#financedirector Archives - Astute Financial

As a leading provider of accountancy staff, we look at what does accountancy mean, it’s history and importance to businesses today. Plus we explore the huge variety of careers available in the accountancy profession, and why accountancy really is a great career choice! We’ve included some great, useful links at the end too!

First, ‘WHAT IS ACCOUNTANCY?’

Historically, ‘Financial Accounting’ referenced how information was communicated on the financial position and performance of a business to its owner(s). An instant snapshot of how a business is really performing.

Financial statements, i.e. balance sheets and the income statement of a business revealed the real financial health of a company.

The word ‘accounting’, however, referred to one of the three principles of accountancy namely the process of reading, understanding, and maintaining the financial records of a business.

The other two? – Bookkeeping and auditing.

Accountancy and accounting are now synonymous, both referring to the methods of identifying, measuring, processing, classifying, recording, and reporting the financial status of an individual, company, business or organisation.

This information is mainly reported in the form of five key financial statements, prepared in accordance with relevant accounting standards, (IFRS, FRS, and various national GAAPs – including US GAAP – i.e. ‘generally accepted accounting principals’) to provide useful information to the users of these financial statements.

The two most important and most used accounting standards are IFRS and US GAAP.

USEFUL LINK: https://www.cfainstitute.org/en/advocacy/issues/gaap

Accounting is one of the key functions of every business. Every company, charity, and organisation around the world will have the use of an accounting department, internally or externally, to look after it’s transactions, i.e. sales ledger and purchase ledger.

The size of the accounting department of a business depends on the scale and type of business. In larger companies, the accounting department usually has many more staff compared to SMEs.

Smaller SME companies and businesses typically have one or two bookkeepers/ accounts all-rounders, who can manage the day to day transactions, and either have an external accountant to refer to, monthly or yearly, or employ a company accountant/ financial controller or finance director/ Chief Operating Officer (CFO).

Similarly, businesses with a larger number of transactions per day will need more employees in their accounting department than ones with a smaller number of transactions.

Where did Accountancy come from?

Accountancy is one of the oldest professions, with a very rich past woven through history.

The modern guidelines we use today were formed from accounting principles started thousands of years ago in ancient region of Asia, called Mesopotamia.

When the idea of counting, tallying money and writing were conceived, that’s when the concept of accountancy is thought to have been born.

The Romans brought order and more formal processes in accounting. Logging and filing transactions.

Double-entry bookkeeping as we know it today, was credited as being first created in 1494 by Luca Pacioli, an Italian mathematician.

Pacioli is commonly credited as the first person to describe the concept of debits and credits in journals and ledgers.

His work in the field of accounting earned him the title of “Father of accounting” and he laid the foundation of modern accounting systems and processes.

The industrial revolution in the mid to late 18th century, created the need for a more advanced system of accounting.

The old, ancient accounting systems, while intrinsically sound, did not provide a solution for the then emerging modern structures of corporations.

For example, corporations had complex structures of ownership that did not exist in ancient times. Investments in those businesses were hard to make due to the lack of credible, detailed information available to investors.

To tackle this problem and attract more investors, corporations adopted a system of reporting their financial activities by publishing financial statements.

At the beginning, these financial statements were limited to the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. The rise of the system of financial statements also gave rise to agency problems.

Agency problems arose because the shareholders of a corporation did not believe the management. This led to the development of a mainstream auditing system.

While the concept of auditing was already developed in ancient Egypt, it became a mainstream practice during these times.

So, what is an Accountant? What is their job?

An accountant is a professional practitioner of accountancy. Accountants are trained, competent professionals who have worked through different professional certification exams, or through their careers, have become ‘Qualified By Experience’.

Accountants are members or associates of professional accounting bodies such as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), Association Accounting Technicians (AAT).

Useful links to all of the professional accountancy bodies are at the foot of this blog if you would like to find out more about their courses, the training and examinations these really good organisations can offer to aspiring accountants.

In ancient times, accountants were viewed as solicitors that offered accounting services to their clients. However, in the mid-19th century, the Institute of Accountants in Glasgow petitioned Queen Victoria no less, for a royal charter.

