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.

I don't know about training contracts but I do know about entry level (and beyond jobs). Personally I would do AAT, a bit of voluntary bookkeeping (scouts, guides etc.) and then look at public sector finance jobs. Get a bit of experience and leave or stay ask them to fund your further studies.

LAs pay the apprenticeship levy, you might get funded as an apprentice. Colleagues have been funded through the levy despite having L7 quals already.

@DrPeculiar thank you very much.

Sorry to bang on.

You're not banging on @BlastedPimples . I get it is a new start and you're just thinking it through.

20 years ago I used to get to mentor a couple of graduate trainees each year. Their path and aims were very different to the people I see coming through my organisational door in this capacity today, older, not necessarily graduates, capable people who want to get on and maybe want to achieve a chartered qualification, although maybe not.

'Training contracts' are highly sought after, as someone in their 50s I am not sure how accessable those are, so I can't comment on that, only what I see. With AAT you can start earning within a year and progress from there.

I suppose no one has asked what you expect from this, what sort of salary do you want/need and what sort of commitment are you able to give? Do you think you want to be self employed later down the line or not?

AAT's list of what you can and can't undertake is on an earlier link. If you wanted to do audit for instance (I loved audit back in the day) you couldn't do that.

Depends where you live and where you can commute to.

Firms/offices in the regions seriously struggle to recruit even at entry level. At some places you might only be competing against 2 or 3 other candidates for a graduate training contract because so many graduates are focused on London/Big 4 or nothing.

Things that will tip the odds for you: good application (eg if you've managed to get some exposure in your current role), good interview and compelling story behind your decision to retrain and why you want to be an accountant (show that you know what it will be like and what your goals are), as well as why you want to work for a regional practice rather than Big 4.

Good reasons to prefer region over Big 4 - broader experience early on rather than over-specialising or only working on a tiny number of clients, better work life balance, more personal culture ("not just a number"), want somewhere you can grow and develop long term, etc.

Recruitment for training contracts to start Summer/Autumn 2025 has already started for the larger firms and will start by December/January for regional firms.