Executive Assistant to FD - Nicola Ramage

Well, it turns out that accounting isn’t that boring after all. Although those considering audit might want to take a careful look at what’s involved.

Accountancy was cited by almost everyone as a brilliant place to get a solid understanding of business and many people exploit the training as a springboard into other careers both within finance and more broadly (such as management consultancy). This makes it a pretty good option for those who aren’t entirely sure which direction to take but who want a solid qualification from which to build.

The exact qualification you sign-up to will depend on what interests you and what slant you want your training to have. Typically at the big 4 you’ll be going for the ACA, which probably has the edge in terms of prestige. If you’re interested in being an accountant within a business then you’ll be heading in the direction of CIMA. Public service has its own specialised training and that’s CIPFA.

Something that may seem a little counter intuitive is that you don’t actually have to be a math geek to be successful in this industry. Whilst it might help for more specialized areas such as tax and actuarial work, most people we spoke to didn’t have a clue what the whole top row of a calculator does!

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Nicola Ramage. I work at the Financial Services Authority. I am a management accountant and I'm executive assistant to the Finance Director.

What is the FSA?

If you think, now i'm going to really generalise so there's a lot more that the FSA does but I'm just going to pick it down to a couple. If you think that there are banks out there and people who give you mortgages and they all want each other to be doing the same thing so there are not ones ahead and they also want to make sure that as a customer when you come in, they give you a fair deal and there isn't a big difference between one place and the next for your banking or mortgage so they follow a set of principles, good things that we should do, and some rules which they have to do and what the FSA does is we put forward those rules and principles to follow.

What attracted you to this career?

I've always liked numbers; I've always wanted to be an accountant. I particularly like numbers in terms of running a business as opposed to auditing a business, that's why management. This role interested me because the Finance Director has many fingers in many pies and it's quite exciting to go along with that and see what's going on around the business at quite high level.

What does your job involve?

I tend to get into work early, about 8am and I look through what meetings the Finance Director has for the day and make sure all his papers there. I sometimes go to the meetings with him because sometimes he has so much going on that he can't remember what everyone is supposed to do so I can say, they're meant to do this, they're meant to do that, and then what I do outside the meetings is follow them up myself so I approach the managers and the other directors and other people to say, you would do that, how are you getting on. Aside from that I actually do some things myself where the finance director is too busy. For example, how much have we spent this month, was it over budget. We've got to try and send out some newsletters or communication emails to the division so I will draft them, pretending to be him and he'll sign it off at the end. So it is pretty varied, lots of phone calls and because he is so busy, lots of people come to me because I am another version of him so I get lots of sob stories and moanings and I've got to fix this and sort that so a general all-rounder. I quite liked the FSA because it was a bit different, I obviously had to look to see which companies did management accounting, there's not as many as you think necessarily especially in Scotland where I'm from. I looked at what was on offer and the FSA was just different, it felt good, it's not for profit, giving something back, helping the UK.

Who do you liaise with on a daily basis?

I've got quite a few different levels. I don't liaise more with one person more than another. Obviously I'm working quite closely with the Finance Director so I see him every day, there's also different people in my division at various different levels, managers, other directors, other people at my level, so it's a real mixed bag.

What different types of accountant are there?

It's a little bit different, accountants are banded together. So you've got two main accounting areas. One of them is a chartered accountant where they work in for example PWC or DeLoitte and they are in that business and they go and visit other businesses and go and audit their accounts or help them with projects. What a management accountant does is actually run the business so have we go enough money to pay everyone, how much are we spending? If you want to run a project or hire somebody we work through the numbers for that. It also leads into the strategies as well so it's not just numbers. Things like the risks and a little bit of people side as well, it's quite an all rounder business qualification. There was a bit in University when I had to decide whether to go down the audit accounting route or the business accounting route, it was pretty clear cut for me and if I hadn't come here to do CIMA I would have gone anywhere in the UK to do CIMA - that's how sad I am! I just wasn't really interested in being in a company where you go out and help other companies and come back again. It maybe appeals to me more now having seen a business work but if you go out and help somebody and come back and then help somebody else you don't really see how it's running and how it's all working, you help one specific part or audit the numbers of one specific company but I wanted to feel more involved in the company. When I was deciding they give you a little overview of what you cover in this qualification or that and when I looked it just looked more interesting, there were different parts to it and it felt a bit more hands on.

What is a CIMA qualification?

