Career coach | AAT Journeys
“AAT qualifications supercharged my career here and overseas”
Gemma Heard reveals how AAT certifications opened doors for her in Australia and the UK before launching her own businesses
Words Jessica Bown
AT A GLANCE
1
Open doors
Gemma Heard FMAAT has found her AAT qualifications have gained her opportunities in the UK, Spain and Australia.
2
Flexibility
Heard was able to found her own practice and work around raising her young son, including during the Covid-19 pandemic.
3
Pay it forward
Having successfully founded her practice in 2019, Heard founded her consultancy to help local female business owners gain finance skills.
Gemma Heard FMAAT did not particularly like maths at school. But after choosing psychology at A-Level, she realised her brain enjoyed the certainty of numbers and the stories they could tell.
“Numbers are black and white – there’s no ambiguity,” says Heard, who now heads up two companies, GEM Accountancy and GEM Consultancy UK. “They represent facts, but those facts tell a story.”
When she returned to her home town of St Ives after working in Spain in the early 2000s, Heard jumped at the chance to kick-start her career in accounting by taking AAT qualifications.
Starting out with AAT
“I was working in the accounts department of a local photography company in Cornwall at the time,” says Heard, who is now 42.
“My employer funded me to go to night school to do my AAT qualifications, which was great as it meant I had no debt when I qualified in 2009.
“I loved the ethos and the level of support I got from AAT right from the start, and having those qualifications has been a big advantage throughout my career.”
The first benefit involved being taken on by a local chartered accountancy firm on the strength of her AAT certifications.
“The commitment to high standards promoted by AAT gave me the professional recognition and the confidence to succeed,” Heard says.
Having the AAT exams under her belt also proved a big bonus in 2011 when she decided to return to Australia, where she was born and lived before moving to the UK in her teens.
While the AAT qualification is not formally recognised in Australia, her competency and professionalism immediately got her noticed, leading on to bigger and better things.
“I was working as a bookkeeper initially, but I soon got poached by a company that owned big commercial shopping centres, that wanted me because of my AAT experience,” Heard says.
“I started there on four times the salary I’d been earning in the UK and within two years I was earning six figures – and it all started because I had those AAT qualifications.”
Gemma Heard FMAAT
Branching out alone
When Heard returned to the UK in 2018, she struggled to find a good job she could do while caring for her young son.
“It was a tricky situation,” she says. “I couldn’t really stay in the same sector as the closest shopping centre was more than two hours away from my home.
“I was also a single mother to my son, who was just three at the time. I looked at getting a job more locally, but with childcare costs that meant I’d have been worse off working than staying at home.”
With the support of her friends and family, she decided to open her own accountancy practice. Once again, she turned to AAT to help her do that.
“There were lots of AAT resources available that helped me understand how to go it alone,” Heard adds.
She founded GEM Accountancy after being granted Licensed Member status in August 2019, when her hard work on behalf of her clients helped the business thrive despite difficult trading conditions.
“We went into lockdown for Covid-19 soon after I launched my company,” she says. “But it wasn’t too bad for business because people were looking for financial advice at that time and that helped to build my client list, which was full by the end of the pandemic.
“Most people want to run their business in a compliant way and I can help them by removing the fear and enabling them to put their best foot forward.”
“The world truly is your oyster once you have these qualifications, so keep going. It will be so worth it.”
Hitting the mark
Having made a success of her practice, Heard went on to launch a consultancy business that aims to help female business owners manage their finances effectively.
“The more I worked with owner-managers, the more it became clear to me that whatever was going on outside of their business was impacting the numbers that I was seeing,” she says.
“People who set up businesses in other industries don’t always get the sort of support I got from AAT when I started, so I help them to manage the aspects of running a business that you don’t get taught about.
“I also share educational resources for business owners on how to remain compliant and successful.”
In 2023, Heard’s dedicated and personal approach to client management was recognised at the AAT Awards, where she won the Past Presidents’ Award for her commitment to keeping the accountancy profession relevant, driving up professional standards and helping businesses be robust and responsible.
“Winning the Past Presidents’ Award was a great honour,” Heard says. “I was very proud to be chosen. It’s great to be recognised by your peers for your professional standards.”
Gemma Heard FMAAT
Words of wisdom
Heard’s story is a clear example how the right qualifications can help you to achieve your career aspirations. Her advice to anyone studying AAT is to work hard now to reap those long-term gains.
“When I did my AAT qualifications in my mid 20s, I was working full-time and studying AAT at night school, so there were times when I had to miss out on things like friends’ birthday parties because I had to study,” says Heard, who now sits on an AAT panel to help people who have just qualified.
“It was frustrating at the time, but that two to three years of concentrating on passing my AAT exams has given me a long and successful career for almost the last 20 years.
“It has been an amazing journey. The qualification has been genuinely life-changing and given me so many opportunities both in the UK and abroad.
“The world truly is your oyster once you have these qualifications, so keep going. It will be so worth it in the end.”
Taking the next step?
Check out AAT Careers Hub
From entry-level positions to senior roles, AAT Careers Hub provides opportunities suited to your qualifications and experience.
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