Life as an accountant

Great earning potential, very strong market at the moment, plenty of scope to work abroad. Don't get caught in the trap of working crazy hours and it's a great job.
 
Depends on what you are doing-pure book-keeping isn't what I'd consider interesting, but there are so many things you can do when you qualify that nearly everyone will find something that interests them.

I find my job interesting, but I'm sure there are others who wouldn't.
 
I am in financial services and would advise anyone considering a career as an accountant to consider this sector.

One disadvantge (in Ireland) is that there are few opportunities outside Dublin. I would consider it to be one of the more interesting areas to work in at this point in time and salaries are generally higher than average.

Have you searched this forum for other threads on being an accountant? Also, have a look at recruitment websites (FK International, The Accountants Panel, Accreate etc.) to get a flavour of some of the options that are open to qualified accountants, salary levels etc.
 
Wow, your enthusiasim COOVICH has really reassured me... i'm (hopefully) heading off to DCU for 3yrs of Accounting & Finance later this year.
 
As a non-business (almost) graduate what is the commitment to a firm if you are selected to do the professional exams with? i.e. how long to stay with them after you get your professional exams?

Any idea of salary for a trainee in the first three years?

Do they want graduates straight out of uni or would they still take people 1 year or 2 years after graduation?

Kinda of looking at the Big Four rather than smaller firms... Thanks.
 
Others would disagree, but I would strongly recommend a Big 4 firm as opposed to a smaller firm. Having Big 4 experience on your CV will get you into many interviews. How you do after that is up to you.

If you don't have a relevant Masters, the standard training contract is 3.5 years, with a relevant Masters, it's 3 years. A relevant Masters gives you exemptions up to your Final Admitting Examination (FAE).

The earliest you can sit your FAE is in the second year of your contract AFAIK. You then see out the rest of your contract, and are then free to leave. Note that passing your FAE does not mean you are a qualified accountant-you have to see out the remainder of your contract, submit a Record of Experience, and pay your admission fees to the ICAI (if you are going the ACA route). Note that most firms or companies will pay your annual subscription fees but not your admission fees.

The starting salary for someone in a Big 4 firm should be around 22k-25k, but it could be more. This won't increase much in the first year or two, but if you pass your FAE, you will move to a salary somewhere between 35k-40k. There will be a non-taxable cash award of around 2.5k paid by your firm on passing of the FAE.

Most firms will be interested in someone 1-2 (or more) years out of university/college.

Once you qualify, expect a salary of between 45k-55k (today).

It's a career path that has worked for me, and I would highly recommend it to others.
 
CCOVICH said:
If you don't have a relevant Masters, the standard training contract is 3.5 years, with a relevant Masters, it's 3 years. A relevant Masters gives you exemptions up to your Final Admitting Examination (FAE)

Forget about the exemptions for a minute (althought they are very relevent!), just say I get a 3yr Accounting & Finance degree from DCU and then decide to try and get a masters before trying to get into a big 4 firm and start the 'real' training - would it be better to do a pure accountancy masters or one in, say, management - like, would a bit of variation on the CV be more useful in the medium term than pure accountancy.

Hope you undrstand that!
 
Are there oppertunities to travel abroad or is one limited by the training i.e. it is Ireland specific and N/A in UK or further afield?
 
CGorman

A Masters in Accounting (MAcc) is only really useful of getting exemptions while still in college as opposed to trying to study and work at the same time, or if you intend lecturing in a university/college at some stage. Having said that, it is a highly regarded qualification.

Wrt to other Masters courses, that's really a wider non-accounting issue that I can't really comment on as I am only commenting on my own experience. A business masters of nearly any sort will improve your CV, some more so than others obviously.

Itchy
You are not really limited to Ireland. The ICAI qualification allows you to work in the UK etc., but it doesn't prevent you from working in the Caymans, Bermuda, USA, Australia etc.

All in can say is that by qualifying as an ACA you leave more doors open for yourself than most other career paths.
 