The CIMA qualification is the Chartered Institute of Management Accounts. You have to do various levels of exams to get the basics, learn the strategy behind it and then you end up with a case study at the end. Alongside that you have your relevant experience to prove that what you're learning in the classroom you can actually do in the real world and at the end of it you become a qualified accountant.

What are the best bits about your job?

Although they come up with sob stories and moanings I quite like the people. No two days are the same, you don't know what you're coming into first thing in the morning especially for example, we had this week the finance director phoning in sick on Monday and saying, you do everything, so you're left flailing around - I'm a little bit sad that way, I quite enjoy the running around. And feeling like what you're doing is actually keeping the business going as opposed to working on a piece of paper over here, you're helping every day, you're doing something every day.

What are the worst bits about your job?

I would say starting off as a management accountant and coming through all the different levels, you do have to work through the, does that number add up, what do these numbers come to here, does A match B, and sometimes that can feel a little bit tedious but it's all for a reason because part of the CIMA qualification is you have to get 3 years relevant experience and that isn't just experience at the top where you are being a proper management accountant, it is also experience at the bottom, the core, they want you to prove you can do all these base processes. So it can be a little tricky at times but you move round often enough and you get different experiences to build on.

What has been your greatest achievement?

Passing my exams obviously which really helps - I now have my weekends free to do what I want. I suppose the other thing is I've moved round a few different areas because of this scheme I've been on and one of the areas I got to work in was in the Chief Executive's office working on a particular project for him. That was quite exciting working right behind the Chief Executive and I had to apply for that and I got it, the things he wanted me to deliver I did and I got a nice thank you from him so I suppose that was the best moment.

Any regrets?

I've pondered that one myself quite a few times. I'm quite young, only 25 and here I am qualified with my CIMA. One of the options was to take a year between university and starting the 3.5 years programme. At the time I didn't do it because I was in the mindset of exams and thinking and so I thought to just get the exams over and done with and wait until the end and see if I wanted to take a break then. But there was always part of me that wishes I could have gone travelling round a little. C'est la Vie.

What is the pay like and are there any perks?

The pay is pretty competitive actually, it's good. The FSA is very good at making sure they match the market. The other perk I would say is that the FSA is very much work-life balance, 9 to 5, if you work a few late nights in a row people say, what's going on, why are you in so late? The social side is pretty good here, because they know that they're trying to do 9 to 5 and they've got a competitive package. I'm in the netball team, they also have sailing, I'm going on a pub crawl on Friday. There's loads of stuff going on, it's a really friendly face.

How long is a working day and do you have to work out of hours?

There's always going to be a couple of times where you're going to have to do long hours, when it's busy but that can happen anywhere. Generally it's 9 to 5, 8.30 to 5. At the moment, because I'm learning and the FD is so busy, I'm doing 8 to 6.

Is there much in the way of travel?

No, the job that I have, the management accounting function is in head office. Because we're running the business we're not trying to do anything externally, we're trying to keep the business going so we don't have to go anywhere.

Do you have to be based anywhere in particular?

The FSA does have another office in Edinburgh but again the management accounting isn't there. In terms of being a management accountant, the good thing with the qualification I've done is that it's world wide, I could do Canada, Singapore, Australia, anywhere in the UK. It's a really good all round management accounting qualification.

What is the working environment like?

I would say it's very friendly, everyone is very keen to get on with each other. There's a real mix of people, the grads coming in that are quite new, people who have been here since the FSA started in 2000, so you've got a broad knowledge base and some quite energetically dynamic people.  Normally what we wear is smart business attire. You obviously need a couple of business suits in your wardrobe for high level meetings but day to day it's a nice top and trousers or smart shirt and trousers.

How did you get into your job?

The scheme works that when you apply they're aiming for people who have a 2:1. If you're applying before you get your results and you're expecting your 2:1 and you get a 2:2 there's a bit of discussion that goes on there. The other thing is that just because you are on the management accountants programme, doesn't mean you have to have an accounts degree. If you can show you are hard working and interested in finance (one of the other girls did chemistry, somebody else did history), so there is no particular degree to follow.

What's the application process like?

The scheme works that when you apply they're aiming for people who have a 2:1. If you're applying before you get your rThe formal application process starts around autumn so you do your online application and if you pass that you have a telephone interview which is, tell me a time you did this, tell me a time you did that. Then you have an assessment centre day which is pretty tough. You have different things like a group presentation, single presentation and then you have an interview as well and it gets decided then.esults and you're expecting your 2:1 and you get a 2:2 there's a bit of discussion that goes on there. The other thing is that just because you are on the management accountants programme, doesn't mean you have to have an accounts degree. If you can show you are hard working and interested in finance (one of the other girls did chemistry, somebody else did history), so there is no particular degree to follow.

