accoutancy- safe enough career to retrain for?

[NoCryLilSoftSoft]

I'm early 30's and have only ever worked min. wage retail jobs. No degree. Have a head for numbers, enjoy maths and am quite good at it. Like working with figures. I'm a lone parent with no support and bricks and mortar university isn't an option right now so have been looking into getting AAT qualifications through distance learning with a view to eventually being ACA/ACCA/CIMA qualified. I am not in a city and have no desire to work in and commute to any of the nearest ones but there do seem to be a steady demand for accounting type roles locally. Do you think i will be able to carve out a decent enough income to sustain myself and two DCs into adulthood/my own retirement etc?

Bump

My dh is a qualified accountant and earns £60k. He's always found jobs.

Absolutely - a great career and much more diverse than people think. Accounting is a bit like teaching or medicine in that there are very many different specialisms you can enter if you so wish.

I don't know but it is something I'm considering too - I really want to get into a more secure job once DC3 starts school so accounting is something I was wondering about. So, sorry I'm no help, but bumping in the hope that others will be able to share their experience...

I'm CIMA qualified, there's a couple of things I would suggest you think about first - for most chartered qualifications you need 3 years practical experience in order to qualify so it's worth getting a junior accounting position before you start studying.
Also research what type of job you want at the end and get experience in that field - as someone's mentioned there's a huge range.
Lastly, it's very costly and gruelling. It can definitely be done but it's hard work and costs a bomb. Once you're qualified you have to pay a yearly fee to remain a member which you can't stop paying or you lose all your exams.
There's no guarantee of a certain income but a good qualified accountant can expect to work their way upwards from £35-45k
Good luck!

Thank you. It's the cost that is making me think twice. It's a lot to invest without being certain of where I want to go with it.

I employed someone who had decided to do just this OP. She started with AAT and self studied, got involved with the PTA and the village hall from memory and did their accounts.

I gave her a job when she had done level 3 and as an employer we paid for level 4 which was about £2k from memory.

So I would say start small (and cheap) and do some appropriate volunteering.

Its a big investment in both money and time. I've questioned myself again and again but I work for a company that paid for the qualification. You could look for a company that would do that for you but my guess would be your best option is to get a job in a company in the city, get your experience and then later you could work out on your own or locally in smaller places x

But you can start small and choose to stop at AAT if that gives you enough cash.

It's probably reasonably secure for the next 10 years or so. After that it will become a it more challenging as AI will have progressed to the point where it can replace humans for a lot of the tasks of accountancy. There will still be room for humans in more senior and customer-facing roles but competition for them will be stiffer.

10 years! That's quite worrying! I'm kind of hoping to have at least 30 years to go at it.

barchester if I stop at AAT what job options/earning limits does that leave me with?

Take a look on the accountancy websites, they publish loads of stuff about expected earnings

What are you interested in? There will be a demand for book keeping and AAT qualified people for more than 10 years - AI has been encroaching since the invention of the calculator never mind the computer - I think 10 years for any significant change is very ambitious, particularly for smaller businesses.

You don't have to go near a city for experience if you don't want to, volunteering with treasury at the PTA or small local charities is a great idea for a starting point and experience.

It is a big investment but it should pay off in the long term if you're willing to put the work and time in.

Good luck.

Thanks alex I will do that.

stinkbomb I'd be happy enough with bookkeeping type roles for the next 5-10 years whilst DC are still young but don't want to limit my long term opportunities because I will be able to take on more demanding work when they are bigger and off living their own lives and I might find myself far happier to commute or even move to one of the cities. Thanks for your post.

soft, I paid someone £26k in a rural Norfolk town with AAT L4.

My local accountants pay roughly the same I think from their job ads.