ACA advanced exams

[Saraiiii]

A few threads have been popping up about this lately - just wanted some advice :)

I have just failed two of mine and am feeling quite low about it all. I failed because I was working hard until right before and wasn’t able to focus properly on the exams. I also have bad anxiety although this is another point entirely, but I don’t think it helped... o convinced myself I couldn’t do it and worked myself into a real state.

ACA failure (this isn’t my first) has been a bitter pill to swallow and will probably slightly delay my progression as well. It’s so public and everyone in my department (big 4 firm) seems to know, I feel like it doesn’t look good to the senior team either.

Just beating myself up really.

Does anyone have any advice? I am retaking at the next sitting, have been hammering through the books and now pretty exhausted.

Remember to rest. Remember to be kind to yourself. Put it in perspective.

Is this your first experience of failing/something not coming easily?

If you exhaust yourself your brain won't work as well and you won't perform as well as you could or should or need to.

If you depress yourself beating yourself up then you won't have the motivation or self belief you need.

It's not the end of the world. Your career isn't over. Nobody died. They're just exams. The big 4 is a bubble.

First time passes look good on a cv but they don't actually mean you're any good at the actual job! It won't matter in a few years, I promise.

Don't worry about progression. You've probably got another 50 years of work ahead of you, plenty of time for promotion.

Noone else cares about your exams. If you will work 70 hour weeks they will let you. But you're not going to think 'ah well, I failed my exam but at least that audit was complete' book study time off and focus on studying.

Finally, don't fall into the trap of reading / copying / making notes. Question practice over and over again is a much better use of your time.

Don't beat yourself up about it, I have been through them and know how tough it is when you're one of the few that fail. But in reality nobody really cares that much about someone failing an exam (especially the partners/senior management) as long as you eventually pass, and being good at the day to day job is much more important.
My advice would be rest up, forget about them and just prepare for the next go.
There are loads of people who now hold senior positions that have failed a few exams in the past, so you may have more allies than you think!

Thanks 🙏

I sailed through school and the first few years of university (straight As etc) then hit a wall final year of university. I did well in the end but took some time out. I then further failed a couple more ACA exams when I started and am a year behind my cohort, albeit still in the job! If I’m honest, I want to be the best and I want it to come easily and clearly neither of those things are happening (and it’s a completely unrealistic worldview too!!)

I am average at my job, not bad, not fantastic but fine, very hard working but I plod along. I hate how public the exam failures are and feel like I’m not in any way where I wanted to be by now: qualified!!

Sorry for the rant

These things happened. I failed my audit in a big firm, whilst working in audit. Yes embarrassing but I just did it again and moved on.

Maybe take a more relaxed approach. Have days where you don't study. Or a weekend off. Best way to learn is practice questions, something similar may come up in exams.

Hey.

I'm qualified. I failed my finals (all of them) the first time. Then 18mths later quit the profession entirely

It's not the be all and end all. They liked my attitude more than anything. I certainly wasn't the best or most astute there at all. They spoke to me during my exams saying they had a view to making me a partner one day, they liked my people skills and the way I engaged with clients and prioritised that.

Show a bit of personality in what can be a very grey field. We all pass the exams at some point, that's not going to be what sets you apart.

Good luck

It feels like the end of the world failing these exams. You worry sometimes because your colleagues pass them or your work out pressure on you indeed my firm was pass or the sack but honestly I failed nearly all of mine and kept going only because my old manager said he’d had a breakdown and done all but one of his ACA exams when he gave up and I remember thinking I cannot let that happen to me.
Keep going. In a few years time no one will bother about your failures and you’ll celebrate your success. Or just leave the industry. I hate it now and been in the game 10 years.

Or just leave the industry. I hate it now and been in the game 10 years.

This makes me laugh. Sorry OP, but I was almost identical to this as well. Think I suffered 12yrs of it, dragged my arse through the exams, then thought, fucketttthhhhhhh this for the rest of my life. It was actually the "partner one day" chat that made me recoil in horror and think, no way, not for me being stuck here until I'm 60+ thank you.

Thanks all

I really want to get out tbh.

Can I ask, for those who changed career, which industries are you now all in please?

I became a lapdancer! Loved it. Only stopped 4 mths ago due to pregnancy.

Slight alteration in career granted. Wish I'd never bothered with the accountancy and just danced from the start.

I’m a senior chartered accountant now working in government. I have never even thought about pass rates for candidates. This will pass once you’ve got them out of the way. You will forget all about it, I promise.

There are some really interesting accountancy jobs out there. Don’t be put off by the big 4. If you’re clever enough to get an ACA, which it sound like you are, then you could do loads with that, and be reasonably well paid without working horrific hours.

@Courtney555 ahahaha oh yes the ‘partner one day chat’ the one that basically translates into we will pay you shit for a lonnnngggg time just hang on in there for the carrot. I moved over to industry from the firms but I’ve watched salaries drop so badly in the last ten years.
OP I too am interested in what the hell do I do now!

@Courtney555 got a funny feeling my stretch marks and saggy tummy apron might result in me failing at interview stage for that career change...

Yeah I went from practice to industry briefly. Had a good salary. Was much better not having to fill in a sodding timesheet. How I loathed those.

Industry was vastly better, and much higher pay. I was a good accountant. I earned three times more as a dancer doing three shifts a week, and had the best time. What an incentive to study hey.

I work in audit in big four (for my sins ) and honestly no one gives two hoots about how many times you've failed!! If you hate audit (understandable) I see a fair amount of people who finish their ACA and walk into a job in industry (which at least tides you over with fewer hours until you decide what you want to do if you want to leave the profession completely)

I know someone who failed exams while at Deloitte, lost his training contract and subsequently employed with Grant Thornton where he sat his remaining exams.

He's now a director on the partner track.

Big 4 is such a pressure cooker. Perhaps you would be better off at a different firm which doesn't have their mentality.

Thanks!

For full disclosure, I actually failed three professional (one bad fail) and was on my way out but saved.

Then two advanced fails but no bad fails. These were definitely due to working too hard and not realising the demands of the exams and I feel like once I retake I should be ok.

It is 100% the pressure cooker mentality and the fact they are cutting study days and exam support. I was expected to pass with just 2.5 weeks of college in total which I don’t think was enough - the remainder all self study. I am now with another tuition provider which uses videos and already feel more confident.

The above has all given my confidence a huge knock though. Without wishing to sound arrogant, sailed through exams at school and university and was keen to be the top (or near the top) - obviously a fail is not in line with this and it has really shaped my character/my belief of what I can and can’t do :(

I am hoping to resit two this November and then take case study next July. This will mean I would have been studying for 3.5, almost 4, years!!!! The messages are so appreciated but all I can see right now is exams ahead and me taking longer to do it than anyone else! Which I think was a combination of cracking under pressure, not prioritising exams but rather work and not starting early enough...

@Saraiiii I was the same. No failures prior (unless you count my one failed driving test) they’re bloody hard exams!