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My portfolio includes the House of Commons, the Department of Trade and Industry, and a range of other government agencies. And we also do consultancy, advising government departments on how to implement new policies.The best thing about my job is that I have a number of clients. I wanted to work with that diversity, but I didn’t want to be constrained by one organisation, as you are in the public sector, so I joined PricewaterhouseCoopers’ government and public sector division.Now I do external and internal audits, so I make sure the balance sheet does balance, and that organisations are getting value for money. After finishing my degree in law and government at Manchester, and a political theory masters at LSE, I wanted to develop my interest in the public sector as a career.I never particularly wanted to be an accountant but I wanted to understand finance, and in the public sector there are so many different styles of financial management, whether you’re looking at health, education, central government or local government.In the private sector there’s only one set of accounts, and things always look roughly the same, but in the public sector there’s so much diversity. “That’s why so many public finance accountants go on to become directors and chief executives.”How a career in public finance gives an insight into the workings of governmentAmana Humayun, 26, is an executive for PricewaterhouseCoopers’ government and public sector divisionI’d always enjoyed political philosophy at school, which got me interested in government and the public sector. “These are really complex organisations offering really rewarding careers, and the finance function is central to their success,” says Bundred.

He quickly saw that if he wanted to get ahead in local government he had to get qualified as a public finance accountant But it wasn’t all about career advancement “Local government finance is really interesting,” he says. “Through that function you get a really good understanding of the complexity of local government.”That understanding of how to get things done in government allows you to influence policy at every level, setting the foundations of the public services for the 21st century. Steve Bundred, 52, is chief executive of the Audit Commission, the organisation responsible for appointing auditors and inspecting the quality of services in 11,000 local government and NHS bodies across the UK, with a combined turnover of £180 billion a year.Bundred worked as a top level economist for several years before getting involved in local government. “Clinicians know they can rely on the quality of your analysis and advice,” she says.

“And that confidence is a crucial part of negotiating through change.”Ensuring that taxpayers have a similar confidence in public service reform is just as crucial, and accountants can find themselves making sure that not just millions but billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money is well spent. “My job is to make sure they happen.”Recently Meekings has helped move specialist burns units out of manufacturing areas, where most burns accidents used to happen, to areas more easily accessed by children and the poor, the most common victims today.Helping children access medical treatment is a long way from the public perception of accountants as merciless bean counters, but Meekings’ accountancy training has been essential to her work. “I develop policies from the decision making process at a national level through to delivery,” she says. Jaki Meekings, 51, is a CIPFA trained accountant who now works for the NHS as director of the South Specialist Commissioning Group in the South of England, making sure that the right specialist treatment is available in the right place in an area with a population of 14 million.

If something’s important it has a pound note attached to it,” he says. “But if you want to change things it’s important you have a wider vision, and the CIPFA qualification encourages that.”The people who really change things in government are the top management, jobs that often go to public finance accountants because of their experience of implementing policy. A couple of years ago council housing in Birmingham was in a dire state, but by improving management and outsourcing maintenance the council has recently managed to win approval at their last inspection, and improve standards of living for 70,000 council tenants.”Accountants are really quite important if you want to make changes in any organisation. Hughes and his team free up revenues for front line services by cutting costs elsewhere, by automating administration for example, or bringing different services in a community under one roof. “My job is to square the circle of how to improve services without raising council tax or relying on government resources,” says Steven Hughes, strategic director of resources and acting chief executive for Birmingham City Council.