This permitted them to legally define themselves as ‘accountants’ in their own right, rather than as ‘solicitors’. Even before the petition, accountancy as a profession was already recognised in Scotland. The petition to Queen Victoria meant that accountants could for the first time, be seen as professionals in accountancy rather than mere solicitors in the rest of the world as well.

This petition also laid the foundation for many professional accounting bodies such as the London Association of Accountants, later renamed to Association of Chartered Certified Accounts (ACCA) in the United Kingdom and the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) in the United States.

Aided by the industrial revolution, this created a demand for technically sound professionals who were capable of handling modern accountancy problems.

Branches of Accountancy – Our Astute ‘Accountancy Tree’ gives some clues!

Most people think of accountancy as simple bookkeeping and debits and credits. While these are a part of accountancy as a profession, there are several branches you can follow, each leading to varied, exciting and commercial accounting and finance jobs that are very different from each other.

**Choosing Accountancy as a profession really can offer contrasting, fulfilling, and varied career choices.**

We’ve broken down the key ones for you below: –

1) Financial Accounting

Financial accounting is the most popular and widely implemented branch of accountancy. Financial accounting branch is related to the reporting of the financial status of a business, through the financial statements, and any process that helps with the preparation of these financial statements.

For example, any process involved from entering source documents into the accounting systems of the business up to the preparation of the key financial statements falls under the financial accounting branch.

Careers can develop from training within a firm of accountants – local, regional firms including Dains, to the so called ‘Big 4’ – PWC, EY, Deloittes, and KPMG.

Or, you can choose commerce and industry (C&I), and secure Graduate Trainee Accountancy positions or Trainee Transactional jobs, such as Accounts Payable (AP), Accounts Receivable (AR) – also commonly referred to as Credit Control, and Accounts Assistant positions.

2) Management Accounting

While financial accounting has to do with the preparation of the information that is reported externally, management accounting is related to the preparation of information for internal use.

Daily or monthly operating reports, budgets, variance analysis, etc. all fall under management accounting.

The information produced through management accounting is used by the management of the business to make decisions for the future of the business. These can be used for short-term or long-term strategy making.

3) Cost Accounting

Cost accounting is similar to management accounting and often considered a type of management accounting.

Cost accounting is the area of accountancy that is commonly used in the manufacturing industry. Costings are used to derive the cost of a product for decision-making purposes.

This cost can be calculated using different costing techniques such as absorption costing, marginal cost, activity-based costing, target costing, etc. Once costs are determined, cost accounting is also concerned with monitoring those costs. Some companies typically have a dedicated Cost Accountant while others employ a Management Accountant whose job description will also embrace Costings.

4) Auditing

While auditing does not involve preparing any accounting information, it is related to reviewing the information produced through other branches of accounting.

Auditing can either be internal or external. Internal auditing is performed by the management of the business to review accounting information produced for internal use.

External accounting is related to reviewing the information produced for external use, which mainly includes reviewing the financial statements of a business.

Auditing can also be used to determine level of internal control of an organization.

Just as with Financial Accounting, careers can develop from training within a firm of accountants – local, regional firms including Dains, to the so called ‘Big 4’ – PWC, EY, Deloittes & KPMG.

Each will have their own trainee schemes and will look to recruit staff directly through LinkedIn or use the services of an accountancy recruitment agency or recruitment consultancy.

5) Forensic Accounting

Forensic accounting is closely related to auditing. Forensic accounting is related to the use of accountancy techniques, skills, and knowledge in circumstances that might have legal implications.

Forensic accounting is the process of carrying out forensic investigations to present in a legal proceeding. Forensic accounting is mainly used for fraud investigations within the business, professional negligence cases, or insurance claims.

6) Accounting Information System – or System Accountants

Accounting Information System (AIS) is related to the collection, development, deployment, implementation and monitoring of the accounting procedures and systems that are used in the accounting process.

With the computerisation of the accounting process, AIS has become a computerized methodology for conducting accounting processes with information technology resources.

7) Tax Accounting

Tax accounting is the branch of accountancy that deals with the application of tax planning to benefit the business and preparation of tax returns.

It also involves calculating the income tax and other taxes of the business. Tax accounting is used to legally decrease the taxes of the business. Tax accounting should not be used for tax evasion.

