Career change to Accountancy and really need some guidance
- Thread starter nad12
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I'm sure there are plenty of people in Accountancy doing grunt work too, I wouldn't look at it as an instant leap into being a decision maker.
Personally I'd still try and keep your software skills up to date... who knows what might happen in the next decade or so - there is probably a lot more in this area that can be automated. Combination of a professional qual and dev skills can be useful and open other opportunities, big financial IT projects or perhaps working for accountancy or treasury software vendors as a product manager etc..etc.. you don't have to follow the same path as everyone else and if you keep your previous skill set up to date while qualifying then you've got a much rarer offering.
Personally I'd still try and keep your software skills up to date... who knows what might happen in the next decade or so - there is probably a lot more in this area that can be automated. Combination of a professional qual and dev skills can be useful and open other opportunities, big financial IT projects or perhaps working for accountancy or treasury software vendors as a product manager etc..etc.. you don't have to follow the same path as everyone else and if you keep your previous skill set up to date while qualifying then you've got a much rarer offering.
I'm ACA and in practice not industry, so limited help if CIMA/FC role is your main area of lookout. I would agree with Dowie, your IT experience would be good in an accountancy technology role.
Check out some of the posters in this thread:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17973232&highlight=cima
It should also give an indicator of CIMA exams at the moment. If you have specifics about ACA and industry (I trained in mid tier firm, now in the big four) ask away.
Check out some of the posters in this thread:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17973232&highlight=cima
It should also give an indicator of CIMA exams at the moment. If you have specifics about ACA and industry (I trained in mid tier firm, now in the big four) ask away.
For free online accountancy resources, for ACCA I use www.opentuition.com - Personally I prefer these lectures over the BPP/Kaplan offerings, but of course you don't get the structured courses/tutor feedback if that's something you desire.
Best of luck if you chose to make the swap.
Best of luck if you chose to make the swap.
Soldato
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CIMA here.
If you have good IT skills then once qualified a couple of specialist roles open themselves
In industry systems accountant (or similar roles)
In practice forensic accountant
I did systems accountancy for 6 years for one of the big financial companies in the UK. Its very interesting work, gets you great exposure to the business. Eventually it becomes a bit routine but certainly fun.
Even spreadsheets benefit from having good IT skills, and really spreadsheets are one of the most important tools of the trade.
If you have good IT skills then once qualified a couple of specialist roles open themselves
In industry systems accountant (or similar roles)
In practice forensic accountant
I did systems accountancy for 6 years for one of the big financial companies in the UK. Its very interesting work, gets you great exposure to the business. Eventually it becomes a bit routine but certainly fun.
Even spreadsheets benefit from having good IT skills, and really spreadsheets are one of the most important tools of the trade.
Soldato
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You sound nice Alicia. Can you loan me a logbook for a while, I've misplaced mine? Thanks 
OP, don't be under the misapprehension that there isn't a lot of 'grunt work' in finance and accounting. Being qualified is one thing but having the experience of practical knowledge in how to apply that learning is most of the job. If you're working in industry you have to learn and know the business as well. I've been in finance & accounting for 12+ years and did an awful lot of gruntwork. Thankfully a lot less these days, if any.
Systems accounting is pretty interesting and challenging. One of the more interesting parts of my role is designing and building reports, working out what is possible with the available data and shaping it into a useful form for the business. And the above poster is quite right, spreadsheets are your bread & butter.
OP, don't be under the misapprehension that there isn't a lot of 'grunt work' in finance and accounting. Being qualified is one thing but having the experience of practical knowledge in how to apply that learning is most of the job. If you're working in industry you have to learn and know the business as well. I've been in finance & accounting for 12+ years and did an awful lot of gruntwork. Thankfully a lot less these days, if any.
Systems accounting is pretty interesting and challenging. One of the more interesting parts of my role is designing and building reports, working out what is possible with the available data and shaping it into a useful form for the business. And the above poster is quite right, spreadsheets are your bread & butter.
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ACCA here. Qualified last AUgust.
One role you may be fairly well suited for would be some Systems Accountant where you would be working with IT and Finance to implement new finance systems. It’s a role I did for around 5 years for a compoany but I think doing it on a consultant basis would be most enjoyable as once the system is in maintaining it can be a little repetitive although as the above poster said there are always things to work on such as reporting.
Analyst style positions would also be a good option. There are loads of business analyst roles which don’t require as much “accounting” knowledge so perhaps may be the best way to transition and keep a reasonable salary whilst you’re training.
