Employers take a fresh look at TOPP scheme

The need for accountancy expertise in major corporations has grown exponentially in recent years, and top-end employers increasingly want people who not only know their own profession inside out but also have specialist industry knowledge.

Public practice students who undergo a traditional CA training with one of the big four emerge with an excellent understanding of the intricacies of the accountancy profession, but it is inevitable that there will be another sharp initial learning curve if they become involved in industry.

Recruitment costs are not going anywhere but up and, there is an impetus to bring on board people who are fully equipped with the relevant experience and skills.

For this reason, an increasing number of high quality recruiters are re-appraising the highly-regarded TOPP (Training Outwith Public Practice) scheme on offer from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

The scheme has been running for over 12 years and allows employers to train finance professionals from scratch within their own organisation. During their training, they study towards the exactly same educational syllabus as CA students in public practice. In addition, the studentís work-based training, monitored through completion of an Achievement Log, ensures they gain the wide breadth of experience necessary to qualify as a CA.

Companies of the stature of BP, Deutsche Bank, Conoco Phillips, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland and Standard Life are keen users of the scheme. The latest employers to join the scheme include Norwich Union and Allied Irish Banks.

One of the main attractions is that a graduate who joins a company through this route is more likely to have made a long-term personal commitment to the organisation, with the expectation of a clearly-mapped career path ahead of them.

Users of the scheme are blue chip employers and the attraction between them and the TOPP students is usually mutual. Entry is extremely competitive, and the calibre of the candidates is very high, with 94% of the graduates recruited possessing a first class degree or an upper second.

At the moment there are 60 students training under TOPP, and around 35 new students will be taken on this year, although the institute, conscious of the quality of opportunity for the students, is keen to expand the scheme.

Lisa Meldrum, the training manager at Standard Life, said: ìSince Standard Life started using the TOPP scheme 12 years ago, we have experienced retention rates of 88%.

ìOur CA students and qualifieds are in high demand across the group, which is why we will continue to recruit new graduates each year on to the TOPP scheme.î

Anne Farquharson is Sales & Marketing Manager, CA Education at ICAS