What Is Management Accounting?

Management accountants are an important part of many different companies, stretching across a wide variety of industries. Qualifying into this role offers a great career with many benefits, including competitive salaries, and an engaging and rewarding work life. 

If you’re looking to become a management accountant, we’re here to tell you everything you need to know about this role. We’ll also outline the key steps in qualifying for a management accounting career.

What is a management accountant?

A management accountant plays a crucial role in strategic decision-making within an organisation. They are responsible for collecting, analysing, and reporting financial information that is used by company leaders to make informed business decisions.

Management accountants will work as part of a team to produce budgets and forecasts, while monitoring and reporting the overall performance of a business. The work of management accountants will often be used by board-level executives and strategists to make key decisions. In addition, management accountants can also highlight trends that offer useful insights to help plan for the future.

What are the responsibilities of a management accountant?

The responsibilities of this role will vary between management structures, companies, and sectors.

A job description for a management accountant will generally be looking for someone skilled at performing the following tasks:

• Preparing periodic financial statements, including profit and loss accounts, budgets, cash flows, variance analysis and commentaries

• Providing a support service by working with all departments and the management team to help make financial decisions

• Analysing the financial performance and contributing to medium- and long-term business planning and forecasts

• Informing key strategic implications of business decisions

• Offering personal judgement on financial matters and advising on how to improve performance 

What skills do management accountants need?

To succeed in a management accountant role, you will need a range of skills. These include excellent numerical and analytical abilities, commercial awareness, critical and strategic thinking, teamwork, and strong communication skills.

Numerical and analytical skills

You’ll be constantly working with numbers, so you need to be confident in this area. You’ll also need to analyse and assess information and make recommendations when required.

Commercial awareness

As you’ll be working alongside management teams, you need to understand your company and its context within the industry. You must be focused on profitability and expansion while helping your company to achieve its aims. You’ll also be able to generate informed opinions and strategies based on competitors and the market, showing an understanding of customers regardless of sector or industry.

Critical and strategic thinking

You need to be organised in your approach as a management accountant, with an ability to think critically. While management accounting roles demand expert analysis, you need to know how to deliver recommended changes from your insights.

Teamwork

You will be working as part of a team and need to know how to lead and support your colleagues across a multitude of tasks.

Communication skills

You will need to communicate with people from various backgrounds and with different skill sets. It’s important that you can communicate clearly and efficiently both orally and in writing.

What is an average management accountant salary?

The average management accountant salary in the UK is between £40,000 and £50,000. Average salaries vary between regions, with management accountants in London earning the highest.

However, recent years have seen an expansion of the financial sector outside of London. Average management accountant salaries in Scotland, for example, are almost level with London, and in Bristol you could earn an average of around £54,000.

As management accountants gain more experience, they can earn up to £129,000, with the potential to earn large bonuses.

Part-qualified management accountants can increase their earnings as they complete exams and qualification levels. On average, management accountants still in training earn between £27,000 and £40,000.

How to become a management accountant

There are various routes into a career in management accounting for both school leavers and university graduates.

University graduates

You can have a degree in any subject to begin your accountancy qualification.

After completing your degree, you will undertake the accounting qualification levels with a professional body such as AICPA & CIMA or ACCA.

Having a degree in accountancy, maths, management, or business will not only be directly relevant to your role but may make you eligible for exam exemptions. 

Many of the accountancy professional bodies offer exemptions on exam papers for those with previous experience or qualifications relevant to accounting.

School leavers

School leavers have several options when qualifying as a management accountant.

Some professional bodies offer entry-level accounting qualifications which teach the foundational skills and knowledge to progress onto more advanced courses.

CIMA offers the Certificate in Business Accounting, which students can complete in order to progress to the full CIMA CGMA Professional Qualification.

You could also complete an apprenticeship. Apprenticeships offer the chance to gain invaluable on-the-job experience while earning a salary and working towards industry-recognised qualifications.

Apprenticeships are offered by employers that support the professional development of apprentices alongside training providers such as BPP, who deliver the training.

Read the apprenticeship vs university finance career guide.

Becoming a chartered accountant

While there are many different professional bodies you can train with, AICPA & CIMA (Association of International Certified Professional Accountants & Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) are often chosen by aspiring management accountants.

The CIMA CGMA Professional Qualification consists of three levels, with each level made up of three exams and a case study test. After three years of strategic experience in a relevant role, you can apply to become a Fellow Chartered Management Accountant (FCMA), which offers further career advancement.

You will also need three years of professional experience to complete your qualification.

Learn more about qualifying through CIMA CGMA.

You may instead choose to qualify through ACCA, a globally recognised accountancy standard that will enable you to access a wide variety of careers. To learn more about these accountancy routes, read the ACCA vs CIMA guide.

Work experience

Work experience isn’t essential, but it can be highly beneficial. This could include vacation placements, sandwich courses or part-time employment offering business experience. Relevant work experience may also count towards the three years of experience needed to begin the CIMA CGMA qualification route.

Final thoughts

Management accounting offers a great career path with opportunities to work in many different industries. Performing an important strategic business function, management accountants are highly paid and have a clear path for career progression.

If you’re looking to become a management accountant, then you’ll want to explore your qualification options. You can start by reading the CIMA exams list or by viewing our range of CIMA courses below.

Discover the CIMA levels

Introductory
Certificate

First full part of qualification
Operational

Build on existing knowledge
Management

Become Chartered
Strategic