Are there other routes into the industry?

We have a couple of people now who are interested by they still have to go through the application process.

What are the key skills required for your job?

We have a couple of people now who are interested by they still have to go through the application process.

What's your top tip for breaking into your industry?

I suppose if you keep your head down and don't talk to anyone, that's probably a "don't bother replying". Enthusiasm, you like finance, you're interested, even when you're starting the base processes and you've got numbers to churn, you might not like it but keep your head up, keep pushing through because there are other things you can do using those numbers when you develop in the role. Enthusiasm is a strong one. I guess be sensible, knowing money a little in terms of not just numbers but it's actually somebody's £'s that we're spending here. Having a bit of a commercial view and be interested in how a business runs all the way through it, not just the sexy parts at the end but wanting to see how it all builds together. You need to be able to look at the detail and see where things are wrong so whether that's numerically or in terms of words as well. You can't just keep you head down and think of a number because if you think of a number you've got to think about what that means, so yes, the answer might be 100, but is that a good answer or a bad answer and the other key skill you need more so as a management accountant is being able to explain to people what you are talking about in terms they might understand because not everyone understands finances or numbers so you've really got to think about customer service where you talk to them in language they understand, answer any questions they might have, say things in different ways.  When I was applying and all the way since then you've got to keep an eye on what's happening in the economy - the BBC webpage is probably quite sufficient. Making your application stand out is taking something as fact so this has happened, and rather say, this has happened and it's bad, you've got to prove you've thought about it a little more, prove you can look into the future, for example, the credit crunch is a good one because it's happening now, what might that mean in a year's time for mortgages, first time buyers etc. I don't really have any tips like read the FT every day, it's just a general awareness of what's going on and obviously for finance in particular an interest in finance and wanting to do the numbers, but that's a personal thing.

What's the career progress and how quickly can you move up the career ladder?

Because I've come through this graduate scheme that's kind of set out for 3.5 years so what's happened is at the start I will maybe have been doing some low level numbers, reporting them to somebody or helping one of the senior management accountants with a report which they then take to the director. What has happened more as I've come through is I've had a couple of areas to look after myself so I will go and meet the director and say, we've spent this much, it's too much, what can we do, so kind of build up and as you're learning the accounting processes you're also seeing what's happening out there and becoming more confident in what you're saying so they give you more responsibility as you move on. It's quite a flat organisation I guess in terms of lots of people at the level of associate but within the bands it's massive so you can still work your way up within the particular band and it will depend on whether you want to specialise in one particular are of accounting within the organisation. One of the other things as you go on as you get more responsibility they obviously feel comfortable enough with throwing you out into the big bad world for six months. I went to Tescos and did some accounting there and see what it was like but the career progression is such that they wouldn't do that at the start so that's obviously a nice achievement that you've made it that far. I've only been in the role I'm in for a short time so I've still got to learn a lot. It takes about 3 months to know what you're talking about, another 3 months to get good at it and another little while after that to do something you can call your own so I've still got a fair while at the position I'm in and I guess after that I'm not sure. Do I want to live in London, go back up to Scotland? The good thing, being a management accountant is, will there be a job for me because there will be in most cities so it's more about thinking of personal things.

Is there scope for movement during or after this career?

On the first point, while I'm at the FSA I guess it differs company to company but the FSA is very big on being nice, maternity leave, career leave, for example the FSA's policy is you work for 4 years and can apply for some career leave and then come back again so they're aware people might want a break every once in a while so that makes it really easy for me to think about moving around. In terms of using skills, all the stuff we've covered in the management accountant qualification is massive. I could go into risk, HR, consultancy work, IT processes, be a plain accountant, there's so many things you can do with this qualification that the world's your oyster a little bit.

What are the industry resources that someone interested in joining must know about?

I'm sure there are loads of things I should be reading! When you register for CIMA they send you a monthly magazine which tells you what's happening in the world of accounting. It usually has a couple of articles from big companies telling you how their strategy has changed or what they have done. Because of the company I am in I also get a weekly update on what's happened in the world, whether it's been political or economical just to keep aware of it. I don't think there's anything else, just keeping your hand in what's happening in the accounting world.

If you weren't in this career, what would you be doing?

I always wanted to do management accounting, ever since the end of high school and all the way through university I have been doing accounting just because I really enjoy and felt satisfaction when the numbers added up, it felt like that's where the numbers were supposed to be.