTS is very mindful of this.
That means if they come up with
simplifications they have to pass the net
change criteria. By abolishing a relief, no
matter how well it was working, it was helping
someone, he said. Changes to rules also mean
you simply create new rules. He stressed a big
contribution to SMEs would be to do nothing!
That will, everyone should understand, never
happen. A few months ago consultation was
running on 43 areas for change.
More transparent.
We then asked Whiting about what appears to
be the disconnection between people and the
tax system. He agreed that some of the
population didnt connect taxes and the
services they receive from the state. This
government has got that and to their credit
and are doing more to make everything much
more transparent, he ventured. Going back to
the NI debate, he asked if people knew what it
pays for. Some believe it pays for the NHS,
others that it will pay for their pension. Now
the collection rate does roughly equal the
spend on the NHS but thats not what it is for.
And it isnt put in a bank to pay our pensions
when we get old either that will be left to
the young.
For Whiting, at the end of the day, it is vital
that the chancellor cant say: Thats just what
you think John. For him the evidence-based
approach of the OTS will mean that despite its
size it can be a major catalyst for change. He
also stressed he is keen to hear from you, PQ
reader, if you have any. In fact, if you want to
join in any of the debates he said to drop him
a line at OTS@ots.gsi.gov.uk and he really
means it.
PQ
Guards Road offices. But that is only sensible,
he explained. Whiting reports to David Gauke,
the Exchequer Secretary, and to the Chancellor
George Osborne himself. He formally meets
with the chancellor two/three times a year and
with Gauke every other month.
The OTS team is made up of a mix of civil
servants and private sector secondees.
Currently, he has three full-time civil servants
working for him and about the equivalent
number of experts from the private sector. He
admits this is a small team and in turn that
this informs and influences the way the OTS
works. There is no way we can do all the
work, he explained but at the same time he
didnt want a think-tank in Whitehall doing all
the work, either.
For Whiting and the team it is all about
evidence-based recommendations and reports.
That means he spends most of his time out on
the road talking to people. We will talk to any
group who wants to talk, he said. In the week
we came to visit he had been in Watford, then
separately talking to clients of PwC and share-
scheme lawyers. The week before he had been
in Harrow, Leeds and colleagues had been to
Plymouth.
Whiting is happy to report that the noise
coming back has been very supportive. He said
he tries to make people understand the
constraints. People wanted to know why IR
35 wasnt being abolished straight away. We
needed to gather evidence to show it wasnt
working. Hopefully, what we have now is a
better way of going forward.
So what are the big projects he is working
on at the moment? Taxation of pensioners and
employee share schemes are on Whitings list.
Both are causing a lot of problems for very
different reasons. The other area that Whiting
and his team are looking at is small business
taxation. SMEs tell him they have three things
that make their lives difficult. Number two is
income tax, PAYE and NIC, basically payroll
problems. The income tax/national insurance
tax debate is now on the agenda. Whiting said
he cant claim that the move for the change
has come directly from the OTS here ever
since 1944, when PAYE was invented, people
have been talking about it. He hopes the OTS
report helped tipped the chancellor into saying
change had to be looked at seriously now.
MAKING LIFE SIMPLE
PQ magazine editor Graham Hambly went along to have a chat
to the man whose job it is to help simplify the UK tax system
and no, its not George Osborne!
Up close and personal
John Whiting, OBE BSc CTA (Fellow) FCA:
Was appointed first tax policy director of
the CIOT in July 2009, following a long
career at PwC. Married (to another CTA)
with three daughters, two Labradors and a
cat. A Fairport Convention and Yorkshire
cricket fan, John loves DIY and sticking up
for most anything to do with Hull!
26
PQ Magazine January 2012
PQ careers
A
s a part qualified accountant, you have
already taken your first steps towards a
career in finance. So where next? When
planning your future, its important to take your
long-term goals and ambitions into account. A
career plan will help you to stay
focused on what you really want
and make sure that you are
developing the right skills and
experience to get you there.
Here are some key questions to
help you create your career plan.
What motivates me? Think
about your personality and
values. Are you motivated by fast
career progression and financial
rewards? Is a friendly working
environment where you can
socialise with your colleagues
important to you? Do you want to
work for a prestigious firm? Or is it the nature of
the work that you do day to day that is most
important to you? The obvious answer is that all
of these things are important to most people.
Unfortunately, the perfect role that combines all
of these factors in equal measure does not exist.
Draw on your experiences so far to help you
prioritise. Decide what is an absolute must for
you to be happy in your job and what is merely
a nice to have.
What are my strengths and weaknesses? Ask
for honest feedback from the people who know
you best. Ask your tutors, colleagues and your
employer. Look for areas of consistency and any
themes that stand out.
What are my long-term
goals? Once you have
decided what motivates
you, start to think about
where you want to be and
what you want to achieve
in your career. Setting goals
is key to success. Begin by
thinking long term. What is
your ideal job? Would you
like to be the CFO of a
major company? Is fitting
work in around other
commitments like family or
study important to you?
