More qualified accountants in Ireland are seriously considering the move from practice to industry right now than at any point in recent years. That is not a guess — it is what I am hearing in conversations every week. If you are one of them, this is worth reading before you decide.
The Salary Picture Is Real, But It Is Not the Whole Story
Let us start with the number everyone thinks about first. A newly qualified ACA or ACCA moving from a mid-tier practice to an industry role in Ireland is typically looking at somewhere between €55,000 and €70,000 at the moment, depending on sector, company size, and location. That is often a meaningful jump on what practice is paying at the same level.
But salary in industry tends to plateau faster than people expect. The path from newly qualified to financial controller or FD in a commercial business can take eight to twelve years, with significant variation depending on the company. In practice, the progression framework is more structured — you can see the rungs on the ladder. In industry, the next step up sometimes does not exist until someone above you moves.
Neither picture is bad. They are just different, and it is worth going in with both eyes open.
What Practice Gives You That Industry Cannot Replicate
If you are still in practice and feeling the pressure to leave, I want to name something that often gets lost in that conversation: the technical depth you are building is genuinely valuable, and it compounds.
Exposure across multiple clients, industries, and regulatory environments in a short period gives you a breadth of experience that most industry roles simply cannot offer at the same career stage. The person who has audited fifteen different businesses across five sectors by the age of twenty-eight knows how companies actually work — the good, the bad, and the ugly — in a way that somebody who joined a single company finance team at twenty-two may not.
That said, practice also has real costs. Long hours around busy season, client pressure, and a feeling that your work is always in service of someone else’s business rather than your own — these are legitimate complaints, not weaknesses. If those things are genuinely wearing you down, industry is worth seriously considering.
What Industry Gives You That Practice Rarely Does
The shift that most people describe after moving to industry is a sense of ownership. You are working on one business, you understand it deeply, and you can see the direct impact of your work. That can be genuinely energising after years of moving from client to client.
Work-life balance in industry is generally better, though it varies enormously by company culture and role. FP&A roles in a well-run business are typically more predictable than audit. Finance business partnering roles in a growing Irish SME can be intense in their own way, but the hours tend to be more contained.
There is also the question of what you want to do with your days. If you enjoy close commercial work — sitting with the business rather than reporting on it — industry is probably where you will thrive. If you genuinely like technical accounting, complex financial reporting, or the variety that comes from working across different clients, practice may suit you better than you think.
The Question About Qualification Recognition Nobody Asks Enough
One practical point that does not get enough attention: if you are ACA-qualified through Chartered Accountants Ireland, your qualification is highly regarded by Irish industry employers. ACCA is also well-recognised, particularly at financial controller level and above in the SME and multinational space. CPA is solid in specific sectors, especially within Irish-owned businesses and financial services.
What does vary is the weight employers place on *where* you trained — the size and reputation of the firm, the complexity of the clients, the quality of the audit and advisory work. That context matters when you are presenting yourself for a first industry move. Be ready to articulate not just what you are qualified to do, but what you have actually done.
If you trained in a Big Four or Top Ten firm, that carries recognisable weight with most CFOs and FDs. If you trained in a smaller regional practice, the work is often just as rigorous — but you may need to make that case more clearly in your CV and in conversation.
If you are genuinely weighing this decision, the most useful thing I can suggest is to have one honest conversation before you start applying anywhere — not to be talked into or out of anything, but to understand what the market actually looks like right now for someone with your specific background.
If that would be useful, reach out. No pitch, no pressure. Just a straight conversation about where you are and what your options actually look like.
