What’s it all about then?

As a Management Accountant working for a food company you’ll combine your skills in accounting, finance and management to prepare and analyse important financial information.

Your work will then be used by company management to make well informed decisions relating to future development and profitability.

What might I be doing?

A Management Accountant in a food company could expect to have some or all of the following duties:

• Preparing company financial statements (e.g. profit and loss accounts, budgets, cash flows and variance analysis)
• Providing a support service by to non-financial experts to assist them with correct financial decision making
• Monitoring spending throughout the company to ensure budgets are met
• Advising on the financial implications and consequences of business decisions;
• Analysing financial performance and providing suitable forecasts to inform future company strategies
• Providing professional judgement on financial matters and advising on ways of improving business performance;
• Monitoring and evaluating financial information systems and suggesting improvements where needed;
• Implementing corporate governance procedures, risk management and internal controls.
• Conducting internal business audits

What will be expected of me?

As a Management Accountant you’ll need to have a high degree of commercial awareness generally as well as being able to understand exactly how your company works.

Naturally you will be highly numerate but you’ll also need to be able to concentrate for long periods of time as you analyse complicated financial information so that you can generate accurate and user friendly reports for others to use.

You’ll need to be able to work your way around spreadsheets and other IT programmes and also be the sort of person who enjoys working in a team.

The work is often pressurised so you’re going to have to learn to work to tight deadlines and be well organised and disciplined to get the job done.

Finally, working with financial information demands a high level of discretion and you must be seen to be extremely trustworthy.

What can I expect?

You’ll be mostly office based obviously but you may spend some time on the factory floor getting a feel for the company processes; so be ready to get the protective clothing on from time to time!

Typically you’ll work Monday to Friday with a 40 hour week being the norm – however you will have to work extra hours as and when required such as at month end or year end.

In a large company some travel is likely and you might occasionally have an overnight stop.

What about the pay?

Typically management accountants can start on approximately £28,000 per annum although this will vary with experience and location and is likely to rise substantially as you take more professional qualifications and secure promotions.

Senior management accountants can earn in excess of £64,000 per annum.

Please remember that these salaries are provided as a guideline only

What qualifications do I need to get in?

If you want to start off at College then there are a number of qualifications you should consider such as ACCA level 4 Diploma in Accounting and Business.

This will fit you out to become an Accounting Technician and you can consider degree level studies as the next step.

You might want to think about applying for a higher level apprenticeship in accounting which means you will earn while you’re learning.

Accountancy degrees are widely available both as single subjects and also with other part qualifications so you should look at these as well.

You could study full time or part time depending on your preference

What about further training?

There are lots of options for further training and development.

Should you wish to become a chartered management accountant then you will have to study with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants which is the relevant professional body.

You could also consider post graduate options through university such as a Master of Business Administration.

Anything else I might need to know?

If you’re the sort of person who enjoys crunching the numbers and has a logical, structured approach to work then this could be the job for you.

Remember as well that many food companies now have significant international interests so keeping up with your languages could be useful as well.