Accounting vs Accounts Technician

[BlastedPimples]

Could someone please explain to me which is best to go for?

If I trained as an account technician / assistant, it would be quicker and I could start earning money faster?

And then I could use some of the training as credits in the training for an accounting qualification?

For context, I'm 53. Left financially high and dry after an awful marriage and divorce . Educated up to masters level but that's of no use really.

I'm just under confident. Afraid that I will find the accounting qualification just beyond me intellectually. But the. Wondering if I am selling myself short (as usual) by just not going for it instead of the accounting assistant / technician training.

Cold hard honest advice please.

Generally you train alongside working - so in theory you could start as either and be earning. AAT qualifications can be (or used to be anyway) offset against CIMA / ACCA so you don't need to do as many exams for that.

It may be easier to get a role where you have at least got one set of exams under your belt.

Maybe have a look at job vacancies and see what most ask for.

Thank you.

I had assumed that with zero experience I would have to get some level of study and qualification first to be of interest to any employer.

I’ve recruited people who have retrained. I think I’d recommend AAT and like a PP says, get a job using that and carry on. I probably wouldn’t start at the very bottom rung of AAT, you could just read the books if there’s no actual requirement to start at L2 and begin with L3.

First Intuition are a good provider, lots of feedback as an employer. Barnsley College do an online course which is very good value. I gather that people like BPP or Kaplan are now offering online subscription courses where you pay £60 a month for access to the whole qualification level suite of textbooks/exam preparation for as long as you need it.

The ExP group look really good and really reasonable price for AAT.

First Intuition is really expensive.

I haven’t heard of them OP, I only know of those on our approved framework at work.

With a Masters you could start at CIMA foundation level if you wanted to, I don’t know how that would help you with bookkeeping type roles at entry level but it might be worth exploring.

Thank you so much for the info.

Probably the opposite really. For both AAT and the chartered bodies (ACCA, CIMA, ICAEW etc)., you need BOTH approved experience AND the exams to become qualified.

I'd suggest you look for "starter jobs" where the employer will provide on the job training in the practical side of things and pay towards your study costs. Even if they don't provide study support, you'd still be getting relevant work experience alongside your self study, which would be more attractive for future job applications.

You're really not going to be more employable, nor get a higher "entry" job if you do the exams and get qualified first, whether at AAT level nor "Chartered" level, as you won't have the day to day experience they'd want for a higher level candidate (of qualifications).

If you took a couple of years of self study and became AAT qualified, you'd probably still only be looking at "entry level" jobs as you'd have no relevant work experience if you've never worked in accounting before.

I’ve employed people who’ve self funded a layer of AAT without experience who have then gone onto qualify (we sponsor CIPFA).

OP could volunteer to do bookkeeping for the Guides/PTA to get a bit of experience. Or ultimately become a self employed bookkeeper.

My role includes coaching and mentoring, I wouldn’t dream of squashing someone’s wish to better themselves, because that’s definitely what the OP will be doing by self funding a L3 qualification. When she applies for those entry level jobs she’ll have a great chance of getting one.

My personal view would be to try and get a job in Finance first because a) you might not like it, b) some concepts in technical accounting are difficult to understand without practical experience and c) you cannot formally complete any of the qualifications without experience.

I would also think that, with a masters degree, depending on what you aspire to do, an accounting qualification may not even be required. I know many people who have progressed to relatively senior roles in Finance related fields with no accounting qualifications at all, but with good bachelors or masters degrees.

I am an accountant, but the skills I use the most are Excel, PowerPoint, written skills and common sense.

Could you look for temp roles? That is how I started.

@BoilingHotand50something did you start working in your field when you were much younger?

Yes I did. I had an unrelated degree and didn’t know what I wanted to do. I started temping and then applied for junior accounts assistant type roles. I decided to train and did the whole qualification via distance learning, which was hard!

Yes. I know I have a long, hard road ahead of me.

But I feel like this could be an area of work that I could do for years and years and perhaps generate some financial security for my dcs and for me in much older age.