The rules of tax accounting are defined and dictated by the local tax body of the country the tax is being paid in.

8) Fiduciary Accounting

Fiduciary accounting is the branch of accountancy that is related to the management of funds in trusts. This branch is mainly concerned with the trustee communicating any financial information about the trust to the beneficiaries.

Fiduciary accounting is regulated by the law and court and, therefore, the information produced through this branch must be accurate and precise.

9) Nonprofit Accounting

Nonprofit accounting mainly applies to charities and nonprofit organisations. In this branch of accountancy, incomes and expenses are recorded according to the nonprofit accounting standards. (SORPS)

This is the alternative of financial accounting for nonprofit organizations. In this branch of accounting, expenses are recorded in the statement of functional expenses.

Furthermore, both the income and expenses are recorded in the statement of activities.

10) Social Accounting

Social accounting is the branch of accountancy that is related to reporting the effect of the business’ activities on the society and environment.

For companies, social accounting is used in the context of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and companies may be required by law to do so.

However, other types of organisations such as not-for-profits, charities or government departments, may also choose to adapt social accounting voluntarily.

So, in summary, ‘Accountancy’ or ‘accounting’ is the process of identifying, measuring, processing, classifying, recording, and reporting the financial information of a business.

Accountancy has many branches such as financial accounting, management accounts, financial analysis, cost accounting, auditing, tax accounting, and many, many more.

Modern popular careers in accountancy and finance that are increasingly key in today’s collaborative business world, are Finance Business Partners – blending the worlds of management accounting, financial analysis and stakeholder engagement.

If you are looking for a career in accountancy, or are wanting to develop your CPD / training – here are some useful links: –

USEFUL LINKS: –

CIMA – https://www.cimaglobal.com/

ACCA – https://www.accaglobal.com/uk/en.html

ICAEW (ACA) – https://www.icaew.com/

AAT – https://www.aat.org.uk/

FRC (Financial Reporting Council) – https://www.frc.org.uk/accountants/accounting-and-reporting-policy/uk-accounting-standards/statements-of-recommended-practice-(sorps)

If you are looking for training providers for the professional accountancy examinations you can contact these two great organisations: –

KAPLAN – https://kaplan.co.uk/

BPP – https://www.bpp.com/

You can view our latest permanent and temporary vacancies on the following link;

https://www.astuterecruitment.com/all-jobs/

If you would like any further help, guidance or support, please contact our MD, Mary Maguire by email to; [email protected]

Or of course you can contact our team on 01332 346 100 – we are always happy to help.

Mary Maguire

Managing Director
Astute | Accountancy & Finance | HR | Office Support

Suite One, Ground Floor West, Cardinal Square, 10 Nottingham Road, Derby, DE1 3QT

T: 01332 346100
M: 07717 412911

E: [email protected]

W: www.astuterecruitment.com

LI: https://uk.linkedin.com/pub/mary-maguire/18/73/553

LI: www.linkedin.com/company/astute-recruitment/

6 ‘astute’ Interview questions and answers to help you get a job in a pandemic

With interview requests and new jobs taken by our team at Astute Recruitment, it’s great to share some pointers for candidates about to enter the job market to give them an edge on interview.

Imagine, you’ve been selected for a job interview! Well done! It’s always great news, but especially so in such challenging times. But preparing for a job interview might be trickier than usual, too.

It would be a little weird if you and your interviewer didn’t acknowledge the global pandemic going on.

You’ll probably be doing your interview remotely, online, at least the first interview, and it’s also likely that you’ll be starting work remotely.

The people and business you’re interviewing with won’t be operating as normal, plus you’ll have to navigate different ways to work together.

Apart from the obvious, (ensuring you’re wearing smart clothes, and your Zoom background looks tidy & professional), preparing for an interview means being ready to answer some different questions. So, what can you expect to be asked?

1. How are you feeling?

It’s normal to start off an interview with an icebreaker, but in the pandemic, small talk can take on a deeper meaning.

