From theatre to audit: meet career-changer Charlie Morley

Charlie Morley's path into accountancy began during her time as general manager at a theatre company in Oxford, where she wore multiple hats. "I started with marketing, did front of house, and a bit of fundraising," she explains. "It was a small charity - lots of sharing of roles - and I ended up doing a bit of everything.

“Our accountant was completely invaluable - knowledgeable and really approachable and helpful. Having done arts and humanities my whole life, I had never really thought about accountancy. It made me realise that accountancy is not what I thought it was: sitting at the computer and looking at numbers."

When it came to retraining as an accountant, Charlie was clear that the apprenticeship route was the right choice for her. "I wanted to keep working - I like having that structure in my life. I’ve also discovered that I’m a very practical learner - it’s hard for me to retain knowledge out of context. In my apprenticeship, we’ll learn something during a study week, and then I’ll encounter it at work the next week - it makes more sense to me because I can apply it.”

The hands-on approach to learning has helped with exams, too: "When a question comes up in an exam, I think, ‘Oh, that's a bit like that one of my clients,’ and I can bring it all together."

One of the most surprising aspects of Charlie's career change has been discovering which skills were transferrable across sectors. Her experience managing complex, time-sensitive projects with diverse teams has proven particularly invaluable. 

"At the theatre, we'd have a core team of ten, but then seasonally, we would bring in freelancers to deliver one of our shows,” she says. “Similarly, in audit, you are working with different teams at different clients: you're walking into someone's space and aiming to put them at ease and be effective and helpful."

The biggest adjustment for Charlie has been returning to exams and studying, especially when compared to school and university. 

"There's so much material to learn. It's quite a mindset shift to come into two weeks of tuition and think ‘I need to get an overall understanding of this.’ Much of the exam technique is around preparation, too: if you don't know something, don't panic, because there will be other marks that you can pick up."

With a young daughter, Charlie has also had to become strategic about how she manages her time across work and study. "If I know that she's going to climbing club for an hour and a half, that's an hour and a half where I can study,” she explains. “It's about compartmentalising your time, as well as not neglecting the fact that you do need to rest: you do need to do things that make you happy and that uses a different part of your brain."

Initially, Charlie thought she might return to the charity sector after qualifying, but her experience in audit has opened her eyes to the value of staying in practice. "I think having people who understand not-for-profits within accountancy is so valuable,” she explains. “I can see a future for myself in practice, because you get that oversight and you can pull together your learnings from different projects."

Now 18 months into her accountancy journey, Charlie has found her place in the profession. The career change that initially seemed daunting has proven to be exactly the right move, combining analytical rigour with the people skills and project management expertise she had already developed in the arts. And, finally, there’s a camaraderie to the profession that has helped bring everything together.

”Everybody feels so passionate about being an accountant in a way I did not expect,” she concludes. “They really, really care about it, and it makes you feel like you want to be part of the profession." 

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