Accountant
Business & Finance
Accountants keep track of where money comes from and where it goes. Day to day that means recording transactions, reconciling bank statements, preparing financial statements, computing VAT, PAYE and company income tax, and explaining the numbers to managers who have to make decisions with them. Auditors do the reverse job: they check somebody else's books and test whether the figures can be trusted. In Nigeria accountants work in audit and tax firms (from the big international firms in Lagos and Abuja down to small local practices in every state capital), in banks, in manufacturing and oil and gas companies, in schools, hospitals and NGOs, and in government — the Federal Inland Revenue Service, state boards of internal revenue, ministries and the Office of the Auditor-General. Many later set up their own practice handling bookkeeping and tax filing for small businesses. It suits someone who is comfortable with figures, patient with detail, and honest under pressure — a lot of the job is refusing to sign off on something that is wrong. Strong Mathematics and Economics at secondary school help, and so does getting used to Excel early.
Exam requirements
Career pathway
WAEC/NECO credits including Mathematics and English
6 years of secondary school
Five credits at not more than two sittings, including English Language, Mathematics and Economics. Commercial subjects such as Financial Accounting and Commerce help, though universities usually accept any relevant combination.
UTME and admission to study Accounting
Sit JAMB UTME (English, Mathematics, Economics and one other subject) and the school's post-UTME screening. Candidates who first do ND or a JUPEB/IJMB programme can enter by direct entry.
B.Sc Accounting (or HND Accountancy at a polytechnic)
4 years
Covers financial and management accounting, auditing, taxation, business law and company law. Polytechnic route is ND (2 years) then HND (2 years) with an industrial attachment in between.
NYSC
1 year
National service after graduation. Many accountants are retained by the firm or company where they serve.
Professional qualification — ICAN (or ANAN)
2-4 years, usually studied while working
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria runs the Foundation, Skills and Professional levels; accounting graduates get exemptions from some papers. ANAN is the other recognised body. You can work as an accountant without it, but you cannot practise publicly or sign an audit report, and most senior roles ask for it.
Common challenges
The professional exams have low pass rates
DifficultICAN papers are sat nationwide twice a year and many candidates fail papers and resit, often while holding a full-time job. Qualifying can stretch over several years.
How to handle: Start while the degree material is still fresh — sit your first papers during or just after NYSC rather than waiting. Use the ICAN study packs and past questions rather than only lecture notes, join a study group of candidates sitting the same diet, and take two papers at a time you can actually prepare for instead of registering for four and failing all.
Graduates outnumber the good training places
ModerateAccounting is one of the most popular degrees in Nigeria, so entry-level audit and finance vacancies attract thousands of applicants and many graduates start in low-paying bookkeeping jobs.
How to handle: Build something on your CV before you graduate: become fluent in Excel, learn QuickBooks or Sage, and keep the books for a small business, a church or your parents' shop so you have real work to describe. Sitting ICAN Foundation papers before you finish school puts you ahead of most applicants. Treat NYSC posting as an interview — firms retain corps members who were useful.
Pressure to sign off on figures you know are wrong
ModerateAccountants are regularly asked to under-declare tax, hide spending or adjust records. Going along with it can end your career and your licence; refusing can cost you the job.
How to handle: Decide now, before anyone offers you money, that your signature is not for sale. In practice: insist on documents for every entry, keep your own copy of what you submitted, and never be the only person who understands a set of books. If you are pushed, ask for the instruction in writing — that alone stops most of it. Know that ICAN can withdraw a licence, and a withdrawn licence is permanent.
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Key skills
Minimum qualification
B.Sc or HND in Accounting; professional licence (ICAN or ANAN) required to sign audited accounts and practise publicly