I've never been formally trained in anything. Always muddled through.

So I am quite excited about this avenue.

But perhaps I am deluded.

You can do it OP and I think it is a solid plan.

Thank you @DrPeculiar. It's really hard to know which direction to take and decisions to make with nobody to bounce ideas off.

I've read some threads on here about women undertaking the training in their 50s and how encouraged they were.

So I think it's time to gather confidence and just start. And look for another job that is more fitting.

However, I work for a tiny charity just now. I wonder if they might be open to my starting to get some experience with them on the finance side.

Asking work would be a good place to start @BlastedPimples .

As you know, I think it is a really good plan.

AAT isn't expensive compared to the other accounting qualifications and, from memory, you can start to log work experience as you undertake it. A colleague achieved MAAT within a really short timeframe after completing her exams because she had been logging her work experience (six months of it I think).

One person who joined a previous organisation I worked for had spent 30 years as a childminder, she retrained, doing AAT at the local adult education class because she thought accountancy was a better fit in her 50s, she went on to become chartered.

I don’t think you are deluded. It’s exciting! Asking in your current job sounds like an excellent idea.

So I was looking on the ACCA website and it says this, "The ACCA Qualification
If you have two A Levels and three GCSEs in five separate subjects including English and maths (or equivalent qualifications), you can start your studies at the ACCA Qualification, which is ranked at Masters level and on completion you'll become an ACCA member."

So ultimately would it be better to start on the ACCA course rather than AAT?

Hi @BlastedPimples , I am a little further down a similar route than the one you are considering, and I made my decisions for very similar reasons to you. I was so puzzled by all this too (and I am not sure I made the right decision but - we can get onto that maybe later)

AAT - this is a book keeping qualification, when you complete this you will be a bookkeeper not an accountant.

ACCA - this is an accountant qualification - when you complete this you will be a chartered accountant. INSTEAD of starting ACCA at the beginning you can do AAT and then get exemptions for some of ACCA. The point of doing that would be that AAT is a qualification in its own right. You can then choose whether to stay a bookkeeper or look at "converting" your exams so far towards part of an accountancy qualification.

For all qualifications which make you a chartered accountant (the others include ACA and CIMA) you will need to have a job which gives you practical work experience in the field which counts towards your formal qualification. this is a training contract.

The only one I really know anything about is ACA. It is very heavily tilted towards audit and I am not sure I have done the right thing. I don't want to be an auditor and everyone says it is a very flexible qualification but I am not sure what that really means in practice in terms of getting a job I can support my family on which is not audit.

CIMA is more associated with management accounting. If you study while working in house at an organisation that does something else you are likely to be studying for CIMA.

My sense is (without studying the detail, exam for exam) that you can start with almost anything in the early stages and gain credit for exams passed if you transfer. The basic accounting concepts and principles are the same and you are being tested on that at the beginning. Later on, the nuances of exactly which path you are following will matter more.

Good luck. I hope everything works out for you. I would not necessarily recommend doing it the way I am though

I don't mean the whole field - I mean taking a graduate trainee job in ACA. Audit is horrible, there are hardly any adults in contact with you, everyone talks to you like shit and it's not family friendly because they think everyone is a 22 year old boy who can go and stay in a travelodge at the drop of a hat

Some very good advice from @achipandachair

It really depends what you see yourself doing at the end of it. If bookkeeping or you are not completely sure about accounting, then do AAT. But ultimately, if you definitely want to become an accountant, dive straight in.

I did CIMA by the way, which was the right thing for me. It enabled me to climb the ladder in finance related jobs, but then use the skills in broader / management roles. But I never wanted to ultimately be ‘an accountant’ at the end of it, but at the time I started, the jobs I aspired to needed an accountancy qualification (commercial deal negotiations).

When I see AAT on a CV I think of AAT (L4) as more than a bookkeeper. You can still be an ‘accountant’ of some sort without being chartered.

AAT

I do wonder who is going to give me a training contract though. An older woman of 53.

I know you don't know until you try but I don't feel optimistic at all about that.

Could do with some optimism!