Category: Education

Accountancy is one of the most highly sought after services in the business world.

Great businesses need great accountants and if you can put yourself into this bracket, you are setting yourself up nicely for a long and successful career.

But what does it take to become one of these highly skilled experts entrusted with analysing the finances of business and individuals and making sound growth suggestions based on their findings?

In this blog, the team at www.accountantsplus.net will help you to find out. As one of the top accountancy firms in central Scotland, they know better than anyone after all.

Without further ado, lets jump straight in and examine the steps that you need to take to thrive in the accountancy sector.

What do accountants do?

Before you start your journey to becoming an accountant, you first need to learn exactly what it is that you will be doing each day on the job.

Accountants have a huge responsibility, in charge of providing businesses with financial advice that they can use to optimise their activities and make better decisions going forward.

As an accountant you may be asked to monitor finances on an ongoing basis, or brought in at a key time such as the end of the tax year to oversee annual accounts preparation.

You may also be tasked with managing payroll and investigating and mitigating risk.

What skills do you need to be an accountant?

As an accountant you need to be great with people. You not only need to be able to communicate often complicated concepts and ideas in a simple and easy to understand way, but you also need to be a calm and reassuring presence.

You are giving advice to people who have worked incredibly hard for their money and giving them advice on how to use it. They will understandably be wary and it is your job to prove your worth and gain their trust.

What qualifications are required to become an accountant?

It might surprise you to find you that there are actually no legal requirements on who can be an accountant. Unlike many professions, a university or college degree is not a prerequisite for providing accountancy services.

However, this is slightly misleading as most accountancy firms will expect you to possess some form of formal qualification and you are unlikely to get too far without them.

Any degree in maths, economics, statistics, or business finance is a good starting point for a career as an accountant.

What is great about these degrees if that they are the foundation of many different career paths so even if you wish to be an accountant now but later change your mind, your studies will still come in useful.

If you do not wish to go to university, or didn’t get in, don’t worry, there are many other routes into the industry.

One of the best of these is through a professional body such as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) training schemes.

Being charged with assault is overwhelming and incredibly stressful and it is absolutely critical that you are aware of the legal process involved and how to navigate it.

We are one of the UK’s leading criminal lawyers and regularly work with those facing assault charges amongst an array of other offences. We have put together this guide to the key things you need to know about assault cases in the UK, helping to guide you through challenging waters and keep calm at this tough time.

Step 1 – Understanding your charges

The term assault can refer to a number of different offences in the UK, all of which are slightly different and carry different potential penalties. Knowing exactly what charges you are facing, or considering what charges you are likely to face if you have not yet been charged but believe that you might be in the future is essential.

Step 2 – Get a Lawyer

Although the 2^nd step in this guide due to the fact that many people are charged before they realise that they need a lawyer, this is actually the very first thing that you should do if you are involved in an assault case.

A criminal lawyer will help you at all stages of a criminal case, from helping you to understand the charges that are against you to representing you in police interviews to negotiating with the prosecuting officer if the case gets that far.

When it comes to staying level headed and approaching assault charges with logic that gives you the best chance of a positive outcome having a great criminal lawyer by your side who is used to dealing with those charged with assault Scotland is by far the best thing that you can do.

Step 3 – Gather evidence

The more evidence that you have about the incident in question the better. There is no point attempting to conceal evidence or being coy with your lawyer out of shame or in an attempt to get away with something. There is a good chance that this information will come to light anyway and concealing it will only blindside your own lawyer when they are attempting to build a strong defence on your behalf.

Reveal an information that you have about the incident as well as any communications that you think might be relevant and any witnesses that you think might have knowledge of the events in question.

Step 4 – Build a case

Once the lawyer you have chosen to represent you in the assault case has all the key evidence at their disposal, they will begin to build a case for the defence on your behalf.

Some of the evidence types that are often pivotal in assault cases include CCTV footage, medical reports, verbal and online communications, forensics and more. This can all seem a little bit overwhelming at first but an expert criminal lawyer will be able to sift through all this information to find the key details best suited to building your defence.

Step 5 – Outcome

If a conviction is unavoidable, there are a number of potential penalties that may be handed out both in an out of court. The most common of these is a custodial sentence with length of sentence ranging from a maximum of 6 months for common assault to life imprisonment for GBH with intent to wound.

