After three years of study in Diploma or Degree in Accountancy, you are finally ready to join the exciting world of accounting! Just like many other accounting graduates, you should have received multiple job offers. After all, every company need an accountant. The problem is you do not know how to decide which offer to take!
In more than ten years of my professional life as an accountant, I have worked with companies of various sizes. To make things simple, let’s group them into two – SME and MNC. They offer very different learning opportunities for fresh accounting graduates in Singapore.
I do acknowledge that there are always exceptions. However, I also noticed there are general distinctions between working for an SME and MNC. The choice you make will shape your future career in the accounting industry.
So, how do you define SME and MNC?
As an accountant, we like to follow a strict definition of words. IFRS, right? In general, we classify an SME and MNC by their total assets and total revenue. However, since this is a personal blog sharing my experience working for several SMEs and MNCs, I shall define the terms loosely.
The most prominent feature I use to define an SME and MNC is the ownership of the business. An SME is generally family-owned. The shareholders and directors of the company may be the same group of individuals.
On the other hand, MNC tends to be publicly listed. There are multiple layers of management between the accountant and the final decision maker of the company.
You may have your definitions of SME and MNC too. Most importantly, you can identify them when you see one. It is so that you can make the right decision to join a company that will give you the best possible future.
Learning opportunity as a fresh graduate
My first job in the accounting industry was with a large U.S. MNC in the management consultancy industry. While my role was mainly in AR and AP, it has given me a tremendous learning opportunity to kick off my career in the industry.
The second job I had was with a vibrant SME in a marketing agency firm. I gave up the opportunity to work for another huge U.S. MNC to take up this offer. Many ask why did I do that. Today, I confirmed that it was the right decision made.
Both SME and MNC offer tremendous learning opportunities to you as a fresh accounting graduate. However, the types of learning may not be the same. What you learn will determine your future career path. It is thus of utmost importance that you know what you want out of your accounting career right out of the gate.
MNC offers a great learning opportunity in the application of technical knowledge that you have learnt in school. Most MNCs will need to go through a statutory audit. The auditors will check the accounts and ensure that it complies with the relevant accounting standards. They tend to have layers of highly qualified accounting professionals too.
If you are looking to climb the corporate ladder, experience in MNC will be helpful.
On the other hand, the accounting departments of SMEs may not contain dozens of highly sophisticated accounting professionals. At times, there may only be a couple of accounting staff in the team. However, you are likely to be closely involved in business decision making should you join an SME. The managing director is likely a business owner. They do know how to run a business. You can learn a lot about running a business from them.
If you have no intention to work 9 to 5 for the rest of your life, joining an SME will equip you with a good knowledge of how real business works.
How structured is the environment?
We are all accountants. Well, you will be one too upon graduation. The reason why we chose to study accounting is that we like things to be systematic. I have therefore decided to share the different business processes between SME and MNC. Please note that there are always exceptions. Also, my experience may not reflect the overall picture. It is just what I experience while working as a commercial accountant.
MNCs tend to be very structured. They have many strict processes in place. Your job is to ensure that you run part of the system effectively. If you enjoy following established steps of doing things, MNC may be more suitable for you.
On the other hand, if you like to design new processes, you may have more opportunities with an SME. I used to work more than 12 hours a day when I joined my second accounting job initially. However, I only needed half a day of work daily to do what I had to do by the time I left the company two and half years later. That’s the beauty of having the option to design processes for the company!
How about the initial salary and yearly increment?
I understand many accountants believe that MNC pays more than its SME counterpart. However, based on my experience, both pay equally well. I receive rapid pay raises and progression during my time as a commercial accountant.
Nevertheless, I have to acknowledge that the perks may be different between an SME and MNC. Yes, I’m referring to the pantry supplies, designer office, etc. I don’t think you should be focusing on such things when you are a fresh graduate. Your key priority should be learning, learning and learning. I agree money makes the world goes around. But with sophisticated accounting knowledge and experience, you can make a lot more in the future!
Conclusion
I knew what I wanted right from the start. My eventual goal is to run my own business. I was also fully aware that I couldn’t get everything solely from working in SME or MNC. Therefore, I decided to be part of SME and MNC throughout ten years of my life as a commercial accountant. Even today, I have never limited my options to only SME and MNC. I work with both of them.
My advice to fresh graduates is to look far and ask yourself what you wish to achieve ten, twenty and thirty years down the road. It will help you narrow down the options and hopefully select one that best serves your future goals.
– Yanto Wong –
