Career Overlap Transition record Edition 1 · ESCO v1.2.1
Table 1Transition record

financial controllertoaccountant

A financial controller already meets 47% of what the accountant role asks for. The move turns on 12 required skills not yet in the profile.

From financial controller
47%
Overlap1
To accountant
24 Skills carried over
12 Required, not held
60.3 Difficulty2
Career overlap Partial match

47%

Learning distance Substantial retraining

60.3/ 100

1 Share of the accountant role’s weighted skill requirement already met by the financial controller profile. Required skills count in full, supplementary skills at 0.35. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. 2 Combines what is missing with how specialised it is, so a gap of general skills scores easier than the same number of narrow ones.

Why

Why this move works

A accountant role treats 14 of its required skills as things a financial controller already does. These are the ones it depends on most.

  • accounting department processes
  • analyse financial performance of a company
  • check accounting records
  • draft accounting procedures
  • ensure compliance with accounting conventions
  • explain accounting records

What stands in the way is 12 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 24 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A accountant role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a financial controller background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held liaise with auditors communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held draft accounting procedures communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held explain accounting records management skills
  • already held exert expenditure control management skills
  • already held ensure compliance with accounting conventions information skills
  • already held prepare tax returns forms information skills

All 24 carried skills, including the 14 the accountant role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you would need to learn

The 33 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered below in the order worth working in: the areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the supplementary ones.

Skill to acquire Tier
01 business, administration and law 5 required, 3 supplementary
  • required, not held commercial law required
  • required, not held depreciation required
  • required, not held accounting entries required
  • required, not held accounting techniques required
  • required, not held bookkeeping regulations required
  • optional, not held international financial reporting standards optional
  • optional, not held liquidity management optional
  • optional, not held national generally accepted accounting principles optional
02 information skills 3 required, 7 supplementary
  • required, not held calculate tax required
  • required, not held identify accounting errors required
  • required, not held prepare trial accounting balances required
  • optional, not held keep track of expenses optional
  • optional, not held monitor after sales records optional
  • optional, not held advise on risk management optional
  • optional, not held calculate production costs optional
  • optional, not held conduct financial audits optional
  • optional, not held manage payroll reports optional
  • optional, not held perform risk analysis optional
03 management skills 3 required, 7 supplementary
  • required, not held attach accounting certificates to accounting transactions required
  • required, not held manage accounts required
  • required, not held perform balance sheet operations required
  • optional, not held resolve difficult account allocation cases optional
  • optional, not held check the production schedule optional
  • optional, not held manage inventory optional
  • optional, not held handle financial transactions optional
  • optional, not held manage corporate bank accounts optional
  • optional, not held manage revenue optional
  • optional, not held perform cost accounting activities optional
04 services 1 required
  • required, not held fraud detection required
05 communication, collaboration and creativity 3 supplementary
  • optional, not held consult with motion picture producer optional
  • optional, not held consult with production director optional
  • optional, not held perform dunning activities optional
06 arts and humanities 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held film production process optional
Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a accountant role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 24 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held accounting department processes knowledge
  • already held analyse financial performance of a company skill
  • already held check accounting records skill
  • already held draft accounting procedures skill
  • already held ensure compliance with accounting conventions skill
  • already held explain accounting records skill
  • already held financial department processes knowledge
  • already held financial statements knowledge
  • already held follow the statutory obligations skill
  • already held interpret financial statements skill
  • already held prepare financial statements skill
  • already held prepare tax returns forms skill
  • already held statistics knowledge
  • already held tax legislation knowledge
  • already held advise on financial matters skill
  • already held disseminate information on tax legislation skill
  • already held evaluate budgets skill
  • already held exert expenditure control skill
  • already held financial forecasting knowledge
  • already held insolvency law knowledge
  • already held liaise with auditors skill
  • already held manage budgets skill
  • already held prepare financial auditing reports skill
  • already held support development of annual budget skill
21 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to acquire Tier
  • optional, not held keep track of expenses optional
  • optional, not held resolve difficult account allocation cases optional
  • optional, not held check the production schedule optional
  • optional, not held consult with motion picture producer optional
  • optional, not held consult with production director optional
  • optional, not held film production process optional
  • optional, not held manage inventory optional
  • optional, not held monitor after sales records optional
  • optional, not held advise on risk management optional
  • optional, not held calculate production costs optional
  • optional, not held conduct financial audits optional
  • optional, not held handle financial transactions optional
  • optional, not held international financial reporting standards optional
  • optional, not held liquidity management optional
  • optional, not held manage corporate bank accounts optional
  • optional, not held manage payroll reports optional
  • optional, not held manage revenue optional
  • optional, not held national generally accepted accounting principles optional
  • optional, not held perform cost accounting activities optional
  • optional, not held perform dunning activities optional
  • optional, not held perform risk analysis optional
13 held skills the accountant role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role advise on tax planning skill
  • not needed by the target role analyse financial risk skill
  • not needed by the target role create a financial plan skill
  • not needed by the target role develop financial statistics reports skill
  • not needed by the target role enforce financial policies skill
  • not needed by the target role inspect government expenditures skill
  • not needed by the target role liaise with financiers skill
  • not needed by the target role liaise with shareholders skill
  • not needed by the target role manage profitability skill
  • not needed by the target role manage the general ledger skill
  • not needed by the target role supervise accounting operations skill
  • not needed by the target role synthesise financial information skill
  • not needed by the target role track key performance indicators skill
10 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to acquire Tier
  • required, not held commercial law required
  • required, not held depreciation required
  • required, not held accounting entries required
  • required, not held accounting techniques required
  • required, not held bookkeeping regulations required
  • required, not held fraud detection required
  • optional, not held film production process optional
  • optional, not held international financial reporting standards optional
  • optional, not held liquidity management optional
  • optional, not held national generally accepted accounting principles optional
Index

Other moves recorded from financial controller

Full index of moves from financial controller

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.