Lateral Moves in Accounting: Building Leadership Skills

If you want to strengthen your leadership potential and broaden your skill set, exploring lateral moves in your accounting career can be a smart step. Good news, these sideways shifts (moving from audit to tax, or from practice to corporate) often reveal entirely new perspectives on financial operations, without requiring you to wait for a traditional promotion. Research shows that accounting professionals who experiment with different roles become more adaptable and, in many cases, more marketable to future employers (Finding Clarity).

Explore lateral career moves

A lateral move typically involves shifting to a role at roughly the same responsibility level, pay range, or title. While it may not guarantee an immediate salary boost, it offers fresh challenges and sometimes a better work environment (Hobson Associates). You might transfer within your current company’s finance team to explore a new department, or you could move to an outside organisation that operates in a completely different sector.

Before you decide which path to follow, be sure to:

1. Define your objectives: Are you seeking specialised skills, aiming for improved work-life balance, or hoping to change industries?
2. Research the position: Actual responsibilities can differ from the job title. A thorough review can help you avoid surprises (Hobson Associates).
3. Keep an open mind: Unexpected pivots can occur, so it helps to stay flexible about location, project scope, or even timing (Finding Clarity).

Grow leadership through new exposure

Stepping sideways can help you grow as a leader. If you have been focused on audit work, switching to tax or financial analysis may round out your capabilities. If you are a controller with CFO aspirations, spending time in departments like corporate strategy or risk management can accelerate your climb to the executive suite (Controllers Council). By tackling varied challenges, you accumulate insights that traditional vertical moves might not offer.

Many employers look for candidates willing to adapt to new roles and tackle fresh problems. In fact, professionals who have worked across business units often find themselves better prepared for senior responsibilities such as:

• Managing cross-functional teams
• Supporting company-wide budgeting and forecasting
• Addressing risk in mergers or acquisitions
• Leading digital transformation projects

Map out a clear plan

A lateral move is most effective when it supports your overall career direction. You can use a personal development plan or even a formal skills map to see which competencies you have—and which you still need (People Managing People). As you reflect on your abilities, consider building a structured roadmap for continuous professional development (CPD).

Here are helpful steps to guide your planning:

1. Pinpoint skill gaps: Identify current strengths and areas you want to develop through a lateral move.
2. Align with CPD goals: Note how each potential move contributes to your professional growth.
3. Track and measure progress: Keep a simple record or skills matrix of what you have learned and how it benefits your day-to-day work (Personio).
4. Explore internal links: For additional support on how to organise and visualise your skill pathways, see personal skills map accounting.

Summing up your next move

A sideways path does not mean staying still. Lateral transitions encourage you to learn from new challenges, expand your network, and build the leadership qualities that accounting managers and future CFOs need. Large organisations, nonprofits, and mid-size firms all offer different structures—so each time you adapt, your resilience and credibility grow.

If you have felt stuck waiting for a promotion, take heart. Lateral moves might not give you an instant pay rise, yet they often set the stage for bigger steps down the line (Finding Clarity). By exploring fresh roles, mapping out a plan for skill development, and embracing every new responsibility you tackle, you equip yourself for higher-level leadership and wider impact in finance. All it takes is one focused leap sideways to reignite your career momentum. Your next move is within reach, and you are more prepared than you might realise.