For an interviewer, it’s a way to gauge the tone of the interview. Some candidates’ replies might reveal they are struggling, whereas others will take the question much more lightly. In either case, there is no shame in acknowledging how the Covid-19 crisis is affecting you. The worst thing would be if a candidate came across as too disconnected from the situation, which could be a hint as to empathy skills or lack of.

The pandemic is impacting people emotionally, and for an employer to ask this question, shows they care. If you are asked this question, you should show you understand the situation and are adapting to it. You shouldn’t just use the same answers that you had prepared pre-pandemic, as if you were still in a typical office setting.

2. How are you handling your work-life balance?

If you can keep a healthy work-life balance, it shows a potential employer that you’re able to manage your time independently, and be organised.

Working from home is set to continue for a lot of us for the foreseeable, meaning employers are looking for these qualities,

Companies and hiring managers need to know that even if you don’t have a team around you sitting in an office, you ARE going to be able to work by yourself, can be trusted to wfh independently and autonomously.

This doesn’t have to mean that you’re calendar-blocking each hour of your day. But this question is a prime opportunity to highlight how you can, and have been able to work productively.

In an online interview, it’s an opportunity to also build a bond as you can reflect back a question to your interviewer, e.g.”I’ve found it’s key for me to factor in a 20 minute slot to excerise /walk the dog/ play with kids. I find this improves my feelings of wellbeing and makes me more focused and productive working for the rest of the day. What works for you?”.

3. Have you learnt any new skills since March last year?

This isn’t a trick question. Recruiters

wouldn’t be put off if a candidate said they had struggled with motivation or finding time to learn at the beginning of lockdown.

Instead, they’d welcome and expect some honesty about what they’ve learnt about themselves during the pandemic.

You don’t have to pretend you’ve been on some kind of productivity marathon if you haven’t. Of course employers will want to know if you’ve added any professional skills to your CV, but talking about hobbies you’ve picked up or personal lessons you’ve learnt helps to give interviewers a glimpse of your personality and a real glimpse of you.

For instance, what you learnt about yourself could be how you discovered a new skill or the ability to step back from something. It doesn’t need to be professional, it can be something more personal.

But, how do you answer if you can’t think of anything you’ve learnt in the past few months?

Something as simple as trying out a new recipe counts. Most of us have discovered some new culinary skills 🤣.

4. What’s your ‘work-from-home set-up like?’

Potential employers have every right to ask about a candidate’s home working environment. Especially making sure that potential employees have a computer with internet access, that they have access to a telephone or a landline, and asking about the reliability of their wifi signal

Employers need to know that you have the equipment you need to do the job you are being interviewed for. However, they are aware that few of us have the perfect WFH set-up. Don’t be afraid to mention any challenges you’ve faced working from home, and how you’ve found solutions to work around them.

This is a good question for employers to ask candidates to see how creative they can be, and how they’re dealing with and have adapted to the current situation.

5. “We’re all on Microsoft Teams/ Slack/ Google Hangouts. Have you used it before?”

Of course, if your interview is on a platform you haven’t used before, you’ll want to test it out beforehand to make sure you know how to use it.

It’s also worth getting to know the main digital communication tools that are popular with businesses. Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, Slack and Zoom are all free to download and experiment with.

Some great advice to all candidates, is to be organised and prepared with the tech that they could be using if they are offered a job.

Lots of companies used digital communication tools before the pandemic. They’re just using them even more now. If candidates are unfamiliar with them they should definitely look them up & try them out before interviewing for a new job.

For employees who have started looking for a job after several years, this is a really useful tip.

6. Do you have any questions for us?

Pre-pandemic and lockdown, candidates would go into the office, meet a couple of members of the team. They’d get all of the contextual information before being offered the job and deciding whether to accept it.

Now, with largely online interviews, applicants don’t have all of the sensory, physical experiences through Candidates who have managed to get an interview aren’t getting the complete view of companies they’re applying for.

To counteract this, ask a lot of questions during your interview to get a clear idea of how the company works, the office culture and how you’ll work with different teams and individuals.

For starters, ask questions about training, daily tasks and communication methods. It’s equally important to ask about potential colleagues and hierarchy. This may mean clarifying who you would report to or who you can ask for help when you need it. Alternatively, it might mean taking a more informal approach to interviewing altogether.

