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In Conversation with Gareth John: How First Intuition is Inspiring the Next Generation of Accountants

To mark International Day of Accounting, we caught up with Gareth John, Policy Director at First Intuition, one of the UK’s leading providers of professional accountancy training.With a career spanning nearly three decades in both practice and education, Gareth shares his insights on the different routes into the profession, the habits that define successful students, and how the industry has evolved in recent years.Walk us through what First Intuition does and how it supports aspiring accountants? First Intuition is a professional education and training provider offering courses in accountancy, leadership & management and digital & data. From our early days in 2007 when we opened our first training centre in London we have now grown to over 500 staff working across 25 locations in the UK. In recent years we have seen huge growth in our accountancy apprenticeship programmes, as the vast majority of the employers we work with now take advantage of the huge benefits they deliver. Our support for aspiring accountants studying the AAT, ACCA, CIMA and ICAEW qualifications is extremely broad. We deliver technical exam training through classroom and online courses, with plenty of tutor support and award-winning study resources. In addition to this qualification ‘knowledge’ that we help our learners get to grips with, we also have a fantastic Impact Skills Programme to help them develop critical employability skills and behaviours such as communication, critical thinking and teamworking. Our apprentices also benefit from the support of our teams of dedicated skills coaches who provide pastoral support and encouragement as they progress through their programmes. We also offer lots of wellbeing and mental health support to the students in our care, as the exams they face can be very challenging and can cause anyone to suffer from anxiety and stress. What are the different qualification pathways people can take into accounting? In recent years there has been a big trend amongst employers of trainee accountants towards increasing use of school-leaver recruitment using the AAT pathway, often under apprenticeship programmes from level 2 to level 4. AAT can be a great entry-point into the accountancy qualification for a range of aspiring accountants from school leavers to mature career changers, and there are a wide variety of classroom and online course options which learners can choose from to suit their ambitions and lifestyles. After completing AAT many of those successful individuals will carry on to study for one of the higher-level accountancy qualifications such as ACCA, CIMA or ICAEW to become fully qualified accountants. Graduate recruitment remains another important pathway into the accountancy profession. Individuals with degrees normally study for the ACCA, CIMA or ICAEW qualifications. Some trainees may have exemptions from early exams depending upon their degree discipline, but they will still need to gather three years of work experience to become qualified. What advice would you give to someone just starting out in accounting today? Be curious! Ask lots of questions about what you are doing in your training, and why you are doing it. You can’t ever ask too many questions. The other big piece of advice I would give is to expect qualifying as an accountant to be hard, and to not worry too much if they fail the odd exam here or there. Accountancy qualifications such as ACCA, CIMA and ICAEW are some of the most challenging exams in the world, and the range of subjects studied is so broad that even the brightest student will find some of the exams very difficult. The main thing to remember is that it is this very difficulty which means that these are amongst the most prestigious and well-recognised qualifications in the world, which will allow you to have an amazing career and life! See the difficulty as a good thing. Embrace the difficulty! What qualities or habits tend to set apart the most successful accounting students or trainees? Discipline is extremely important. Even the most capable students need to develop a solid study routine in order to learn large syllabuses, practice plenty of test questions and attempt some mock exams, all before the real exam rolls around. And that’s often on top of a full-time job and a social life. Resilience is also essential. You need to be able to persist with study material you find complicated, and to bounce back from any exam failures, maintaining a belief that you are capable of success if you show enough determination. Tell us a bit about your own career journey. I fell into training as a Chartered Accountant because I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life! An accountancy qualification felt like it would keep lots of doors open for me to move into lots of different career options, with lots of different types of employer, and possibly in lots of different parts of the world. Once I qualified as a Chartered Accountant I moved into professional training as an accountancy tutor as I really enjoyed helping other people to grasp complex ideas and see them fulfil their potential. This move into training was when I knew that I had truly found my vocation, something that I really loved, and still love today nearly 30 years later. In recent years I have been involved in helping to grow the First Intuition business across the country to our current scale. I personally opened a number of our training centres, and I still get a real buzz from setting something up from scratch and seeing it develop over time. I really love the depth of personal relationships that I currently have with employers of trainee accountants in many parts of the UK, and getting to understand the issues and frustrations that they face and which I can feed back to the awarding bodies we deliver qualifications for. How has the industry changed since you started out? In some respects the industry has changed an enormous amount. Accountancy has been one of the first sectors of the economy to really embrace tech automation and now AI, which has transformed the kind of tasks that accountants perform, and the skills they need. Accountants are now far more influential as business advisors than as number crunchers. The next big change starting to affect the profession is the roles that accountants can take on. In other respects though, the accountancy sector still relies on the same basic principles that it did when I was a trainee thirty years ago; professional scepticism, integrity and ethical behaviour are as relevant in the digital age as they ever have been.Gareth’s insights highlight just how rewarding and varied a career in accountancy can be. Whether you’re beginning your journey through AAT, progressing to ACCA, CIMA, or ICAEW, or supporting others in their training, the blend of technical knowledge, personal discipline, and professional integrity remains at the heart of success.We’d like to thank Gareth and the team at First Intuition for their continued commitment to developing the next generation of finance professionals and for sharing their expertise in celebration of International Day of Accounting.If you’re an aspiring accountant looking to take the next step in your career—or a business seeking talented finance professionals to join your team—our specialist consultants at Sharp Consultancy are here to help.Visit our Job Searchor Client Page to find out more about how we can support your journey in the world of accountancy and finance.

