Understanding accounting as a profession, not just a job

Dylan Curran, undergraduate accounting & finance student, on how one module of his accounting and finance studies helped him understand the ethics of his profession, secure an internship and find his calling. 

Us accounting and finance students often focus solely on the numbers and think of theory as “boring” or burdensome. Particularly early on, we believe if we’re good with the numbers then we’ll make good accountants, and that ‘governance’ and ‘ethics’ are buzzwords only heard in class, examined, then forgotten about. I can say from my own personal experience this is not true, as the awareness I gained from studying ‘Governance and Accounting Ethics’ without doubt helped me in securing my internship in audit over the summer.

Specifically, the content covered in ‘Governance and Accounting Ethics’ allowed me to discuss how the role of an accountant is evolving, the shift in sentiment to the profession, and how modern business issues, namely sustainability, are shaping current accounting and auditing standards. Learning about the IFAC (and ICAS) Code of Ethics also meant I could show the interviewers that I understood the mindset and behaviours required to work credibly for the company.

Although, it goes without saying that understanding governance and ethics is more important for your career as a whole, not just in landing a summer internship!

Exploring the implications of ethics in audit brought that stereotypically burdensome theory to life for me, encouraging me to think how I might perceive a scenario versus what is expected of a professional accountant. This was unfamiliar but engaging and gave me more purpose to my study, because after all, soon it’ll be me facing those scenarios.

I feel that the subject made me embrace the accounting degree as a more complete understanding of business, as opposed to just making the balance sheet, balance! By exploring risk management, board composition and responsibilities, and contrasting corporate governance practices, I can make better sense of the numbers, which in first and second year we weren’t exposed to so much.

My internship experience

I completed an 8-week summer internship with the audit department at AAB in Glasgow. Although I’d seen the internship vacancies advertised on LinkedIn, I was regularly checking the Strathclyde Careers Service Events Calendar for any open evenings or insight days, which is where I came across AAB’s open evening in October last year. To get a feel for the company and the people that worked there, I attended the open evening, which definitely helped in preparation for the video pitch stage and final interview.

Across my eight weeks, I worked amongst a few different teams and around half my time was spent out on-site at clients. This was daunting at first, but I quickly gained confidence. I was involved in the audit of charities, companies, and housing associations, so I was exposed to a variety of industries (something that initially attracted me to audit).

I was given hands-on experience with substantive testing on different areas, namely bank, expenditure, fixed assets, investments, and payroll. This strengthened my understanding of how accounting systems flow and how business processes differ across industries. At university we learn the theory behind an audit but applying it in practice was a whole different story and brought it all together for me.

Reflecting on my time at Strathclyde & looking forward to a career in accounting

My time at Strathclyde has been an exciting learning curve, as none of my immediate family have been to university so I was unsure what to expect. I’ve learned the foundations of accounting and steadily progressed my understanding each year by gradually placing more focus on applying those concepts that I learned early on.

During my studies, I’ve made the most of the Careers Service’s events calendar, taking part in the week-long AmplifyME finance simulation-based bootcamp, the six-week Barclays Finance Experience, and numerous industry guest speaker events and open evenings. These opportunities promoted by the Business School have opened my eyes to the world of accounting and finance beyond the textbook, allowing me to develop my technical knowledge but also to develop my character.

I’m looking forward to my final year at Strathclyde and topping off what has been a challenging but rewarding few years of studying with more choice over my modules. I’m also excited to explore my own dissertation research topic where I can showcase my genuine interest for a project - hopefully I’ll still be as passionate when I’ve finished typing it up!

When I leave the Business School, I’m planning to train and qualify as a Chartered Accountant through ICAS, having accepted an offer to return to AAB next August. I left my internship feeling that audit is just the ‘right’ area for me to train in because of how much there is to learn about how a business and its accounting and finance functions operate. I’ll have the chance to build on my knowledge from university in further study and to take the next step in hopefully building a fulfilling career in this space.

About Dylan Curran

Dylan Curran is an undergraduate student in the Department of Accounting and Finance - he is in the final year of his degree at Strathclyde Business School working towards a BA Hons in Accounting, having studied both Accounting and Finance in his first three years.