Sector spotlight: Education emerges as an alternative career pathway for accountants

Not all roads lead to conventional accounting careers, either in practice, consultancy or as a finance leader. There is an alternative pathway that leverages accountancy skills in other sectors such as education.

by | 21 Aug, 2024

University education lecture hall

We speak with Professor Paul Andon, Head of the School of Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, at the University of NSW (UNSW) in Sydney about his decision to pursue a life in academia, the opportunities and challenges it brings and the ways in which accountants can contribute to education.

“I started off with the aspiration of becoming a professional accountant,” he says. “I completed a Bachelor of Commerce at UNSW majoring in accounting and finance, with the aim of working for a big four, then moving up the ranks to becoming a partner.” 

After graduating with first class honours, Prof. Andon worked at Price Waterhouse (now PwC) for two years. Despite this being his early ambition, it was ultimately unfulfilling. “It was a rewarding experience, but I still had this nagging sense of being a bit unfulfilled,” he says.

Professor Paul Andon, Head of the School of Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, University of NSW

From accountant in a big four to head of accounting at UNSW

Prof. Andon had been collaborating with his honours supervisors on a research paper based on his thesis that examined approaches to calculating the financial value of customer relationships. His supervisor, Dr Graham Bradley who is now retired, was impressed with his performance and encouraged him to return to UNSW to undertake further postgraduate research.

“After a while, the idea grew on me, and I thought I’d give it a go,” he says. “I then completed my PhD while working as an Associate Lecturer – back in those days that was possible.”

Nearly 25 years later, Prof. Andon remains at UNSW and became Head of the School of Accounting, Auditing and Taxation three years ago. “In an academic role, you have a capacity to influence in the way you can’t in an industry role,” he says. 

This influence is twofold – the first being able to contribute to research that can positively impact the profession. Prof. Andon says: “Research gives you a platform to potentially influence policy, regulation, standards or practice.”

His research projects have delved into diverse topics, including the use and implementation of Balanced Scorecards – a performance management tool developed by Dr Robert Kaplan, Professor of Leadership Development at Harvard University and Dr David Norton. Other projects focused on the complex motives and rationalisations behind fraud offending and the governance of professional accounting bodies.

Academics have unique opportunities to pursue areas of interest that might otherwise not receive attention, Prof. Andon believes.

“[You can] follow your passions, while contributing to the discipline by helping to advance knowledge and debate,” he says. “[Researching] gives you the ability to engage in big picture issues, which you can’t do when you’re bogged down in the day to day of working in an industry role.”

The second area of influence lies in teaching aspiring accountants and equipping them with skills to thrive in industry roles. “Academia presents an enormous opportunity to teach and inspire the accountants of the future,” Prof. Andon says. “Not only to teach the technical aspects of their work, but also to add value to the work they’ll do when they go out into the industry. We don’t just develop skill sets, we also develop acumen, [so that students] can use their knowledge and skills to benefit companies and other organisations they go on to work for.” 

Building a bridge between education and the profession 

A significant challenge is ensuring research findings have a real impact on the accounting profession. “[There can be] a disconnect, which can make it difficult to engage mutually on matters that are of benefit to the profession,” he says. “[Academics] can’t influence and have an impact unless they’re working with peers across the industry.”

Prof. Andon is tackling this by creating opportunities for collaboration between academics and industry professionals – and encouraging others in his circle to follow suit.

A partnership with McGrathNicol is using his research to raise industry awareness about why fraud offenders commit their crimes. He has also leveraged the School’s Tax and Business Advisory Clinic’s research to advocate for legislative change to mitigate the inadvertent enabling of domestic financial abuse in the tax system.

Prof. Andon encourages staff to use their expertise to contribute to public debates, such as recent government enquiries into the auditing profession.

How does academia benefit from accountants joining the sector? 

“I think accountants add enormous value,” he says. “They build bridges between academia and the profession, by jumping from one to the other and vice versa.”

Accountants contribute real-world knowledge, experience and insights to both research and teaching.

“They bring their war stories with them, giving students a richer experience in the classroom,” he says. “Part of what we teach students is that accounting is how you understand and run a successful business – and who better to deliver that message than the accountants who have lived and breathed it?”  


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