Getting into corporate recovery
Corporate recovery encompasses many services including insolvency, corporate turnarounds and corporate restructuring, and is generally dependent on the state of the economy: struggling economies naturally give rise to a booming insolvency market.
Equally in thriving economies more new companies are formed, creating more competition and thus increasing vulnerability, which will need professional advice on profit improvement and working capital review. In other words, there's always room for corporate recovery jobs and the demand for qualified professionals is usually high.
Corporate Recovery/Insolvency services are provided by large firms, many general accounting practices of varying sizes as well as independent specialist boutiques which deploy the skills needed to focus on their clients’ core activities.
In a rescue situation your role will be more over-arching and you will be required to:
- Assess the viability of each part of the business
- Ensure all stakeholders buy into your plan
- Determine how to generate cash as fast as possible
- Deflect immediate threats to your client’s survival
- Devise strategies to drive profits
Qualifications needed for corporate recovery jobs
Skills in demand are generally dependent on the state of the well-being of the economy. However, increasingly the growth in demand has been for those with specific business review skills in the form of IBRs, pre-lending or pre-insolvency reviews. This can lead to early-stage rescue work, often within a specialist team.
Traditionally, those who have started in Corporate Recovery or Insolvency jobs from graduate or school-leaver level will have taken the CPI route often followed with ACCA or JIEB and are more likely to be found specialising in formal insolvency appointment work.
For an ACA, the enhanced business review skills and accounting knowledge that are associated with ACA training mean that their entry-point post-qualification is more likely to be on non-appointment work eg turnaround, working capital review, restructuring, consultancy etc.
Generic skills expected will include some marketing expertise or commercial acumen, and sales skills that are vital in winning new business and raising the profile of the client. An analytical mind and diplomacy are also desirable attributes for those considering insolvency jobs.
Skills gained in corporate recovery/restructuring
You will learn how to view a business tactically from top down, identifying critical issues, thinking and acting simultaneously and assimilating enough information to create a strategy.
You will gain insights into more than just finance: you could easily be managing HR, IT, customer relations or operations, often in the absence of key employees who have made a dash for it instead of staying the course, or indeed been removed from their posts.
At senior level, you will have the opportunity to hone your negotiation skills and find that you will often be at the centre of business-critical decisions.
How corporate recovery can enhance your career
Jobs in Corporate Recovery offer unparalleled opportunities to gain hands-on exposure to the issues that make businesses succeed, and fail. Many senior recovery professionals, having demonstrated a safe pair of hands at the helm of ailing businesses, move into corporates as Directors.
You may be offered the opportunity to leverage moves into areas such as financial services and commerce. This is enabled by the enhancement of technical ability and by the fact that you have the opportunity to network with decision makers.
Those who choose to stay in the profession and have specialised in turnaround can often forge successful careers as corporate financiers. The strategic overview and experience you will gain will also stand you in good stead should you ultimately aim to start your own business. Your commercial insight will be your most marketable asset.
Go to our dedicated corporate recovery and insolvency jobs page for non-qualified accountants.
Go to our insolvency and corporate recovery jobs homepage for qualified accountants.
