Nearly two in five AAT members consider themselves a consultant or advisor

Nearly two in five AAT members in full-time or part-time employment in the finance and accounting industry would describe themselves as a "consultant", an "advisor", or both, according to new research.

In a survey of 212 members, AAT found that 17% would refer to themselves as both a consultant and advisor in their current role. A further 17% would describe themselves only as an advisor, with 4% calling themselves only a consultant. The majority (62%) would still describe themselves as neither at this stage.

AAT’s Green Room research facility surveyed 212 AAT members in full-time or part-time employment, with fieldwork undertaken between Friday 16 and Friday 30 April 2019. The survey was carried out online.

The research findings follow a campaign by software firm Xero earlier in 2019, where they aimed to change the current Oxford English Dictionary definition of an accountant to “A person whose job is to keep or inspect and advise on financial accounts.” An online petition set up to change the definition has so far attracted more than 1,000 signatures.

Andrew Williamson, Director of Marketing and Commercial at AAT, said: “These results suggest that a fair chunk of our membership recognise the evolving role of an accountant. Many members will already be offering their clients comprehensive advisory services, without necessarily even realising the way in which they act as advisors, while others have similarly assumed the role of a consultant.

“With technology providing accountants with real-time financial information and freeing them up from more of the mundane tasks including data entry, the profession will no doubt continue to shift towards offering clients a more detailed view on their future financial planning.”

As part of our #AATPowerUp series, AAT is calling on employers to grow their employees in order to enable them to contribute in the best possible way. For more on how AAT can help train and upskill both finance and non-finance staff, visit the Train your staff section.