When Your Regulated Firm Needs Its First Qualified Accountant

A regulated firm often reaches a point in its growth where it needs its first qualified accountant — where the finance work has grown beyond what bookkeepers, part-qualified staff, or outsourced arrangements can adequately handle, and the firm needs the capability, judgement and regulatory understanding that a qualified accountant brings. For a growing regulated firm, recognising when this point has been reached, and making the right first qualified hire, is an important step, because the qualified accountant brings the finance capability the growing regulated firm needs, including the regulatory dimension that a regulated firm’s finance requires. This guide addresses when and how a regulated firm should make its first qualified accountant hire, for the leaders of growing regulated firms.

This guide is written for the leaders of growing regulated firms considering their first qualified accountant hire. It covers the signs that a regulated firm needs its first qualified accountant, what the qualified accountant brings, the particular importance of the regulatory dimension in this hire, how to make the hire well, and how the first qualified accountant fits into the firm’s growth. It is a practical guide aimed at those making this important decision in a growing regulated firm. The aim is an understanding of when a regulated firm needs its first qualified accountant and how to make the hire well, getting the finance capability the growing regulated firm needs, including the regulatory understanding its regulated status requires.

The Signs That a Regulated Firm Needs Its First Qualified Accountant

A regulated firm shows recognisable signs when it has reached the point of needing its first qualified accountant, and recognising them helps the firm make the hire at the right time. A common sign is that the finance work has grown beyond what the existing arrangements — bookkeepers, part-qualified staff, outsourced accounting — can adequately handle, so that the finance function is struggling to keep up with the volume, the complexity, or the demands. Another sign is that the firm needs finance capability, judgement, or regulatory understanding that the existing arrangements do not provide — the qualified accountant’s technical capability, professional judgement, or grasp of the regulatory dimension — which the growing regulated firm increasingly requires.

For a regulated firm specifically, a further sign is that the regulatory responsibilities of finance — the regulatory reporting, the regulatory capital work, the client money or safeguarding where relevant — have grown to the point where they need the qualified capability and regulatory understanding that a qualified accountant brings, beyond what the existing arrangements can provide. The regulatory dimension often accelerates a regulated firm’s need for qualified finance capability, because the regulatory responsibilities require capability and understanding that basic arrangements may not provide. A regulated firm that recognises these signs — the finance work outgrowing the existing arrangements, the need for qualified capability and judgement, the growing regulatory responsibilities — can identify when it needs its first qualified accountant. Understanding the signs that a regulated firm needs its first qualified accountant helps the firm make the hire at the right time, neither too early nor too late. Recognising the signs is the basis for making this important hire when the firm genuinely needs it.

What the Qualified Accountant Brings

The first qualified accountant brings capabilities that a growing regulated firm needs, beyond what its previous finance arrangements provided. They bring technical accounting capability — the qualified expertise to handle the firm’s accounting properly, including the more complex matters that a growing firm encounters — which basic arrangements may not provide. They bring professional judgement — the qualified accountant’s judgement on financial matters, which supports the firm’s decisions and its financial management, and which is more than bookkeeping or basic accounting provides. And they bring the capability to build and lead the finance function as the firm grows, providing the finance leadership the growing firm increasingly needs.

For a regulated firm, the qualified accountant also brings, or can develop, the regulatory understanding that the regulated firm’s finance requires — the capability to handle the regulatory responsibilities of finance, the understanding of the regulatory dimension, the ability to meet the heightened standards. This regulatory capability, alongside the finance capability, is particularly valuable to a regulated firm, whose finance function must handle the regulatory dimension. The first qualified accountant therefore brings the finance capability, judgement, and leadership the growing firm needs, plus the regulatory capability the regulated firm requires. Understanding what the qualified accountant brings — the technical capability, the judgement, the leadership, and the regulatory capability — helps a regulated firm understand the value of the hire and what to look for. The qualified accountant brings the finance and regulatory capability the growing regulated firm needs, and understanding this is the basis for making the hire well.

The Particular Importance of the Regulatory Dimension

In a regulated firm, the regulatory dimension is particularly important in the first qualified accountant hire, because the firm needs finance capability that includes the regulatory understanding its regulated status requires. A qualified accountant who brings, or can develop, the regulatory understanding — the capability to handle the regulatory responsibilities of finance, the grasp of the regulatory dimension — is particularly valuable to a regulated firm, because the finance function must handle the regulatory work. The regulatory dimension therefore adds a consideration to the regulated firm’s first qualified accountant hire that an unregulated firm’s would not have.