One role you may be fairly well suited for would be some Systems Accountant where you would be working with IT and Finance to implement new finance systems. It’s a role I did for around 5 years for a compoany but I think doing it on a consultant basis would be most enjoyable as once the system is in maintaining it can be a little repetitive although as the above poster said there are always things to work on such as reporting.
Analyst style positions would also be a good option. There are loads of business analyst roles which don’t require as much “accounting” knowledge so perhaps may be the best way to transition and keep a reasonable salary whilst you’re training.
Associate
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I Have past my first 5 acca papers, looking for an entry level job and not even getting any interviews
Associate
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Yeah im going for jobs from anywere from 12k-20k. yes the first f5 papers
Soldato
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Very good!To the OP, I would get a qualification to become a company account, as it pays better and you don't have to deal with lots of smaller clients, just one big one. I think some company accountant roles can be quite cushty affairs, so offer a good work/life balance if that's what you're after. It's easy to get on top of things when you just have the company acs to look after.
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Also if anyone is recruting I am looking for any entry level position
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My wife went from small company admin level to ACCA qualified.
- I'd add that please don't underestimate the amount of studying required. There are definitely easier professional qualifications to do.
- As mentioned above, once you qualify experience will limit your progression. Working with a technology company to leverage your knowledge pool will greatly help your advancement.
- I'd add that please don't underestimate the amount of studying required. There are definitely easier professional qualifications to do.
- As mentioned above, once you qualify experience will limit your progression. Working with a technology company to leverage your knowledge pool will greatly help your advancement.
yup... one possibly route I was getting at in my previous post: pass some exams, go learn a treasury or accounting system at a vendor, get 3+ years experience... finish CIMA/ACCA/whatever concurrently...
go collect £600+ a day as a contractor.... or demand a big fat raise from the vendor as the product manager in charge of their accounting module
I used to work for a FinTech vendor, had a variety of platforms/modules... people covering stuff from trade aggregation, market making, spread trading, derivatives pricing etc.. of course there were accounting modules too and in general, for a lot of people interested in finance accounting is seen as dull/boring... most people want to work on front office systems - someone who actually knows their stuff re: accounting in addition to having a good technical skill set and product knowledge could make themselves very valuable. Especially as it is rare to have someone who is a fully qualified accountant and has several years professional development experience - if you've got that and you're up to date on all the regulations and how they affect various FX, money market products/derivatives etc... then you could find yourself in demand in some areas.
How long was each exam if you don't mind me asking?
Soldato
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ACCA is THE accounting qualification to get.
I studied AAT first which is an excellent foundation to what you ideally need to know before undertaking ACCA, although AAT is a worthwhile qualification the ACCA linked CAT is a better bet as you gain more credits to get you out of certain ACCA modules.
I last studied ACCA more than 10 years ago so my current knowledge may be a bit rusty. Yes you can go straight into ACCA but to be honest if you don’t know anything about debits and credits or have some knowledge on producing financial statements then you may find you are in at the deep end.
Saying all that, I would say ACCA is very management driven but don’t let that put you off studying it – it’s easier than it used to be (i.e. final three exams were a nightmare) but that along with ACA are the only accounting qualifications worth the time and effort.
I have friends in audit that have travelled the world off the back of ACCA and a great deal of directors in companies I have worked have either had ACCA or ACA.
I studied AAT first which is an excellent foundation to what you ideally need to know before undertaking ACCA, although AAT is a worthwhile qualification the ACCA linked CAT is a better bet as you gain more credits to get you out of certain ACCA modules.
I last studied ACCA more than 10 years ago so my current knowledge may be a bit rusty. Yes you can go straight into ACCA but to be honest if you don’t know anything about debits and credits or have some knowledge on producing financial statements then you may find you are in at the deep end.
Saying all that, I would say ACCA is very management driven but don’t let that put you off studying it – it’s easier than it used to be (i.e. final three exams were a nightmare) but that along with ACA are the only accounting qualifications worth the time and effort.
I have friends in audit that have travelled the world off the back of ACCA and a great deal of directors in companies I have worked have either had ACCA or ACA.
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Each paper was 1.5 hours to 2 hours very easy papers the first 5 are f6 and f7 are much more difficult
I thought it was ACA/CA if you wanted to be snobby about it.... With ACCA/CIMA people being more likely to come from lower tier universities or be non-grads etc...
Though in the real world, at least in industry if you're working alongside other financial or IT people, it is more what you can do that counts...
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Ditto, until I passed some Sage Line 50 qualifications then I started getting interviews for entry level roles. Good excel skills on your CV helps too.