ACCA VS CIMA VS CIPP - Single Mum Study

[laurajayne3]

Hi. I'm almost 39. I currently have been working with the council doing payroll for 10+ years. But i had my 3 kids later in life (they're 20 months - 9 yea) and I'm a single mum. No coparenting.
I have done my aat l2 & l3 before i had kids. And worked a couple years at at accountancy firm. Stupid me was too indecisive to do anything properly before I had kids. I've never known what to do

Anyway. I really want to go into full time employment once my youngest is in reception. I hate having UC top up my income, and don't have any help from the kids sperm donors (I appreciate the UC help. But i want to provide for my kids myself).
I was looking in CIPP, a payroll degree, but I've found out today they dont accept student loans anymore 😢 So know I'm thinking should I look back into accountancy as they accept student loan. ACCA or CIMA. I like the thought of CIMA and working within one industry and not chasing loads of different clients for info. But looking online, they're strategy involved since your the one accountant to improve that one business. And I don't think I'd be good at that.

Has anyone done CIPP, ACCA or CIMA? There's more money in finance over payroll. But I'm thinking payroll would be easier since I've done over 10+ doing it. Its just put a massive spanner knowing I can't get funding. I was/am leaning to ACCA. But i don't know how realistic with 3 young kids and working 3 days a week on my own it is. I'm struggling with the kids to even look into it all. I remember a girl at the accountancy doing ACCA and she found it hard with no kids plus living at home. And she was clever. The past few years with kids and some PTSD thrown in, my memory and retaining info is terrible 😫
Most, if not all posts I've seen for ACCA is people saying it's best to find an entry level job that will support your study plus you're getting work experience alongside it. But at the moment, my job is flexitime, 3 days, and I've just been given the summer holidays off. So i would need to stay at this job until my youngest is at least reception age, so the whole point of doing something is so i have it when I'm in a position to leave the council.

Any help. Any advice. Thank you. (Sorry for the long post)

Could you move within the council to management accounts, that would give you the expurience outside payroll which would be relevant to industry. Also check if they would sponsor your training.
What industries are around you, if large companies check out their websites or linked in.
Going back to your point about cina being the only accountant doing the strategybsetting that is quite unusual many of us work in larger companies. CIMA is more business based imo, and ACCA is is financial based. Both great and interesting to study. I am CIMA qualified

Tbh I would look on either as a steping stone.

Which exam pathway would you take that fits into your life?

Can you attend both classes locally in person or do you plan online or self study with intensive preexam study days etc?

How many exams do you need to do for each quallification?

What are the pass rates like?

How many times can you resit each exam?

How much will it cost for each from fees to classes to books?

Has your work got qualified people in either or both and what are their roles?

What experience do you need to become fully qualified and how can you manage that with in your current organisation?

I agree with MotorwayDiva try see if you can move across into the finance / accounting based roles which can help you tick off your experience requirement

You shouldn't be paying for any of those qualifications yourself - please only do them if you have employer sponsorship. It's not just the fees, but the paid time off to attend college and sit the exams. As well as being able to get your practical experience requirements signed off. You won't be able to qualify without that, so it's not something you can just churn away at and then launch into a new role.

If you plough through the exams on their own, you'll be competing against candidates with 3 years of experience as well as exams. Which will make you the less attractive candidate and too expensive for your skills/experience.

Besides which, if you're struggling to even research these options because of your other responsibilities then there's no way you'll cope with doing the exams without employer support for study leave. Sorry, but you need to be realistic here otherwise you're setting yourself up for [expensive] failure.

What do you actually want to be able to do at the end of it? It doesn't sound like ACCA or CIMA are a great fit for you or what you want. There's no point doing any qualifications unless you are clear on how they will support your aspirations. I think like pp you need to look at how you can develop your practical experience from where you are now.

I think realistically I need to do CIPP. As it's payroll, what I'm doing now and have over 10 years experience. And then look into more senior payroll roles when I can leave my flexible job. It was CIPP I was originally looking into. But sods law, when I finally decide to do it after years, they've stopped doing the degree. And the course they've replaced it with doesn't give any student loans as its not a degree 😭So looked at acca which do loans. But realistically that's not going to be an option.

Work has mentioned cipp. But we was promised more info months ago and nothing. Plus not sure if it would be a crappy certificate they'd pay for. Not the actual level 4 and level 5 diploma

I'm really upset they've stopped the degree after me putting it off for years

I’m Cima qualified and have worked in payroll for 10years. I think I would recommend Cipp but if not that then ACCA. It is a more technical qualification that I think fits better with some of the aspects of payroll ( probity and reconciliation) it will also give you more flexibility if you decide on a different role as you can do auditing as well as accounting