Any Accountants or Financial Controllers in the group? What do you love about your role?

Posted in:Advice Favors Personal Growth Career Growth

Any Accountants or Financial Controllers in the group? I'm late career and thinking about career change but also reluctant as I think I might be better placed sticking with accounting and finding satisfaction via volunteering opportunities. It would be great to speak with fellow Accountant and learn what they really enjoy about the role.

I've recently joined a job search council as part of the Never Search Alone group (free group) and the program has an exercise on "love, hate, must have, must not have, strengths, weaknesses". I'm challenged on the "love" section and so far haven't managed to find Accountants in the group to chat about this topic.

Thanks Margaret

Iynna·Aug 07

fascinating! I am curious why Accounting? Is it i line with something you did before (or your current career?) An accountant is certainly a necessity for any business so I don't think you can go wrong especially you're particularly good at it (like anything).With that though, you should check out the following elpha profiles/connect with them if there's an opp @shilohjohnsoncpa (https://elpha.com/posts/gy68q9nh/from-accountant-to-vc-backed-fintech-ceo-in-2-years), @Sessen @princessgracecastro

margaretcarey·Aug 07

@iynna thanks for the links. They inspired me to search for Elpha CFOs /CPa's and contact them directly! Hopefully , some will reply. I am a Financial Controller and for the past few years have been tentatively thinking about a career change. I've worked on my own as an Accountant at startups for the past 5 years and haven't spoken to many Finance professionals hence I may be unhappy for the wrong reasons unrealed to the role. It would be great to discuss the pros and cons of leaving a stable field like accounting & to know if I'm making this change for the right reasons.

Megan·Aug 12

Hi Margaret, if you're looking for a change, but not a complete overhaul, have you considered FP&A/Strategic Finance? The accounting knowledge you've built is still very relevant and valuable but it may give you some new learning opportunities.I've been working in this area in growth stage startups for the past 5 years and would be happy to answer any questions about the function/role, if you're interested.I'd also recommend trying some industry slack communities to connect with other accountants/controllers. For example, Off the Ledger has a lot of active members across finance and accounting functions.

margaretcarey·Aug 13

@meganrichards thanks for the H hood advice particularly Off the Ledger. I have had a mix of FP&A in some roles and also like it. I've been speaking to people over the last few days and am leaning towards staying with accounting. Have you any other finance slack community recommendations?