Career change to Accountancy and really need some guidance

I'm ACA qualified through a "Big 4" firm.

I would look at ACCA over CIMA - lots of discussion online on their various merits so I won't go into it here.

I would have struggled to study in my spare time whilst working in an unrelated field - it's very useful to put knowledge into use immediately and have practical examples for the more wordy papers. IMO take the plunge and jump field and then start studying and work your way up - I don't know the difficulty of ACCA/CIMA but there's no way I could have just sat my ACA in my spare time without being surrounded by like minded people. ACA also requires a certain number of days relevant experience before you can qualify - I would be surprised if ACCA didn't have a similar requirement but I don't have experience with them myself.

Word of warning - if you want to get to the higher levels it is NOT easy. Just because you enjoy managing/moving money doesn't mean you'll take to it. I've seen many people start out confident and subsequently crash out at the first few written exams. You may find it even more difficult having been out of education for a while. There will also be a lot of low level work to do in the first few years.

Any specific questions I'll try to help.
 
Thank you all so much for much your opinions. They do help.

The last couple of years of my career I have been writing/producing reports within the I.T. department. The key here is knowing what the data represents to be able to turn it into Information. It's just the software/product I am on now is just not to my liking - but I won't go into that.

It does make perfect sense to use my experience as a Developer to gain me an advantage in Accounting. Of course, once I've entered the field I will soon become rusty on I.T. but I will always understand how it fits together.

Three points mentioned in people's replies that I would like to respond to are:
1) With my verbal skills and I.T. understanding a role of a Business Analyst would be a good fit. It is a role that has been suggested to me and one I would consider but a BA being a mind-set unless my current company moves me across I doubt that would be a path for me. I would rather skill up on a subject (Accounting) than rely on a particular mind-set (that a BA is).
2) If I were to follow the CIMA route I would complete their Certificate of Business Accounting, but if I were to go for the ACCA route I would complete the CAT. Both of these quals can be taken without any pre-requisites (which I need) and will make you exempt from some exams on the main qualification (i.e. the full CIMA or ACCA) which would be a bonus. Can I ask which of these have the most clout for breaking in to the profession?
3) With the ACCA you could gain an Oxford Brookes degree and this would be a big plus considering I do not hold a degree - if only to get pass the HR CV filtering process. I do not believe CIMA has a similar degree collaboration.
4) I understand the CIMA qualification has multiple choice questions and written exams towards the end but are the ACCA exams all multiple choice or do the ACCA have written ones too?
5) In studying the Certificate of Business Accounting or CAT I will be studying this in my own time and expenditure. What would be the best way to study this - college, home study through textbooks only, home study with online tuition? I want to pass but cheaper would be better. Opentuition website seems great and something I would use if I went ACCA.

You replies are most welcome. Thank you.
 
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thekhalida1 said:
Did you need to sit any exams if so which ones etc
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No exams needed, just purchase the workbooks. Obviously this may only get you a foot in the door with an SME that uses Sage. So it's a gamble and the certificates are only valid for a few years.
 
It seems like the only reason you want to switch careers is because you're stuck coding when you want to have more responsibility? Why don't you just try and get a software development role which allows you to design things and influence others? There are plenty of them: team leader/management roles, software architect, consultancy work, etc.
 
PermaChanged said:
If you take the FIA examination you're exempt from F1, F2 and F3 if going the ACCA route, so you do essentially work straight towards the ACCA qualification.
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This.

Also if you complete a foundations in professional ethics online module you will gain a Level 4 Diploma in Accounting and Business.

F1 to F9 completed and another online module will gain you an Advanced Diploma in Accounting and Business.
 
I'm currently a final stage CIMA student. I'm 32 now and just about approaching a middle management position in my current firm. I made the jump from a sales role nearly 6 years ago, its not exactly been plain sailing but its been a worthwhile change. I'll share some of my experiences here, for whatever they are worth.

In my opinion when it comes to accountancy qualifications ACA is out there at the forefront of all of them, followed by ACCA and then CIMA slightly behind. In some ways it seems like Finance is heading in a similar direction to the way IT did in the early 00's, there are many more people entering the industry than there are roles available. If you can get a decent Financial Reporting or Management Accounting role and gain some good exposure then that kind of experience can set you up for life, on the flipside I've seen plenty of people become overqualified spreadsheet monkees with careers that are going nowhere.

Given the IT experience that you have mentioned I'd consider heading down the Finance Systems route. You effectively bridge the gap between IT and Finance, handle all the system admin tasks and data querys from your source systems and your GL.

As other people have said please do not underestimate how hard it can be to study and work at the same time. I've got a case study coming up in the next 3 weeks, I'm yet to even look at the case because I've just come through a hellish quarter-end followed by 3 weeks of project inception, there are times when it will really grind you down.

Given your age and where you are at currently I don't think that Finance will be a golden ticket that will see you taking home £70k by the time you hit 45, but it could still prove to be a very lucrative living as long as you have the dedication and the knack for it.
 
Rids said:
I'm currently a final stage CIMA student. I'm 32 now and just about approaching a middle management position in my current firm. I made the jump from a sales role nearly 6 years ago, its not exactly been plain sailing but its been a worthwhile change. I'll share some of my experiences here, for whatever they are worth.

In my opinion when it comes to accountancy qualifications ACA is out there at the forefront of all of them, followed by ACCA and then CIMA slightly behind. In some ways it seems like Finance is heading in a similar direction to the way IT did in the early 00's, there are many more people entering the industry than there are roles available. If you can get a decent Financial Reporting or Management Accounting role and gain some good exposure then that kind of experience can set you up for life, on the flipside I've seen plenty of people become overqualified spreadsheet monkees with careers that are going nowhere.

Given the IT experience that you have mentioned I'd consider heading down the Finance Systems route. You effectively bridge the gap between IT and Finance, handle all the system admin tasks and data querys from your source systems and your GL.

As other people have said please do not underestimate how hard it can be to study and work at the same time. I've got a case study coming up in the next 3 weeks, I'm yet to even look at the case because I've just come through a hellish quarter-end followed by 3 weeks of project inception, there are times when it will really grind you down.

Given your age and where you are at currently I don't think that Finance will be a golden ticket that will see you taking home £70k by the time you hit 45, but it could still prove to be a very lucrative living as long as you have the dedication and the knack for it.
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I was also in sales and trying to make the change so happy I can nearly get out of sales once i get an entry accounting position
 
It's been mentioned already, but people with both accounting/finance and software development skills are extremely valuable. You can earn a ton of money in the investment banking field with those skills (for example).
 
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