A great suggestion for candidates is to ask, “If possible, could I have a virtual lunch with the team that I could be working with, just so I can get to know them—maybe not so much in a professional sense, but in a more casual, informal way?“

You could ask to have one-on-one meetings with potential future team members as part of the interview process. This shows you take the future culture of your potential colleagues seriously.

Companies should be understanding about these requests.

It’s really key that candidates meet more people, especially now. Particularly so if companies add a few more steps to the recruitment process. This can give applicants the confidence to be happy if they go on to secure a job offer.

Remember, it’s not just the candidate who has to adapt to the recruiter, but the recruiter who has to understand it’s a different situation for applicants too!

If you have questions around this topic or would like more information about this or something else, feel free to contact our MD, Mary Maguire, by email on [email protected]

An article by Mary Maguire, Managing Director
Astute Recruitment Ltd

Suite One, Ground Floor West, Cardinal Square, 10 Nottingham Road, Derby, DE1 3QT

T: 01332 346100

LI: https://uk.linkedin.com/pub/mary-maguire/18/73/553

LI: www.linkedin.com/company/astute-recruitment/

As part of a series of collaborations, our MD, Mary Maguire is working with specialists across Finance, Accountancy, HR, and Recruitment. Thank you to Mr John Hepworth for his insightful piece on what a CFO needs to know in 2020…..

The challenges of the last 9 months have meant a very bumpy ride for many businesses and it is likely that the road will not be much smoother in the coming months. Having had to react to the rapid lockdown of the economy through the furloughing of staff, transitioning to home working, making applications for government support grants and loans, ensuring workplaces are safe for employees and customers – the list could go on!

As a CFO, you must now ensure that your business is ready for a future which is likely to be somewhat different to what has gone before.

Oh, and then there’s Brexit!

The recent focus for the CFO is likely to have been managing cash and mitigating the short-term risks brought about by the precipitous economic slowdown. Having steered your business through that period it is now incumbent on us as CFOs to ensure that our businesses take all the opportunities afforded, whilst avoiding costly pitfalls.

To do this I see that there are several things that we need to have in mind: –

A Proper Business Strategy

Depending on our markets, we may need to continue with a defensive strategy i.e. strengthening our balance sheets, building cash reserves, rebuilding, or changing revenue streams, cutting costs and potentially downsizing.

Alternatively, if our market remains buoyant, we may want a more aggressive strategy of investment and growth driven by innovation, enhanced revenue streams, or acquisition(s).

Whatever our strategy, we as CFOs, must know how it is going to be financed and be ready to influence and secure commitment from the Board and senior management to approve bold, strategic moves.

Agility To Adapt!

We need to keep our finger on the pulse of the business, our markets, and our customers, and understand the speed at which things change. We should also chart closely the course of the pandemic and of course be ready for potential changes to our business and operations when we exit the Brexit Transition Period on 1^st January 2021. All these changes will have potential impact on our busines and will help inform our strategy.

What changes to keep.

To continue to support the business over the lockdown and beyond, many CFOs have had to make massive changes to the ways that their finance functions operate, be it increased working flexibility for our staff, greater utilisation of technology for communication, and automation of processes.

Some of these changes will be robust, but other may be temporary solutions that require more development. Many of these changes will be beneficial in the longer term and we need to ensure that they are embedded into our processes.

For the technological changes, it is likely that capturing the opportunities offered by AI through invoice scanning or building of bots to carry out mundane repetitive tasks may be the differentiator between business failure and success.

Now is the time to act.

As well as process improvements, we have undoubtedly stripped cost out over the last few months. The canny CFO must work closely with departmental heads and budget holders to manage things to ensure that these costs do not drift back unnecessarily.

Embrace The Power Of Forecasting

We all know how important forecasting and budgeting is for our business, but things have just got way more critical. We need to utilise scenario planning more, using best, expected, and worse case scenarios.

Budgets of old will become a thing of the past. We should now aim to deliver and utilise dynamic forecasts that are updated and reviewed with management quarterly if not more frequently, ensuring that our strategic direction remains appropriate. KPIs should be set and monitored to enable quick identification of problems or a requirement to change course.

