UK Accept a job offer?

[Taken]

Hi all,

I would like some help making an important decision, probably someone with lots of accounting experience or working as an accountant.

A little bit of background info first..

I have 5 years experience in the industry, I can speak three main European languages and I am part qualified ACCA ( I'm currently sitting P level exams). My problem is that I have had little exposure with P&L but developed experience in areas such as:
Bank recs, fixed asset register preparation ( in a small accounting firm).
AP and payroll B/S recs, journal entries and accruals ( in an international company).

I feel to have enough experience on the Balance sheet side but too little in the P&L side to be competitive for an accountant position at the moment and if it stays this way I would be ACCA qualified in 12 months time with no real chance to get into one of those positions.

At the moment I am out of work and I have been very selective in deciding which job going for, I turned down few job offers just because they didn't give me P&L exposure nor give me the opportunity to develop new skills. Now... I have been recently asked to attend an interview for a job where most of the tasks would be similar to what i have been doing in my past roles ( mainly AP and Payroll duties) however I would also do P&L analysis. They said I would not do management accounts though which I suppose it means I would not be preparing B/S and income statements.

My question is, would P&L analysis experience help me securing a serious Financial Accountant job in 9 months time? ( that's the duration of the contract offered to me). And what exactly P&L analysis mean? I am not even sure of what that would entail.

If doing P&L analysis would not make my CV competitive while applying for an accountant position, what can I do in order to get the right exposure?

Many thanks for your help.

 

[Steve-LevelUp]

I have personally found in many jobs that once you are in, being competent, helpful, and willing to learn will give you the opportunity to tackle the kinds of things you want to.

When I speak with my team about what skills they want to develop, I then arrange tasks and projects to test these skills. This has proven very helpful for me, as I discovered very valuable skills in the team. So, that is my first suggestion in any role you get.

Second, P&L analysis could be anything, but anything is better than nothing. It is a broad term that would likely include revenue an expense analysis, looking at patterns, ratios, and trends. I recommend trying to get as much varied experience as you can while you are young, as it is more difficult to do so later on without taking a step back.

It is also important to decide if you want to be a public auditor, or work in the internal accounting management. If you are interested in internal management (controller, etc) then simply being available, doing a good job, and being helpful to the controller or assistant controller, proving your skills, will be a big benefit.

One thing that I have learned is that you need to essentially be doing the job before the title or the money comes. So, work hard, be helpful, and be effective. The promotions will follow. If it doesn't, then at least the skills will develop and you can leverage that when interviewing elsewhere.

I hope that helps.