Becoming a fiduciary consultant: The key qualifications for a successful career in the fiduciary industry

Education and continuing education

As a fiduciary consultant in Switzerland, you already enjoy mathematics while still at school and love networked and analytical thinking. Ideally, you will complete an apprenticeship as a businessman (KV) EFZ trustee/real estate. If you complete your vocational diploma at the same time, you will also receive a green card for continuing education at a university of applied sciences. The Swiss Trustees Association “Treuhand Suisse” stands for expertise, quality and trustworthiness. Members, such as Numarics AG, stand as Treuhand Suisse's seal of approval. Treuhand Suisse has its own training institute and is involved in or works closely with other schools. Of course, there are various private training institutes for broad continuing education opportunities in the fiduciary areas of accounting, tax, value added tax, business consulting, auditing, real estate and HR & payroll. The fiduciary sector is characterized by broad and deep expertise and constant change. Knowledge must be kept up to date and expanded on an ongoing basis. That means “life-long learning is key.”

Build and maintain a trustworthy relationship

The trust industry has a legal and financial relationship with natural and legal persons. The trustee carries out his obligations on behalf of another person or organization (the trustee), such as bookkeeping, payment of taxes, carrying out audits as well as human resources and payroll tasks. The trustee has the duty to act in the best interest of the trustee and to comply with the trustee's instructions or agreements. Licenses or certifications are required for certain tasks. As a fiduciary consultant, you have access to other people's sensitive information and assets. It is important that you comply with ethical principles and build trust. Working responsibly and professionally is essential.

Caring for and advising customers also involves a lot of variety with traveling or working on site with the customer.

The personality of a fiduciary consultant

Ideally, you enjoy working with people from a wide range of industries and companies, from start-ups to medium-sized companies. The contacts can be owners, managing directors, employees from the areas of finance, HR or administration. That is why you can communicate with different people on equal footing, quickly identify concerns, analyze the needs and necessary steps towards a professional solution in high quality and attention to detail.

The exchange between the various specialists supports continuous personal and professional development. It is therefore important for trustees to exchange ideas with other experts within and outside the teams in order to find suitable solutions for customers from various perspectives.

working methods

Companies are exposed to regulatory requirements. Compliance with deadlines is, among other things, central. Transparent and timely information about the initial economic situation of an organization is also extremely important for companies to manage their business. Foresighted resource planning, setting priorities correctly and a high level of flexibility are extremely important for trustees. A high level of technological affinity is also a must in order to keep pace with the constantly required digitization. Automated processes increase the time for analyzing data and providing future-oriented advice to customers.

The seven tips and strategies for becoming a fiduciary consultant

1. Proactive personality who enjoys interacting with diverse personalities from all industries and company sizes
2. Enjoyment of working with numbers, thinking and acting in a networked way
3. Attention to detail and accuracy without getting lost in the details
4. High ability to concentrate
5. Identify priorities effectively to deliver on time
6. Engaged continuous learning through experience and sharing with others
7. Enjoyment of technological development as well as digital processes

As a fiduciary consultant, it is important to establish and maintain good customer relationships. Be professional, reliable and communicate clearly with your customers. Understand their needs and find tailored solutions for them. Through excellent service and customer satisfaction, you can build long-term relationships and generate recommendations.

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