Welcome

From the President

I’ve often spoken about the strength that lies in the diversity of AAT’s membership. It’s amazing to see people from all walks of life having successful finance careers in so many different sectors.

It goes to show that while people often think of finance and accounting as a back office function, it is threaded through every single part of the business, across businesses of every size. It's the golden thread that holds everything together.

But, as the second part of our Filling the Gap report shows, the profession still has a perception problem holding it back. People think accountants have to fit a certain mould, and I think this is the kind of galvanising moment for a rebrand. We have an amazing, diverse membership body and we know accountants can come from all walks of life.

The message is getting there slowly, but I think we – all of us – can help to make that really cut through, so we don’t lose talent before it even arrives. Part of that is communicating to the wider public what a career in accountancy can actually look like. It’s not just crunching numbers – it's being a business partner for the rest of business. It's learning technology. It's learning to code. It's learning how to use and train AI models. It’s essential for every business, and we have to make sure people know that.

This was illustrated to me recently, in fact, when I sponsored the Diversity and Inclusion Award at the Apprenticeship and Training Conference as AAT President. I got to host a table alongside people from the AAT community, training providers, and tutors. It was truly incredible to see the breadth and depth of what training looks like across all sectors.

Almost everyone I spoke to on the evening – even if they were in completely different sectors – said ‘oh, we've got an apprentice who's doing AAT!’, or ‘I know someone in the accounts department who’s doing their AAT qualifications!’. It showed me just how embedded AAT is, not just in that kind of finance world, but business at large.