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Starting a new job can be daunting, and taking up your first position at the helm of a team, department or company can present its own set of challenges. Whether you are the new person coming into an established group of employees or have been promoted within your existing organisation, what can you do to ensure that your step up into management is a success?

Making the move into management can be a tricky one; by this stage in your career, your ability to perform at a technical level has been proven but a leadership role is as much about motivating and inspiring others which means drawing more upon your communication skills, ability to build relationships and understanding emotional intelligence.

The performance of those you are responsible for will have a huge influence upon how you are viewed by your peers, senior managers and others within your team. Understanding how to get the best out of each individual, whilst meeting the objectives of the business and maintaining a motivated and happy workforce can be a tricky balance to achieve.

You may have to adapt your own style to suit those around you; what works for one may not have the same affect on another. And getting the required response and performance out of your team can be particularly challenging if you are stepping up and managing colleagues you previously worked with at the same level.

Here are our top suggestions to ensuring that your first few weeks in your new management role get off to a great start.

Get to know your team:

If you are joining a new company, it’s important that you get up to speed on who’s who as soon as possible. Learn as much as you can about each individual – their name, how long they have been with the company, what role they undertake, what they enjoy, what motivates them. Aim to spend some one-on-one time with each person early on so you can build up a great rapport from the outset. Invite people to share their views on what changes they would be keen to see but don’t introduce something just to win popularity points.

Find out about the company:

Arrange to spend some time with other managers at your level and key personnel in any departments you will be working closely alongside. Take on board any comments they make about the performance of your team or individuals within in, but be sure to form your own opinions before suggesting any changes. Similarly be careful in sharing your opinions about the direction you think the business should be heading; as a manager you will be expected to offer your view but being too opinionated without fully understanding the culture, vision and values of the business could see you making a poor first impression.

Be clear about what is expected:

Ensure that you understand what your boss expects from you in your new role and communicate to your team what you need from them to achieve success. Avoid any temptation to criticise your predecessor but instead explain why you would like to make any changes you plan to introduce and bring everyone on board. Make sure you establish clear lines of communication – especially in the early days – so you can be kept up to speed on how projects are progressing and can engage alternative strategies to address any issues which may arise along the way.

Work on your communication skills:

Everyone is different so be sure to take time to establish clear channels of communication with each person in your team – and remember, not everyone will respond in the same way so you will need to adjust your approach to get the best out of every individual. Also look to develop a good relationship with your own boss or company board and find out how they would like you to report into them. Are there regular management meetings? What will you need to produce by way of reports? What level of detail they wish to know? Establish how much they wish to know about what is happening on a day-to-day level and if they prefer to be kept up to speed by email, a phone call or a face-to-face meeting.

Take an empathic approach:

Being a good manager is also about recognising when your team members need support. If someone is underperforming, it is important to look to understand what issues may be having an effect and what solutions can be put in place to address the situation. Learning how to also recognise how your emotions affect your work will also play a significant part in addressing potential tricky situations and improve your communication and conflict resolution skills.

Sharp Consultancy specialises in the recruitment of temporary, interim and permanent finance and accountancy professionals. With offices in Leeds and Sheffield our highly experienced team of consultants recruit for positions throughout Yorkshire and beyond. CONTACT US today to find out more.