Accountancy career advice

Hi
Long time lurker first time poster, feel a bit guilty looking for advice before Iv offered some!!

I am 29, work as a commercial lender for a Business Bank, have an hons degree in commerce (grad 2000) and earn a salary of €42k

I am very interested in gaining an accountancy qualification but feel Im slightly in golden handcuff situation at work in that if I were to take a trainee accountant position id be looking at a major drop in salary which isnt feasible with mortgage committments etc etc.

A friend of mine who is a part qualified acct has suggested that I could do the exams in my own time whilst working in my present job but that if I didnt work in practise I coulnt get a qualification that would allow me to work in practise. (hope this makes sense). He reckons that I would be able to get a job in industry no problem this way either when all exams are passed or as a part-qualified acct. I would be happy enough to do this as I have no great desire to work in practise but would like to qualify as an accountant as I feel it is more recession proof and transferable across borders than existing quals.

Basically I am looking for a bit of advice as to best qualification to seek to add value to my CV.

Rgds
Dan

dancarter said:

Hi
Long time lurker first time poster, feel a bit guilty looking for advice before Iv offered some!!

Click to expand...

No need to-there is no onus or expectation to do so.

I am a qualified ACA, but I went in straight from uiniversity, so no drop in salary etc.

In your situation, I would look at ACCA or CIMA, i.e. where you don't need to think about auditing and practice, and will probably not have to leave your current job or take a drop in salary-not much point in going the ACA route now IMHO.

Your friend is sorta correct, you can work in practice however you will be restricted somewhat in your capacity to have your own business or sign-off on audits etc.

You are therefore looking at either a CIMA or ACCA qualification.

Your degree should offer you exemptions from some exams however there is a time limit.

I would recommend ACCA, it has wider appeal than CIMA - who do not cover audit - and very transferrable.

Sounds like you're in Dublin so off to nite classes for at least 2 years

Would recommend ACCA also. If your commerce degree is in the accounting stream you should get significant exemptions.

You need to give serious consideration to your career as if you wish to qualify as an ACCA you need 3 years relevant experience under an ACCA or ACA, this can be obtained in industry, practice etc.

You need to give serious consideration to your career as if you wish to qualify as an ACCA you need 3 years relevant experience under an ACCA or ACA, this can be obtained in industry, practice etc.

Thats interesting didnt think of that, that would be serious problem alright, presuming my banking experience wouldnt be any good.

Given your current role as a commercial lender the ACCA would be much more appropriate. While CIMA would be of benefit, it is more suited to those currently working in a production type environment.

I would be very surprised if your current employer would not support you in the ACCA and would certainly look for payment of fees as well as appropriate study leave. At the end of the day your qualification will be of benefit to them. They may require you to sign something saying that if you leave within so many months of completing the qualification, you would have to repay they fees. This is not very common though.

On the negative side, you are choosing a difficult route what with trying to go to lectures during the week and at the weekend. As regards timelines, the quickest I have heard of anybody completing the exams was in a year and a half - that said she was brilliant. On average you are talking about 2.5 years.

While I went into practice to train, a friend of mine worked in Anglo Irish & trained with them - she did all the ACA exams the same as me but had to take a bit of time to do some audit experience at some point.

Basically it depends on what type of job you would hope to get - if you arent pushed on working in practice & would be happy in industry then you really don't need ACA. As previous posters suggested ACCA and CIMA would be perfect.

I would definitely try to get work to pay for it though......

Yes it is tough doing exams at night but if you are doing it through work they may give you time off & study leave etc or let you work up overtime & take time in lieu.
You need to think about where you want your career to go long term - it is a lot of committment so you need to make sure its what you want - otherwise you just won't stick it out

It is good to have the qualification - long term I think that it is always there to fall back.

On behalf of my own institute I'd also recommend CPA. It along with the ICAI are the two major Irish based institutes. It has a fast growing population of both members and students, a very good technical department who are always willing to lend a hand, and an excellent student department.

The qualification is internationally recognised and you can qualify as a CPA without any practice experience. If you wish to obtain a practicing certificate you will have to do three years with an existing practice of which at least two must be post qualification. With your existing qualifications you will get a number of exemptions from the first years exams and possibly some of the second year exams.

Best of Luck which ever route you take.

Past30