Thanks again CCOVICH, I'll do the leaving cert and see how it goes from there! No point looking too far ahead.
 
While Big 4 are grand and may open doors later, if your long term intentions are or could be to move down the country then probably best not to stay too long beyond your contract.

The difficulty with Big 4 is that, given the size, inevitably you get pidgeonholed which wont help your broader experience which is what you would need outside Dublin.

So, try to get into as general an area as possible and dont overstay. Big 4 are a good way to "get on the board" though.
 
I worked in financial services after doing the Business Degree. Even though it was well paid and very interesting, the experience is not really 'valid' down the country.

I would recommend financial services if you would like to stay in Dublin.

Even though the financial services sector was going well, there were rumours of jobs being transferred to Eastern Countries. I did the other half of my CIMA exams. When the option of redundancy came, I took it. I got a job as an accounts assistant down the country. I did Debtors, Creditors, Wages etc, in a hotel for two years. I went to financial services straight from college, so my 'general' accounts experience was lacking. The accounts assistant 'all rounder' role was the best way to get a broad experience of how the invoices, payments, stock take etc, make up the P&L and Balance Sheet. I couldn't recommend this experience highly enough. Now I am working in another small company near home, bringing the accounts to B/S stage, stocktaking etc.

The big 4 training can open doors if you want to get into a multinational. Bear in mind that the multinational experience is more narrowly focussed and it may be hard to get a similiar type job in small rural areas.

Long term, I would think the best experience is to be an accountant in a fairly small company, as the experience is broad based and you can work anywhere in Ireland. Also, if the company grows, you are there to get experience of costing machinery and doing certain project work. I have never worked in practice, but if you liked practice, this too could mean you could work anywhere in Ireland.




I worked in financial services so​
 
Are the big 4 really in a different league to the small practices? For example, TLS would that not be fairly common and applicable to all companies big and small?

TO get the best all round experience/knowledge would you lean towards buisness advisary services? Or does it depend on what you want out of it?
 
'Business Advisory Services' is basically pure audit for your first 3 years.


If you think you want to work in practice later on, go into TLS (Tax and Legal Services) and sit both your tax and ACA exams. You will then be in a postion to do the books and prepare tax returns, a must in smaller practices/companies I would imagine. But yes, TLS has a much narrower focus, and you don't get as much exposure to the general operations of a company as you would from audit.

In bigger organisations, the tax and finance departments are totally separate.

Both accountancy and tax are excellant careers from an earnings point of view. After that, it really depends on what the individual wants
 
I work in small practice and have worked in a few different small practices over the last 10 years. IMO small practice will give you broad experiance as you will be doing everything from basic book-keeping, accounts preparation, auditing, company office returns, income & corporation tax computations and returns.

This will benefit you if you decide to stay in practice or make the switch to industry. It shouldn't be a disadvantage if you want to move into financial services either. It will also benefit should you decide to pursue the tax exams and become a tax advisor as you will have a good understanding of the nuts and bolts of accounts.

Depending on the firm you train with the mix of clients will vary but in most places I have worked you will get everything from a plumber to a pig farmer. Also there tends to be a good mix between accounts prep/audit and pure audit jobs...variety being the spice of life:D

The main reason I have steered clear of Big 4 is the thoughts of pure auditing day in day out :( ....never mind 3 solid years of it..3 months would have me banging my head against a brick wall:D .

You could also consider the ACCA exams. The main difference is there is no contract & you can sit the exams twice yearly (June & December) so in theory could qualify quicker than with ACA.. You are required to have 3 years relevant experiance but this can be gained before, during or after you pass the exams. While there was a snob value attached to the ACA qualification years ago, those days are for the most part over. ACCA is also a worldwide recognised qualification.

Any of you who are still in school or college and are considering a career in accountancy I'd recommend that you try get some work experiance in the summer holidays...it might give you a better idea of what to expect.
 
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