There is a possibility that things won’t go this far but it is important to understand the severity of the potential consequences of assault charges when facing them. This will ensure you are careful in your choice of a criminal lawyer and take the evidence gathering process seriously.

Reduced sentences are possible in assault cases if any of a variety of different factors apply to the case including signs of remorse, evidence of good character, medical conditions, or if the defendant pleads guilty.

There are also a number of factors that can lead to an increased sentence so talk all this through with your lawyer as early as possible in proceedings so that you have a full picture of what the possible outcomes of your case may be.

Step 5 – Appeal

If you are unhappy with the outcome of your case and you and your lawyer believe that there may be benefit in appealing the sentence that you have been given, they will assist you in this process. Criminal lawyers deal with cases similar to yours on a daily basis and will know exactly when an appeal has a chance of success and when it does not. Listening to their advice will save you a whole lot of time and stress and if you do indeed decide to go forward with the appeal it will also give you the best chance of it being a success.

Security companies Manchester offer a huge selection of different security services to almost any sector or group you could possibly imagine, keeping people, property, and information safe across the North East.

As a business, you have a lot to think and worry about, but security should be right at the top of your priority list. There are many different security firms in the UK offering all sorts of different services to meet all needs and requirements so it can be difficult to know exactly what you need and how to go about finding it.

Like anything in business, research is critical to success when it comes to security and this overview of the types of security services that are available is a fantastic place to start.

Manned guarding

Security guard patrols are the beard and butter of any security firm. Professional SIA licenced security guards are an incredibly powerful tool in the fight against criminal activity and can carry out an incredible number of different security services all aimed at protecting their charges.

Many security guards will be stationed outside or at the entry point to a building to track comings and goings or conducting mobile patrols along pre-agreed routes inside.

In customer facing locations such as at events or protecting a retail store, security guards may also be asked to perform more routine duties such as answering queries and directing visitors/attendees.

Retail security

You have undoubtedly seen security guards stationed at the entrance to your local supermarket, guarding against shoplifters and a variety of other possible threats. These guards are the first people that your customers will come in to contact with and it is key they make a good impression. Most security firms that specialise in retail security will train their staff to fit in well in public settings and remain as approachable to innocents as they are off-putting to wrongdoers.

Warehouse security

Warehouses are often highly attractive to criminals due to their remote location and large quantities of expensive materials, goods, and equipment stored inside. Securing these large and often remote sites can be a challenges and certainly shouldn’t be attempted without consulting with a professional security firm.

Warehouse security guards are experts at creating strong and effective security plans for warehouse locations and carrying them out to the letter. They will monitor entry points, both in person and via CCTV and attend any emergency situations that are detected using their conflict resolution training to de escalate situations before they get out of control. If needed they will contact the emergency services and detain any intruders until the arrive.

Risk Assessments

Risk assessments are the key to building an effective security system on any property, helping you to identify the specific threats that you will face and the best way to mitigate them.

In order to be able to properly identify these threats, however, you need the expert eye of a professional and most security firms specialise in providing risk assessments to businesses in their local area. For a comprehensive security system it makes sense to use the same security firm for both your risk assessment need and to implement a solution using tools such as CCTV installation, alarms systems, and security guards.

During a risk assessment, the person responsible will not only identify threats but rank them in order of the severity of risk. Some firms may also help you to maximise your cyber security at the same time. It is more than possible to carry out your own risk assessment but without extensive security experience there is a good chance that you will miss things that could be incredibly costly.

Personal protection

Some security guards specialise in the personal protection of VIPs such as celebrities, politicians, and high value individuals.

This is an incredibly responsible job especially where the person in question is regularly the subject of verbal and written threats and it takes a certain skillset and personality to be successful in this role. Ex-servicemen often find themselves in this role as they have a toolbox of transferrable skills and personal protection can be the perfect stepping stone between serving in the forces and returning to civilian life.

CCTV installation

Security companies provide, install, and monitor CCTV surveillance systems on behalf companies and individuals across the UK. Most companies will train their staff in the use of such technology and how to use them to supplement and improve the security services they are able to offer.

Alongside CCTV, there are many other security technologies that may be recommended during a risk assessment and can be installed by a security company. These include motion detection alarm systems, access control technologies that use biometrics such as fingerprint and facial recognition to verify the identity of individuals, and much more besides.