Emerging data tools including Power BI and Power Query and having the interim or permanent expertise in your team to deliver the very best in analysis and forecasting is key. As is the plan for knowledge retention for these skills to be developed and retained in your Accounting function.

Speed and flexibility must be permanently built into the forecasting and planning process to facilitate faster decision making. Remember too that accurate and timely reporting and data is even more crucial during times of turbulence.

Taking Our Teams With Us And Having The Right Talent!

We may have had to let team members go over the last few months, but it is vital that we invest in the finance team and ensure that all staff has a Covid secure environment in which to work.

It is also critical to ensure your team has the right skills to ensure the delivery of business objectives. This may involve training, but exceptional leadership is imperative especially when managing team members who are working remotely.

Alternatively, for businesses doing well, the success of a CFO will be measured on the continued performance of their operational, production, and finance teams. Ensuring you have the right talent and the best possible people for your business is critical.

As always, whether facing economic headwinds or not, talented accountants, sales, marketing, and other experts are in demand. You need to ensure that your business is front and centre in terms of employer branding in the sector you operate within.

Ensuring key relationships with trusted recruitment partners are maintained but also allowing exceptional local sourcing specialists such as Astute Recruitment Ltd, to alert you the best possible talent available.

Marketing, Branding, Position, and Perception

As CFO – the art of effective budgeting to inform critical decision making has never been so important. One of the truest ways to enhance a business is to ensure that social media channels are up to date, with relevant, high-quality original content. With usual sales presentations and pitches increasingly shifting online, there must always be a place on the balance sheet for marketing expertise to bring your brand and business to potential customers, clients and potential future hires.

& Finally, next time we will be ready!

I imagine that many businesses risk registers did not include a pandemic as a critical risk. We must rectify this and take all our learnings to ensure that we have robust processes in place for any repeat. We should also keep our contingency plans up to date in case of another serious downturn; this maybe being ready to downsize, liquidate assets, or secure additional funding.

As well as steering the business through the choppy waters of Covid-19 and Brexit we must not forget the CFO’s responsibility for sustainability and environmental protection. We must move on from the box-ticking exercise of CSR and ensure that in the new world sustainability becomes an inherent part of our business operations and strategy.

Not much to do then!

An article by John Hepworth. You can view John’s profile on LinkedIn by clicking below: –

What does a CFO need to know in 2020? Astute Recruitment provides the inside track

7 astute steps to successful cash flow management collaboration by an expert!

Cash is King! Having an accurate measure of your company’s cash is always critical, now more than ever. Here at Astute, as part of a new series of articles, we are sharing 7 simple steps to guide you, in collaboration with a fully qualified accountant and expert in providing cash flow advice and more to SME businesses and larger organisations.

David Thorley is an experienced, fully qualified Finance Director with a proven career in managing the financial tillers of several businesses. Together, we wanted to share his 7 steps to achieve successful cash flow management.

Over to David….

“We need a 13-week cash flow!

An all too familiar phrase that I have heard over the years from banks and finance providers and in these uncertain times an especially challenging request even for experienced number crunchers!

You can, however, meet this challenge using the following simple tips: –

1. Communication with your finance provider is crucial – whatever the reason, DO NOT make promises you know you cannot keep and DEFINITELY DO NOT say it can’t be done!

2. Very few businesses can accurately predict cash flows, but everyone can make an informed forecast.

3. The past may not be an accurate predictor of the future, but it can be an indicator! Summarise the cash flows over the previous 6 – 12 months over key headings and use for forecasting future trends.

4. All forecasting relies heavily on assumptions that identify the key sensitivities (e.g. you could be predicting quarterly rent payments being agreed to be deferred or moved to monthly).

5. Look for seasonal fluctuations in income or expenses – right now this could be forecasting recovery of previous levels of sales over a 3 to 6-month period.

6. It’s not unusual for the balancing number (to keep within the facility), to be payments to creditors and, in times of extreme cash pressure, this is inevitable; but again, communication is vital to avoid going on stop with crucial suppliers.

7. You may need to prepare more than one forecast – based on different assumptions. Again communicate the basis of the chosen forecast when it is shared.

The most important point is to always try to anticipate potential issues. Banks particularly appreciate early warnings especially if it is a potential breach of facility as it indicates a degree of control.”

