Accountancy is thought to date back to ancient Babylon when it was used in calculating farming surplus. It is something humans have therefore undertaken for over 7000 years to organise and systemise our lives and help monitor outcomes.
Financial accounting is the work of preparing financial statements and documents for stakeholders such as, shareholders, employees, banks or owners. This information is obtained by the accounting records, some of which are held by the payroll services of a business.
Training to be an accountant may not be thought of as glamorous, but it is a great way to use a numeric brain. Your early education teaches you the basics of being a ‘mini accountant’ and a basic level accountancy course will enable you to become a book keeper for a small business. However to be an actual accountant for a large firm or business alongside payroll services, you would most likely need to have a university degree.
After university you would need to train at your place of work to understand the accounting software for the business. Every business tends to use a different system and programs, although some will use very similar versions. Within the workplace you will need to stay on top of accounting standards and policies, and you may wish to take additional accountancy training to move into management accounts.
Management accounts consider information provided by the accounts department and format this into data which they then provide the business management, to assist them in making more informed decisions for their business.