Accountancy advice needed please

[Imiss8hoursleeps]

I'm 45 and considering a career change from nursing to accountancy. I think I'd prefer to go down the AAT training route rather than a degree but I'm worried that employers may have a preference for graduates. I'm also worried that I'm too old. Any input from anyone who works in accountancy would be greatly appreciated

AAT is certainly the best route to go down as it is a lot more practically-focused, and you need to get the experience to underpin it.

I don't think age is necessary a problem - especially if you can demonstrate transferable skills, maturity is a positive IME.

45 is no age but in any case keep a watch out for any stealth ageism. Employers should not be placing a preference based on age, they should assess on capability to do the job.

In honesty, accounting is probably one of the most favourable careers for someone in an older age bracket. I know lots of people in their 40s, 50s and beyond who use their accountancy skills.

It depends whether you want to work in practice (an accounting firm) or industry. For industry you might not need to do AAT if you want to go on and do ACCA or CIMA. If you want to do ACA in practice then AAT is not seen as inferior to a degree these days, some of the big 4 are doing apprenticeships for this now so they 'approve'.

I don't think age is a barrier, if you can show good reasons for the change and a good understanding of what it will involve

Don't bother with AAT if you are experienced in other professionals areas.
Go straight to CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting - it's their entry-level qualification equivalent to AAT and very good grounding for working as an accountant in industry. It's quicker to qualify and you can move seamlessly to the professional qualification if you want to.

I think some of the advice given so far is a bit questionable, though I admit I don't know what the cima qualification mentioned is. (Though incase that reads wrong I know what cima is!)
As an accountant , my food for thought:

1.An accountancy degree is really not needed to go into accountancy. In fact I think it'd be a waste of your time and money.

2.Someone mentioned industry vs practice. I wouldn't think about going into practise. The big 4 may have a few schemes to make themselves look inclusive , but realistically they normally take on very academic young people and work them into the ground . Once your established you could go part time etc but you would be very unlikely to get your foot in the door. So forget practice for now.

1. Aat is a good and well respected qualification. It has several levels and at the lower levels is very accessible to ease you in and even the higher levels are straight forward enough . I have friends who didn't get a levels but still coped with aat.

1. You need to consider how your going to study. If you never went to uni you might be eligible for a loan which is a bit like student loan and would allow you to go to college full time for a while, the other option is pay for it yourself and get qualified while doing your current job, the third option is to do aat whilst doing your accountancy job. This is the ideal and also means your employer might pay for it but it can be hard to get your foot in the door, even for low paid work. If you find a job that'll have you and can afford it, I would accept a minimum wage job that supports you through level 2/3/4 aat and pays for it, then look elsewhere when your done if your pay doesn't increase to reflect your qualification. This is also advantageous because I'm pretty sure aat has a work experience aspect to it, so you have to work in a relevant role before you can be officially aat qualified.

1. People have mentioned Acca and aca. I really wouldn't bother with this having done Acca myself. You are likely to struggle to find an employer to pay for it and it can cost thousands to do lessons, unless you are fantastic at teaching yourself and then it's just bloody hard and still costs a bit. The exams are much harder than aat and they are made much harder because you will normally be studying while working full time. Most people who aren't working in practise get very little time off from their employer to study and fail several exams (the pass rate of exams after first 4 ranges from 25-40%).you would be far better off doing aat, having a life outside work and making an effort to gain experience through work. I probably did 15-20 hours study plus Saturdays and 2 evenings of lessons for 2 exams when doing my Acca (at a cost of £1000 per course for 15 courses paid for by my employer) on top of 45 hours at work. It took me 4 years and was bloody hard - worth it in my 20's with no kids but I wouldn't have bothered in your situation . This compares with my friend who did 1 day of college and 1 day at weekend studying for aat.

Hope all that helps!

Sorry I meant 2 exams at a time. I obliviously did all 15 exams!

The CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting is 5 papers covering management accounting, financial accounting, business mathematics, business law, and economics, all at a fairly basics level but equivalent to AAT.

It is the entry to the CIMA Professional Qualification for those with no exemptions.

It has less 'fluff' than the earlier levels of AAT and the modular nature allows for easier studying. I passed all mine in a year, home study (funded by my company though) and have been working as an account in industry for some years.

Unless your company gives you a decent study package (mine did) the professional quals are tricky as Hiho says.

Agree with Hiho, AAT is very well respected and a degree is absolutely not necessary. CIMA / ACCA / ACA / CIPFA are routes you could explore but they all have a slightly different focus so until you've worked in accountancy you might not know what suits you best. AAT will get you some exemptions at an early stage from all of the professional qualifications.

AAT is far more realistic to study without working in accordance too, you could sign up and study for L1/2 and get those whilst doing your current job, then look for an employer who will support you whilst you study L3&4. If you work in the NHS already they will sponsor & support these types of qualifications, so you might even beagle to keep continuity of service & pension arrangements if a suitable vacancy comes up.

I did a book keeping course and struggled with double entry so I went down the AAT path as I thought that the people in the class on the course would be more like me an older student who needed to balance work, training and looking after children rather than something like CIMA, ACCA who I thought would be younger and straight out of college etc. It got me my first job whilst I was still training and I never looked back - I then went onto do CIMA (by then I felt more able and more confident). So I say go for it and I wish you luck.