For Louise Grant, becoming an accountant has added up to a successful career. Numbers were her love at school and now she’s at the top of her profession with EQ Accountants in Dundee. We met her to get an expert’s insight into accountancy.
When did you figure out accountancy was for you?
When I was going to university I chose maths because I always enjoyed it at school. It turned out to be too science-based, so I changed to accounting.
How did you get to be Principal Manager?
After four years at university, I had to find a practice where I could do my professional exams. The first one was awful. I imagined an office like Ally McBeal but this was so quiet and old-fashioned.
After a year I got a job with one of the firms that eventually merged to become EQ and I worked my way through the ranks.
The job I do now, 15 years after graduating, is much more about dealing with clients directly, as well as reviewing and signing off work by junior accountants.
Has the way accountants work changed with new technology?
Oh, completely! When I started everything was handwritten and it was all paper files. We are working towards being paperless and so much is stored in the cloud. Young businesses expect that too.
We used to have boxes of invoices handed in and we still get the occasional bag of receipts for year-end tax returns but most clients are switched on digitally.
What’s the most enjoyable part?
It’s how involved we get with clients and how much we can help. Recently we helped two young women purchase a dental practice.
We held their hand through all of it – the funding, finding premises and operational things you wouldn’t necessarily associate with accountants.
Is there anything that’s surprised you?
The variety. And the fact I’m encouraged to go out and meet people and network. That’s a great part of the job. Also the amount of travel I was able to do earlier in my career. We have clients from Shetland to Manchester so we often get out of the office.
Top tips for anyone looking to follow your path?
I’d say don’t take the job and the path to the job at face value – not everyone who is doing their professional training with us has an accountancy degree. There’s a geography graduate and an arts and design graduate. They have to do more professional exams than accountancy graduates but it can be done.
There is a lot more flexibility within accountancy than you might think!
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