Would you like to travel internationally or spend
your career in one place? This is the rest of your
life, so dont be afraid to think big!
What steps do I need to take to reach my
goals? Once you have a goal to work towards,
Creatinga career plan
This is a good time of year to take
stock of your career, and start
planning a long-term strategy
For more advice on
deciding whether a
particular role will suit
you, speak to your
Page Personnel Finance recruitment
consultant. You can join the LinkedIn group,
Page Personnel Finance UK, to discuss
more hints and tips to help you get the most
from your career.
you can start to work out what steps you need to
take in order to get there. Completing your
studies is an obvious first step! Ask yourself the
following questions to help break down your
goals into smaller, more manageable milestones
for your career plan:
What do I want to achieve within the next six,
12, 18 months?
How and when will I achieve my training and
educational goals?
How and when will I gain the additional skills
and experience I need?
How can I expand my network, and by when?
Once you have established your goals and
how to achieve them, you should have a clear
path to follow.
Remember, your local Page Personnel
Finance consultant will be happy to advise you
on the best roles to give you the experience you
need to achieve your goals.
PQ
PQ Magazine January 2012
careers PQ
Sumapra Siddiky, 22, is an accounts trainee with the firm, based in London. She has
worked there for six months. Sumapra has a Certified Accounting Technician qualification
and is currently studying with the ACCA
Life at A2Z Associates Ltd
The workplace: large firmor SME?
James Brent of Hays Accountancy &
Finance offers advice for PQs having
to choose between roles in a small or
large organisation
Part qualified accountants considering their next
career move may be tempted by the salaries and
development opportunities on offer with big name
employers, but small firms can offer valuable
opportunities to broaden your skills and raise your
profile with senior executives.
A recent survey of jobseekers carried out by Hays
found that despite concerns of pay and benefits in
smaller companies, 74% of people asked reported a
positive experience working for a smaller business.
The survey also found that jobseekers associated
greater responsibility, working closely with senior
management and a greater understanding of the
business as a
whole more
strongly with SMEs
than with larger
organisations.
Working for a
SME gives a PQ an
understanding of
the whole accounts
function, whereas
in a large
organisation you
may only get to see
a part of it. Exposure to more senior people and
projects is an important advantage, with smaller
teams meaning greater access to the financial
director and other senior staff. This can also offer
you more responsibility, and the chance to work on
bigger projects with senior people, both in finance
and the rest of the business, from an earlier stage.
On the other hand, working in a larger
organisation will often give you access to a more
structured career path and training programme, and
potentially more opportunities for promotion. A large
company may also give you exposure to international
accounting procedures and the better known
computer packages, which future employers will
value. Studying PQs may also enjoy having fellow
students to support them and a larger company have
a stronger support system for employees who are
studying.
Making a choice.
Asking about the plans for the organisation is
important in a smaller company, as a SME can
expand and elevate PQs to a more senior level quite
quickly, and your career path can develop with the
company.
Whether you are interviewing for a small or a large
company, its always important at the interview to
find out who you will be reporting to and what their
background is, what development opportunities there
are, and to ask questions about how much contact
you will have with directors.
It is possible to move from a small to a larger
organisation, and
PQs planning to
do this should
make sure they
get exposure to
senior people and
can demonstrate
where they have
added value to
their current
business.
At Hays we are
seeing an
increase in roles available in medium sized
companies, in part due to government support for
these businesses. Large companies are also still
restructuring, and this has created opportunities at
PQ level.
Above all, any employer is looking for someone
who can go beyond the pure finance function,
business partner, add value to the business and go
beyond the job specification.
For more please go to www.hays.co.uk/accountancy.
James Brent is a senior manager at Hays
Accountancy & Finance
27
Whats the first thing you do
when you get to your desk?
Check whether there are any
important notes for me.
Whats on your desk? My PC,
stationery, headphones, calculator
and coffee mug, among other
things.
Whats the best thing about
where you work? I get to learn
lots of things.
Wheres your favourite place
to go for lunch? The Spice
Village restaurant.
What (or who) can you see
when you sit at your desk?
No one my desk is facing a wall.
Which websites are your
favourites and why? YouTube
it helps me to know the real
stories behind the theories.
Which websites do you use
for work? HMRCs.
How many hours a week do
you spend in meetings? Two to
three hours.
What time do you leave the
office? 4pm.
How do you
relax? Listening
to music.
Whats your
favourite
tipple?
Fruit juice.
How often do you take work
home with you? Never.
What is your favourite TV
show? 60 Minute Makeover.
Summer or winter? Winter.
Pub or club? Neither.
Who is your hero? The Prophet
Mohammed.
If you had a time machine,
where would you go?
Somewhere in the
future.
