Senior Accountant
The accounts of any organisation are its lifeblood, and are the basis for calculating its performance, risks and investment opportunities. That’s why larger businesses will have whole teams of accountants monitoring and measuring the finances, and paying and charging the various people they work with. Accountants come in a range of specialisms and levels of experience, and the senior accountant is someone who has shown impressive aptitude in their field.
Usually positioned just below management or executive accountants in a business’s finance department, senior accountant jobs are not normally managerial themselves, but often involve training and assistance to junior accountants and onboarders. They will, however, be a trusted voice for accountancy managers, who appreciate that the senior accountant’s understanding of a specific financial matter could well exceed their own.
The skills required
As the name suggests, senior accountants won’t be freshly qualified at CIMA, AAT, ACCA, AIA or ICAEW level, but they will have augmented one of these qualifications with several years’ experience and a proven track record working in a busy accountancy department.
You’ll need to be thoroughly comfortable dealing with clients and suppliers, and should have an in-depth understanding of the sector that the role occupies, as there can be large differences between the financial and legal requirements of various sectors. Senior accountant jobs are often seen as stepping stones to managerial positions, although a lot of accountants are perfectly happy simply dealing with the numbers for their whole careers.
Senior Accountant Jobs in Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees is a large town to the west of Middlesbrough, which is historically notable as being one end of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first commercial railway in the world, which opened in 1825. The railway wasn’t built for fun, though – Stockton was an important industrialised town that had a thriving shipbuilding industry as well as a market that attracted people from miles around. Other industries connected to shipbuilding, such as rope-making and sail-making, also prospered. Two years after the railway was opened, in 1827, another world-changing event took place in Stockton – the strikeable match was invented by local chemist John Walker.
Heavy industry declined in the post-war period, and Stockton residents were more likely to commute to Middlesbrough, Hartlepool or Darlington to work than to work close to home. However in the 1990s and 2000s there was a good deal of redevelopment, with business parks being constructed and a new industry – the call centre – making an appearance here, along with other North East towns and cities. The friendly nature of the local accents is often cited as one of the reasons for the concentration of call centres in this area.
In 2012 Stockton-on-Tees became one of Mary Portas’s twelve “Portas Pilot” town centres which are set for regeneration via some government cash and a sprinkling of expertise. The regeneration is hoped to create new jobs and give the retail sector a boost, which could be good news for anyone looking for a Senior Accountant job in the town. With plenty of heavy industry in the immediate vicinity, it’s definitely worth having a local search, too.
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Looking for a senior accountant?
If your company needs someone in its accountancy department with real clout, and there don’t seem to be the opportunities internally, it could be time to draft in some top talent with the help of Cast UK. We recruit at senior, managerial and executive levels, and have a long list of senior accountants to pick from. Call us on 0333 121 3345 to speak with a consultant.
If you’ve been in the accountancy game long enough to be considered for a senior role (or are there already), Cast UK can put you in touch with businesses including accountancy firms who are looking for people like you. Please register with us by following the link below.
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