Article
While the number of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals has remained steady, the deals being made are increasingly strategic and high value. This rise in these “megadeals” creates wide-ranging opportunities for accounting and finance professionals.
Experience on M&A projects can help boost your resume and provide future career opportunities. Familiarity with the M&A process can help you stand out in the job market, give you exposure to complex financial projects and support long-term career growth.
These opportunities aren’t restricted to those with previous experience supporting a merger. Even if you’ve never worked on an M&A project before, many of your finance and accounting skills are in high demand among companies going through the M&A process.
We’ll help you understand what accounting and finance skills are needed throughout the M&A process, how to present transferable skills on your resume and in job interviews, and how contract opportunities can help expand your capabilities within the M&A landscape.
Three key elements of the M&A process are integration, cost containment and optimization. Each element requires specific finance and accounting skills to help support business goals.
What it is: The process of combining the operations, finances, workforces, culture and strategy of merged companies post-acquisition
Accounting and finance skills needed: Technical accounting, controllership, reporting, controls, systems and data integration
Why it matters: Accurate accounting, reporting and integrated financial systems are critical for bringing two organizations together while maintaining financial consistency and control.
What it is: Efforts to increase efficiencies and eliminate redundancies in areas like workforce, real estate and technology
Accounting and finance skills needed: Financial planning and analysis, cost analysis, working capital, synergy tracking, process improvement
Why it matters: Financial analysis and planning are essential for identifying cost-saving opportunities, measuring synergies and determining where efficiencies can be gained.
What it is: Using the merger as an opportunity to accelerate growth through business transformation
Accounting and finance skills needed: Finance transformation, enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation, analytics, automation, strategic finance
Why it matters: Transformation, analytics and strategic finance capabilities enable organizations to modernize processes, make more informed decisions and support future growth.
While experience with M&As can be a plus, it’s not always necessary to pursue career opportunities. There’s significant overlap between everyday finance and accounting skills and M&A-relevant capabilities.
If you haven’t previously worked on an M&A project, make sure your resume highlights your transferable skills that can translate to an integration environment. These include:
Don’t forget to mention soft skills that support crucial M&A activity. Be sure to call out skills like:
When searching for merger and acquisition jobs, don’t limit yourself to full-time roles. Contract or interim opportunities are a strategic way to gain exposure to integration, systems, transformation and cross-functional work while expanding your capabilities. For professionals without previous M&A experience, contract roles can be a great way to learn the M&A process and gain experience quickly.
Also remember that opportunities during an acquisition aren’t restricted to the merger itself. Integration work takes place alongside normal finance operations, which can overburden finance and accounting teams. This creates an additional need for contract workers to support day-to-day finance operations.
Partner with Aston Carter to build the experience you need to find future M&A opportunities. Our recruiters will work with you to understand your career goals and explore how your skills can support the M&A process. Whether that looks like direct involvement in M&A integration or supporting day-to-day finance operations, we’re committed to matching you with positions that accelerate your career growth.
Contact us today to begin exploring your merger and acquisition career path.
There are many accounting and finance skills needed throughout the merger and acquisition process. A few include:
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