Becoming an Accountant

[MooseBreath]

Not an accountant but I did a 6.5 year stretch to get qualified, and I can tell you it was a long, long slog on crappy wages and at times it was hard to keep the right perspective on things. You better be sure it's definitely what you want to do. There is a kind of honeymoon period where everything is fresh and new but inevitably that fades, at which point you need to genuinely enjoy the work otherwise it would be hell. Luckily my work kept me entertained enough so I got through it. A good relevant employer and an understanding boss helps enormously.

[StanSP]

Thanks a lot for all the replies, really appreciate it. I've got a house which I live in with my Mrs and we aren't planning on having kids for 4/5 years so i guess i could manage to do the makority of the qualifications without being woken up at 2am! Those that are Accountants would you consider yourselves extremely good at Maths? I feel I'm good at managing figures but I was never what you would consider a Math genius at school.

For those of you asking about Project Management it's never a dull day because you ate constantly working on new projects. I managed to do my Prince2 qualification in a week intensive course, wasn't too taxing but I'd definitely get the e-learning software a couple of weeks before you start the course.

 

I'm not a qualified accountant but have been in this department for nearly 2 years now. All I have to show in terms of maths credentials is a B at GCSE and I think I'm doing alright!

[Captain...]

One thing I would recommend is looking at whether you want to PM in a particular field eg software implementation, engineering, IT etc and if you do make sure you have a Degree or experience as well as Prince2 (I'm finding this a struggle when looking at moving industry, a lot of people think you don't need specific knowledge about what what you are PMing but just look at the job specs on any recruitment website). You can work as a PM for an agency and they will put you on different projects. I have a mate who has just finished implementing a taxi app booking system and is now part of a team building a bridge, but the majority of these agencies are in London.

 

I've always found that the best PMs are ones that have no experience in the field. If you know too much about what the people you are managing are doing, then you are in danger of taking over issues yourself, rather than ensuring that the people have the time and resources to find the solution. The best PM I had knew nothing of the software we were implementing, she just asked what we needed to find the solution and made sure we had it, she managed our time and priorities and set clear and achievable milestones and deadlines, and chased off anyone who tried to distract us with other issues. We always knew where we had to be and when, what we were doing and when it had to be done by, it is amazing how many project managers can't manage that.

[Bilbo]

I've always found that the best PMs are ones that have no experience in the field. If you know too much about what the people you are managing are doing, then you are in danger of taking over issues yourself, rather than ensuring that the people have the time and resources to find the solution. The best PM I had knew nothing of the software we were implementing, she just asked what we needed to find the solution and made sure we had it, she managed our time and priorities and set clear and achievable milestones and deadlines, and chased off anyone who tried to distract us with other issues. We always knew where we had to be and when, what we were doing and when it had to be done by, it is amazing how many project managers can't manage that.

I totally agree with you mate. A good PM shouldn't need expertise in the field he is managing, I always believe it gets in the way a lot of the time (people all thinking they know best). However I'm finding more often employers won't even give you an interview without a qualification that relates to the field ie Engineering, Computing.

[Bilbo]

I'm not a qualified accountant but have been in this department for nearly 2 years now. All I have to show in terms of maths credentials is a B at GCSE and I think I'm doing alright!

I've got exactly the same mate so that's good to know.

Does anyone have any advice on the best way to get your foot on the ladder? I know that the qualifications require a number of years actually doing the work. Would Assistant Accountant be the best way?

[Tommy G]

It's a good career and would 100% never do anything else.

I started at 19 doing AAT alongside working full time, my firm paid for it all. That took 2 years. Then took a year off studying building up my experience, I then did my ACA. I'm 25 now, the ACA is a very very difficult qualification, you have to dedicate studying outside of work hours 6 weeks before exams, probably 3 hours each evenings and all weekend - especially at final stages. But then you look at the average wage if an ACA is 90 odd k a year.

I came out of practice at the start of the year as wanted to go into industry, I had 6 years experience and wanted a promotion. I am now an Assistant FC working at a UK sub of a US listed technology firm.

Money wise you will be secure, I started on £12k at 19 and this has more than tripled in 6 years + benefits. But don't do it if you want just the pay packet as you will die of boredom. You need to be passionate.

You also don't really need to be good at maths, just logical patient and a problem solver. If you develop some softer skills along the way this will help you gain promotions in the future. Good luck

[Bilbo]

It's a good career and would 100% never do anything else.

I started at 19 doing AAT alongside working full time, my firm paid for it all. That took 2 years. Then took a year off studying building up my experience, I then did my ACA. I'm 25 now, the ACA is a very very difficult qualification, you have to dedicate studying outside of work hours 6 weeks before exams, probably 3 hours each evenings and all weekend - especially at final stages. But then you look at the average wage if an ACA is 90 odd k a year.