If you hadnt chosen
accountancy, where
might you be right
now? Probably doing a
bachelors degree in
business studies and taking
marketing or finance as my major.
The PQ Book Club
EVERY MONTH WE REVIEW THE
BOOKS YOU SHOULD BE READING
Pass First Time (Second edition) by
David R Harris (CIMA Publishing,
paperback, 14.99)
This book is full of advice that will
improve your chances of passing your
CIMA exams, as well as any other
exams you might be
sitting. It cant guarantee
you a pass, but there is
no magic formula that
can make that happen.
One thing that stood out
was the need for a
marker-friendly layout; the book
stresses how neat handwriting can turn
a fail into a pass. The author and his
team of researchers did a test to see
how much this can affect your results
and for the average student, a marker-
friendly layout is worth 10 marks. In
one case poor presentation and
handwriting lost a student 32%!
The book also talks about stress, and
how this will also cost the average
student 10 marks; thankfully author
David Harris offers up some very good
stress reduction techniques.
Nothing motivates likes success is a
phrase Im sure youve all heard
before, but Harris argues that failure is
the best motivation. Many of you sitting
accountancy exams may have never
tasted failure, so try to imagine what it
would feel like (or if you have,
remember what it felt like). This should
be all the motivation you need.
PQ rating: 4/5 This book contains
all the usual things you would expect
to be in a self-help book, but there is
also a lot of very useful information
and techniques which will certainly
help you pass first time
Review by Jack Thorpe
Pocket World in Figures 2012
(hardback, Economist, 10.99)
What a wonderful world of
stats to be living in! OK, this
book confirms that the
Caspian Sea is the worlds
biggest lake, but who else
could tell you the countries
with the biggest brain drain
are Bosnia and Serbia. Here in the UK
we have one of the lowest brain drains
now thats not what we are told!
Reading this book means you live in
a wonderful world of the stats-nerd
but, hey, what a world it is. We are (the
UK) for instance, 25th in the Quality of
Life index. Italy is 22nd and Greece
21st that might be changing next
year. And did you know that more
people live in Cairo (11.7m) than the
whole of Greece (11.2m)?
PQ rating: 5/5 Probably the best
little book ever compiled!
For more information please contact
Kelsie Bufton kelsiebufton@walkerdendle.co.uk 020 8408 9983
To discuss current temporary/contract opportunities, please contact
temps@walkerdendle.co.uk 020 8408 9999
Walker Dendle Financial Recruitment
Swan House, 51 High Street, Kingston KT1 1LQ
T: 020 8408 9999 www.walkerdendle.co.uk
Budget Accountant
Hounslow, Middlesex Ref: KB7073/10
To 28,000
A major FMCG company is currently seeking a Budget Accountant
responsible for the controlling, planning, reporting and analysis of
for the UK commercial business and IT function. You will perform
month end close process for budget areas, prepare accruals and re-
payments, analyse variances to forecast and prepare commentary and
presentation material for the Board. You will be involved in budgeting
and forecasting to support key business planning processes and lead
monthly reviews with Cost Centre Managers and Budget Holders.
The ideal candidate will be a part qualied accountant with an
understanding of the demands of supporting a fast moving, customer
facing organisation.
Management Accountant
Esher, Surrey Ref: KB257/3
To 37,000 + benets
This highly commercial and dynamic property company are looking for
an inspired individual to join them as a Management Accountant. You
will be responsible for the timely production of Management Accounts;
updating divisional prot and cash ow forecasting reports, producing
supporting schedules for board papers, supporting the commercial
teams and liaising with internal and external auditors. There will be
opportunity to grow into a business focused role. The right candidate will
be personable and condent, have a good academic background and be
actively studying towards their ACCA, ACA or CIMA qualication.
Financial Analyst
Slough, Berkshire Ref: KB822/12
30,000 to 35,000
This international software company are looking for a commercially
astute part qualied accountant to join them as an Assistant Business
Analyst. You will provide support to executive decision makers, by
distributing sales data for Europe and analysing sales and promotions.
Analysing the P&L, industry trends and competitor products, you will
aid the budgeting and forecasting process; working closely with sales
and planning department to review the integrity of sales forecast. It
would be highly advantageous to be studying towards the ACCA, ACA
or CIMA qualication and have an understanding of the following;
Advanced Excel, Hyperion, Cognos, Business Objects and JD Edwards.
Accountant
Epsom, Surrey Ref: KB1264/35
To 35,000
A globally recognised, FMCG brand are looking for an Accountant
to join the Group Chief Accountants Department, based in their
global headquarters. Working as part of the Controllers organisation,
you will help take ownership of internal nancial controls. You will
gain exposure to operation governance, project management and
the design/development of nancial controls; looking specically at
reporting and assessment process and the nancial consolidation
process within the group. The successful candidate will have
experience in the design and assessment of nance control and be
studying towards either ACCA, CIMA or ACA qualication.