Is Bookkeeping and Accounting recession-proof?

Whilst no career is truly recession-proof, there are some professions that are more resilient than others, and bookkeeping & accounting is definitely one of them!

Essentially, as long as there is “business” (be it sole traders, micro entities or even national conglomerates), then there will always be a need for bookkeepers and accountants.

According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and professional industry data, Bookkeeping and Accountancy is one of the most recession-proof private sector professions in the UK.

Analysis undertaken by Randstad Financial & Professional found that over a 12 year period (2002 to 2014), the total salary bill across the full-time accounting profession increased by 11.5%.

Conversely, other professions with typically high numbers of private sector employees have seen their collective salary bills depreciate during the same time period.

As an example, the management consulting profession saw its total salary bill fall from £6.9bn to £5.7bn. This represented a decrease of £1.2bn (17.39%).

The analysis ranked each occupation by the change in the collective salary bill for full-time staff between 2002 and 2014, adjusting for the effects of inflation. It also took into account both the resilience of employment levels and real salaries. This provided an overall view of how recession-proof each occupation is.

Managing director of Randstad Financial & Professional, Tara Ricks stated:

“Accountancy is recession resilient. The profession’s comparatively high aggregate salary bill demonstrates accountants are in the enviable position of being in demand whatever the financial weather…

By contrast, other private sector professionals, such as retail workers and builders, are more vulnerable to the economic climate.”

The stark reality is that regardless of the economic climate, all businesses/companies will need financial and payroll services. As long as that business/company is operating and is viable, money will be found to pay for those services.

What changes however is that people will question the value of what they receive for the money spent…even more so in times of hardship or economic downturn.

Business owners will happily employ the services of a bookkeeper but only if they understand the value that they can add to their business.

At Training Link, we have helped over 6000 accounting and bookkeeping students to boost their career, add skills to their CV, and launch their own bookkeeping practice. Take a look at some of our Student Success stories here.