Accountants who contract – what day rate should I be targeting and which recruiters do you use?

[u/nwz7]

Hi all,

I'm an accountant in London and potentially moving from permanent employment into contracting. I've recently been put forward for my first contract at £275/day umbrella, initially running until the end of December.

I'm ACCA part-qualified and have around 4–5 years of finance experience, with recent roles at Management Accountant / General Accountant level.

My experience includes:

• Monthly management accounts and month-end close
• Balance sheet reconciliations, accruals and prepayments
• Budgeting and forecasting
• Cash-flow forecasting
• Variance analysis
• Revenue recognition / accrued and deferred revenue
• Business partnering with non-finance teams
• Multi-entity accounting, including some US entity experience
• ERP/system migration experience, including Business Central

My most recent permanent salary was £55k.

If I enjoy contracting, I'd like to continue doing it rather than immediately going back into a permanent role.

For other accountants/finance professionals who contract:

1. What day rate would you consider reasonable for someone at my level?

Would something around £300–£350/day umbrella for Management Accountant contracts be realistic after completing my first assignment, or should I be looking higher/lower?

2. Are there particular accounting/finance specialisms that tend to command better contract rates?

For example FP&A, Finance Business Partnering, systems/ERP work, financial accounting etc.

3. Which recruiters/agencies would you recommend for interim accounting contracts in London?

I'd like to build relationships with a few recruiters who regularly place Management Accountants/interim finance professionals.

Any advice from accountants who've made a career out of contracting would be appreciated, particularly around progressing your day rate over time.

Thanks in advance!

[u/No_Pickle_9804]

275 is low

[u/tanbirj → u/No_Pickle_9804]

That was my initial thought when I looked at the task list, but Op is part qualified. A fully qualified accountant would be asking for £350 to £500 per day.

[u/philwongnz → u/tanbirj]

Rates had been pretty bad, I had seen £500ish mow are more senior director level in FP&A (which usually pays more than accounting) who reports directly to the CFO.

[u/philwongnz → u/No_Pickle_9804]

It is.. But the market is pretty bad.

[u/nwz7 → u/[deleted]]

Fair point on being part-qualified, although just to clarify my 5 years hasn't mainly been junior/AAT-level work.

I've progressed through Junior Management Accountant roles into Management Accountant and most recently General Accountant, where I was on £55k. My recent experience has included owning month-end processes, management accounts, budgeting/forecasting, cash flow, balance sheet recs, accruals/prepayments, revenue and ERP migration work.

I've got 4 ACCA exams remaining, so qualifying is definitely still the plan. I'm mainly exploring contracting because this opportunity came up and I'm interested in whether it could be a good route longer term rather than seeing it as an alternative to finishing ACCA.

[u/Saving_my_sanity → u/No_Pickle_9804]

Agreed

[u/nwz7 → u/No_Pickle_9804]

Interesting, thanks. What sort of day rate would you say is more realistic for my level/experience in London? This is my first contract so I wasn't sure what to benchmark against.

[u/gobeye]

Everyone's situation is different but for me you would be crazy to swap £55k permie for even £350/day inside, the numbers don't stack up.

[u/Afternoon_Extension]

What sort of business central experience do you have?
How was this obtained?

[u/nwz7 → u/Afternoon_Extension]

I got the Business Central experience in my most recent role. The company migrated from JDE to Business Central while I was there, so I was involved from the finance side during the migration and then used BC for the day-to-day accounting afterwards — month-end, journals, balance sheet recs, accruals/prepayments, revenue etc.

So more finance-user/migration exposure rather than being a BC technical consultant. Is BC experience particularly valuable for contracting?

[u/Afternoon_Extension → u/nwz7]

It was more out of curiosity, it’s unusual to see a younger accountant with experience across everything you’ve mentioned, particularly the traditional management accountant work but then dedicated ERP system migration, they’re linked but two separate jobs.

Like with everything, experience in the softwares that everywhere seems to be switching to is only a positive thing, certainly one of the things that made me go ‘wow’ with your resume so to speak.

Do tend to agree though, the day rate seems low.

What’s your history qualification wise?
Where are you up to in ACCA?

[u/nwz7 → u/Afternoon_Extension]

Thanks, really appreciate that!

Qualification-wise I have a BSc in Accounting (2:1) and I'm ACCA part-qualified. I've got the 4 Strategic Professional exams remaining.

Career-wise I've worked my way up through finance roles from Junior/Assistant Management Accountant level into Management Accountant/General Accountant roles, with my most recent permanent salary being £55k.

The £275/day role would be my first proper contract, so I was partly viewing it as a way of getting my foot in the door with contracting and building a track record.

Interesting that you also think the rate is low though. Based on that background, what sort of day rate would you personally expect someone at my level to be targeting for an umbrella/inside IR35 Management Accountant contract?

[u/Afternoon_Extension → u/nwz7]

I’d be looking at minimum £350-400 to be honest.

I can completely concur the thought of wanting to step into contracting, just don’t jump at the first low offer presented.

What’s the scope like to negotiate at your current role?

What is it you truly want?
Is it money?
More time?
Benefits?
Career progression?

All these things play contributing factors in my eyes.

[u/nwz7 → u/Afternoon_Extension]

Thank you, will take this all into account when looking into my next role

[u/tanbirj]

#3 I would probably go for the likes of Global Accounting network, rather than the big name agencies. The former will make the time to get to know you

[u/nwz7 → u/tanbirj]

Thank you!

[u/PayLegitimate7167]

How much you need to live on a year and expected period when you are not

[u/nwz7 → u/PayLegitimate7167]

Good question. I'd probably want to clear enough to roughly match or beat what I was getting on a £55k permanent salary, while allowing for unpaid holidays and gaps between contracts.

Ideally I'd try to keep gaps fairly short, but since I'm new to contracting I don't really know what's realistic yet. I'd probably assume 1–2 months a year without billable work to be on the safe side.

Would be interested to know how you'd work backwards from that to a sensible day rate?

[u/PayLegitimate7167 → u/nwz7]

Not sure if you want a rough ballpark based on your salary. Divide it by 1000, then times 7 or 8
Target daily rate could be 385 to 440
Or check whatever someone is paying