This means a regulated firm should consider the regulatory dimension in its first qualified accountant hire — looking for a qualified accountant who brings relevant regulatory experience, or who has the capability and aptitude to develop the regulatory understanding the regulated firm requires. The balance between requiring existing regulatory experience and accepting a capable qualified accountant who will develop it depends on the firm’s needs, as discussed in relation to hiring for regulatory experience generally, but the regulatory dimension is a genuine consideration in the regulated firm’s first qualified hire. A regulated firm that considers the regulatory dimension in this hire — ensuring the qualified accountant brings or can develop the regulatory understanding — makes a hire suited to its regulated status; one that considers only the finance capability, neglecting the regulatory dimension, may hire a qualified accountant less suited to the regulated environment. Understanding the particular importance of the regulatory dimension in the regulated firm’s first qualified accountant hire helps the firm make a hire suited to its needs. The regulatory dimension is a genuine consideration, and accounting for it is part of making this hire well in a regulated firm.

How to Make the Hire Well

Making the first qualified accountant hire well involves getting the right person for the role, accounting for both the finance capability and the regulatory dimension, and for the particular nature of a first qualified hire in a growing firm. The firm should identify what it needs from the hire — the finance capabilities, the regulatory understanding, the leadership, the fit with the firm and its growth stage — and seek a qualified accountant who provides it. For a first qualified accountant in a growing firm, the ability to build the finance function, to work in a growing business, and to bring the judgement and leadership the firm needs are important, alongside the technical capability and the regulatory understanding.

The firm should assess candidates on both the finance capability and the regulatory dimension, balancing them appropriately for what the role requires, and should seek a candidate who fits the firm, its growth stage, and its regulated environment. Making this hire well benefits from recruitment support that understands both the qualified finance market and the regulated sector, because finding a qualified accountant who brings the finance capability, the regulatory understanding, and the fit with a growing regulated firm is where specialist knowledge helps. A firm that makes its first qualified accountant hire well — identifying its needs, assessing candidates on both dimensions, seeking the right fit, with good support — gets the finance capability the growing regulated firm needs; one that makes it poorly may get a hire that does not fit. Understanding how to make the hire well — the needs, the assessment, the fit, the support — helps a regulated firm get the right first qualified accountant. Making this important hire well is the basis for getting the finance capability the growing regulated firm needs, and doing it well matters for the firm’s growth.

How the First Qualified Accountant Fits Into the Firm’s Growth

The first qualified accountant is an important step in a regulated firm’s growth, and understanding how they fit into it helps the firm see the hire in context. The first qualified accountant typically marks the point where the firm’s finance function moves from basic arrangements to genuine qualified finance capability, laying the foundation for the finance function the growing firm will need. The qualified accountant builds and leads the finance function from this point, developing the capability, the controls, and the regulatory finance work as the firm grows, so the first qualified hire is the foundation of the firm’s growing finance capability.

As the firm continues to grow, the finance function the first qualified accountant builds will itself grow — adding capability, staff, and structure — and the first qualified accountant often leads this growth, developing the finance function as the firm develops. The first qualified accountant hire is therefore not just filling an immediate need but laying the foundation for the firm’s finance capability as it grows, which is why getting it right matters. A regulated firm that makes a good first qualified accountant hire lays a strong foundation for its growing finance function; one that makes a poor hire, or delays the hire too long, hampers its finance capability as it grows. Understanding how the first qualified accountant fits into the firm’s growth — as the foundation of the growing finance function — helps a regulated firm see the hire as the important step it is. The first qualified accountant is the foundation of the growing regulated firm’s finance capability, and making the hire well is an important investment in the firm’s growth. The finance professionals who make strong first qualified accountants in growing regulated firms are genuinely valuable, and finding them is what we help regulated firms do. This connects to the guides on building the finance function at a regulated firm and hiring finance staff with the right regulatory experience.

Permanent, Interim, or Fractional for the First Hire

A regulated firm making its first qualified accountant hire has options in the form of the engagement — permanent, interim, or fractional — and understanding these helps the firm choose what suits its needs. A permanent hire brings a qualified accountant into the firm on an ongoing basis, building the finance function as a permanent part of the firm, which suits a firm that needs ongoing, embedded qualified finance capability. An interim hire brings experienced qualified capability on a temporary basis, which suits a firm that needs qualified capability quickly, or that wants experienced capability to establish the finance function while it makes permanent arrangements.

A fractional hire brings a qualified accountant on a part-time, ongoing basis, which suits a firm that needs qualified finance capability but not yet a full-time qualified accountant — a common situation for a growing firm that has outgrown basic arrangements but does not yet need a full-time qualified accountant. The fractional option can be particularly useful for a growing regulated firm at the point of its first qualified hire, providing the qualified capability and regulatory understanding it needs at a level of engagement suited to its size. A regulated firm making its first qualified accountant hire should consider which form of engagement — permanent, interim, or fractional — suits its needs and stage, because the right form depends on the firm’s situation. Understanding the options — permanent, interim, fractional — helps a regulated firm choose the engagement that suits its first qualified hire. The form of the engagement is a genuine consideration in the first qualified accountant hire, and choosing the right one for the firm’s needs and stage is part of making the hire well, which is where recruitment support that offers all these options can help the firm find the right arrangement.