Location United States, North America Gender Male
Website brianmurphyaccountant.com/
Brian Murphy is a chartered accountant, who has built his career working with management accountants, chartered certified accountants and other accounting professionals to add value to organizational strategies.
A qualified accountant with experience in the private sector and working for a professional accountancy body, Brian Murphy is qualified
through his work experience, accounting activities, communication skills and as a certified accountant to share thought leadership on the sector and associated challenges.
Thought leadership for chartered accountants and management accountants As Brian Murphy’s career spans almost three decades and experiences working with the public or private sector as a professional accountant and a chartered accountant, he is well placed to share thought leadership on all aspects of the sector.
Brian says: “The accounting profession has always been home to my career prospects and development. And, of course, as the years passed I gained chartered accountant qualifications and experience, allowing me to work various accountant jobs at different levels and for different types of organizations.
“My experience working with everyone from work experience accountant jobs and those just starting to acquire accountancy qualifications, as well as international accountants and professional bodies, has given me a unique insight not only into accounting work itself but also how the sector is developing.
“Employers of all types and every kind of business has been forced to change rapidly over the last few years. The combined pressures from the global pandemic has forced technological changes, for example, and every employer is now wrestling with hybrid training and all kinds of changes in expectations from employees.
“All of this impacts the way that companies make money, do their VAT returns, how they manage their accounts, their understanding of finance, and – depending on their industry- the tasks they need to carry out to meet the challenges of the 2020s.”
Advice for management accounting professionals Often, simple accounting qualifications are no longer enough to conduct more than a report or audit. Brian Murphy says: “There are so many skills that management accountants and chartered accountants need today in order to service clients in a responsible way.
“Work experience itself is great, but many accountants are still not absorbing the amount of technological insight they need in order to meet the requirements of clients and companies today. Skills that are needed include the understanding of technological advances in order to offer the right kind of advice.
“But more than this, there needs to be a mindset shift for employers in this space. Accountancy firms all across the industry – both in the US and around the world – need to utilize technology to automate data crunching tasks. This then frees up accountants, whether fully qualified, work experience, or in any relevant role to create deliberate strategies to improve the bottom line.
“Accountants work across various different functions, from tax returns to economics guidance and proper audit implementation. By properly using the technology available, whether that’s automation or cloud storage, then accounting staff can use their skills for more over-arching and useful strategies.”
Advice on accounting qualifications and career development Brian also writes about career development for an accountant just starting out. He says: “One of the key challenges for every company is to find and retain qualified accountant staff with the skills necessary to implement the many tasks necessary.
“Accountants come in all kinds of different skill levels, and companies need to find the best for their needs – whether that’s tax, law, finance strategy or all of the above. And while accountancy is always a popular job, right now there is a skills deficit for those with the level of qualification necessary.
“The industry must find ways to attract people to want to work in an accounting role, whether for their own company, with chartered status, to conduct an audit process or as a management accountant.”
How to secure the next generation of chartered certified accountants Brian Murphy is passionate about providing mentorship, leadership and support for the next generation of accountant roles.
He says: “Without a doubt, there is a shortage of management accounting staff in the US. Accounting careers appear to be less popular than they have been in the past. For example, firms are reporting accountant jobs unfilled and universities that enrolment is declining for graduate accountant programs.”
This is backed up by the Bloomberg Tax Analysis report in 2021. This shows that there was a 17% fall in employed auditors and accountants (including trainee accountants) from a peak measured in 2019.
Brian says: “According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job alert listings are due to accountants with qualifications leaving the industry to take on a different form of business or retiring totally.”
Why is accountancy struggling to recruit enough people? Working to become an accountant takes time and energy, says Brian: “The fact remains that becoming an accountant is hard work. Not only is it a vast and relatively difficult subject area to get to grips with, the fact that as an accountant you need a fifth year of college in order to even take the CPA exam, means more years work experience than many are prepared to give.
“Training is long and tough in the world of finance and not only do you need a degree, in order to move into chartered accountant work you also need three years work experience in a job and various qualifications.
“Having said all this, accounting offers a relatively solid career path in a very uncertain world. Along with law and some other business sectors, becoming an accountant means a reliable job, whether for a firm or in-house at a company.
“What we need to do as a sector is make training and working as an accountant more enticing by making it more flexible and less rigid.”
Working for a consulting firm or for a company Another trend among people training to become an accountant is a marked preference for taking on a consultancy role rather than as an entry-level accountancy employee at a company.
Brian says: “This isn’t surprising, given that accounts consultancy pays more than if a newly qualified accountant chooses to use their degree in an entry-level role. We are seeing changes from the CPA over the next year or so that should attract more people to the job though.”
The CPA is the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Under what the Institute calls the ‘CPA Evolution’, in 2024 the whole qualification system will be overhauled.
Explains Brian Murphy: “Basically, the Institute is adding a fourth exam section to the standard qualification tests. This allows people training in accountancy to specialize in finance, tax, audit or IT. The whole idea is to widen the scope of what it means to be an Institute qualified accountant.”
Thought leadership for every accountant In his blog, Brian Murphy shares tips, advice and further information on all aspects of accounting. Whether you’re a trainee accountant, a management accountant, interested in the Chartered Institute or already work in accounting for large or medium sized enterprises, his view on business and accountancy is always useful.