I came out of practice at the start of the year as wanted to go into industry, I had 6 years experience and wanted a promotion. I am now an Assistant FC working at a UK sub of a US listed technology firm.

Money wise you will be secure, I started on £12k at 19 and this has more than tripled in 6 years + benefits. But don't do it if you want just the pay packet as you will die of boredom. You need to be passionate.

You also don't really need to be good at maths, just logical patient and a problem solver. If you develop some softer skills along the way this will help you gain promotions in the future. Good luck

Nice one mate, cheers for the info!

[hairy]

My sister and her husband both started as accountants. They have both now furthered their careers. She now deals with the financial side of organising events for Deloitte and he is involved with international corporate takeovers. Needless to say they are doing very well.

[FoxyPV]

I put Six sigma into Google on got a link which says this

 

 

Six Sigma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Sigma‎

• Cached
• Similar

 

Six Sigma is a set of dog wank techniques and tools for process improvement. It was developed by Motorola in 1986, coinciding with the Japanese asset price ...

‎Lean Six Sigma - â€Ž5 Whys - â€ŽJack Welch - â€ŽPareto analysis

 

 

 

That's for the info.  I'm being put through Prince2 by work and the PMI link was useful.

[StanSP]

Today I was in meetings for a combined total of 6 hours 45 mins. 

 

Gotta love these Budget Challenges .

[Itsthejoeker]

One thing I would recommend is looking at whether you want to PM in a particular field eg software implementation, engineering, IT etc and if you do make sure you have a Degree or experience as well as Prince2 (I'm finding this a struggle when looking at moving industry, a lot of people think you don't need specific knowledge about what what you are PMing but just look at the job specs on any recruitment website). You can work as a PM for an agency and they will put you on different projects. I have a mate who has just finished implementing a taxi app booking system and is now part of a team building a bridge, but the majority of these agencies are in London.

 

I'm a stones throw away from London so that wouldn't be too difficult.

[Leicester Lass]

You don't need to be good at Maths, you need to be good on Excel.

[Benji]

My sister and her husband both started as accountants. They have both now furthered their careers. She now deals with the financial side of organising events for Deloitte and he is involved with international corporate takeovers. Needless to say they are doing very well.

 

Aaar good old corporate finance - counting the money while the lawyers do the work 

[Maybes]

I'm AAT and ACCA qualified and got an U in Maths A-Level  

[StanSP]

You don't need to be good at Maths, you need to be good on Excel.

 

Good point.

 

We're known as 'spreadsheet gurus'  

[Thracian]

My oldest son and his wife have their own chartered accountancy in Northamptonshire. Yes, you have to be committed, the training takes time and updating never ends thereafter.

But the rewards are wonderful, economically, socially and in terms of wide-based job satisfaction and the endless leisure options.

Two kids in private education, trips up the Amazon and the world over, regular skiing, mountain biking, entry into the Italian job and London-Brighton rallys, charity runs from north of the Arctic Circle to the heat of Africa, the mentoring of students wishing to go into business, sponsorship of and involvement with countless sports clubs and other worthy organisations, dancing, gourmet cooking, local theatre acting, there's never been time for  either one of them to be bored.

From all I've seen at close hand I'd recommend it 100%.          

[Tommy G]

If dancing, gourmet cooking, local theatre acting and charity runs doesnt get your blood flowing then I don't know what will.

 

Another reason to go into the profession!

[Dan]

Y'alright people!

 

I'm thinking of a bit of a career change, I'm currently a Project Manager and I'm now looking into working towards becoming an Accountant (working firstly as an Assistant Accountant and then hopefully as a fully qualified Accountant) so I was just wondering if anyone had any experience of this or any advice. I work a lot with figures in my current job and it's definitely the bit I like best about it. 

 

I'm 30 years old so it's a pretty big commitment, I plan on doing the ATT and then maybe the ACCA. The only formal maths qualification i have is GCSE Maths however I have 3 A-Levels and a First Class Honours Degree in Media (not related I know), so do you think this would be an issue? Also does anyone know a realistic time frame to become fully qualified? After reading up about it 6 - 7 years looks about the average. 

 

Cheers 

 

I've done AAT levels 2 & 3 and I think that's a pretty good course. I'm on an apprenticeship now and I've opted for that over doing level 4 (I can't legally do both) as I needed work experience/money, I may go back and do 4 one day.

 

South Leicestershire College do AAT, if that's of any use to you. I think it's a decent path to take if you're heading up that route and I think I struggled with employment simply because I lacked previous work experience.

 

I'm not sure how you could fit in level's 2 & 3 (truth be told they're both pretty easy, 2 is a cake walk) around what you do now but I know they do two nights a week (Tuesday & Thursday I believe) on level 4.

 

Good luck with it.