Great tips so thank you David!

If you need a cash flow expert in your team, call Astute and we would be delighted to assist you.

We will be issuing more articles and tips on a wide range of accountancy, finance, HR and recruitment issues in collaboration with experts in these fields.

If you have found this article informative and helpful, please let Mary Maguire at Astute Recruitment know as feedback is always welcome. Feel free to share this article with others who you feel could find this useful.

#cashflow #CashIsKing #accountancy #finance #financedirector #cfo #financetips #BeAstute

Your CV Profile –

Increasingly for candidates, anything that can flag a CV to a potential employer is great.

But what to include? What to specifically cite? How to keep things concise but genuinely show you have made a difference and why you stand out?

Below is part of the profile for an experienced Finance Director who Astute Recruitment has worked with for a number of years.

Experienced SME Finance Director with a proven track record of success, supporting strategic objectives with financial acumen and operational pragmatism.
Facilitated ‘fundraise’ with PE – pre and post-acquisition
Pro-active manager and influencer, empowering staff to take ownership
Providing coaching, training and mentoring to build cohesive teams and business partnering senior management.
Proven experience working alongside MDs and Senior management teams driving businesses forward
Focussed on achieving individual targets and company objectives and offering excellent relationship management skills.
Experienced in financial and corporate management to ensure the achievement of commercial goals within budget.
Extensive SME experience and management of external relationships with banks, insurers, suppliers and investors.

“Driving business projects to deliver business strategy”.

This is someone who one of our Directors has personally known for a while and who has sat on both sides of the client/ candidate fence. Their words and the way they succinctly covered their key attributes was great and we wanted to share this.

The candidate identifies specific, key deliverables and specific, defined savings they have made to the business and specific ways they have delivered success in their previous roles. They did this citing in percentage terms, the differences to the profit and balance sheet of their company. Where they had saved time – they cited the exact amount of time. They were clear that they had taken ownership of the improvements cited.

Another key part of this is to ensure that all the Job Boards you are registered with and your LinkedIn profile also all reflect accurately the most up to date version of your CV. Often we discover a candidate’s online profile varies to the latest CV they forward to us. Consistency in all things applies – especially in terms of your own candidate CV, personal profile and branding online.

For obvious reasons – we cannot state the identity of this eloquent person, as they are still in a permanent role!

Nor can we cite specific deliverables or critical success factors for confidentiality, but if you are reading this and your business needs someone like this – let our Qualified Team know and we will gladly facilitate an introduction!

We hope the above provides some inspiration for those struggling to write up / update their own profiles/ CVs.

Astute’s Team!

Richard Bowe – Senior Consultant Interim Qualified Accountancy

Tom Norton – Senior Consultant Permanent Qualified

Andy Lilliman – Recruitment Business Development Manager

Sarah-Louise Wykes – Manager, Interim Transactional Finance Staff, Part-Qualified to Qualified Accountants

Charlotte Sproat – Permanent Transactional Finance Staff, Part-Qualified to Qualified Accountants (Derby, South Derbyshire, North Leicestershire, Staffordshire, South Notts)

Debbie Jackson – Permanent Transactional Finance Staff, Part-Qualified to Qualified Accountants (Derby, North Derbyshire, North Nottinghamshire)

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Christine

10:32 20 Dec 22

Josh and the Astute team was very swift to help me to find roles that matched my profile. They are really reliable and will help through every step of the recruitment process going out of their way to assist and follow up when needed. Could not find a better recruitment agency!

Helen Pinegar

16:19 18 Dec 22

Fantastic recruitment agency.. Josh was extremely enthusiastic, encouraging and clearly knowledgeable about what was needed from both the employee and the employers point of view. Extremely supportive especially in regards to interview preparation and endeavoured to procure feedback promptly. Wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Astute in the future to both candidates and recruiting businesses particularly for the right fit for the role!!!

Lisa Leigh

11:56 30 Nov 22

I have worked as a candidate for Astute and they have been excellent. Super friendly service and professional agents keen to fit the right person to the right job. It has been a pleasure dealing with them and I would happily work for them again in the future. Highly recommend this agency.