Any accountants - Come speak to me!

[Crimblecrumblelover]

Hello,

I've been considering a change in career for quite sometime and would like to find out more about accountancy (although i know there are different roles within this career).
Bit of background:
Im a maths teacher, have a maths degree but not a honours degree. I have two young children under 5, so i need to be fairly sensible with this career change as I have childcare, mortgage etc. I know that i will need to take a big pay cut. Ive looked online about courses but there are so many different courses AAT, CIMA, etc.
Basically if you are accountant, do you enjoy your job? What are the pros and cons? What route did you take? Are there jobs out there and do you feel your job is secure (i ask being in the public sector which is secure)? Any advice would be helpful. Do you think coming from a teaching background will be a disadvantage?

@FrogFairy

My apologies to the OP but please may I ask a question of you all?

My son is about to leave uni with a degree in business management. He hopes to eventually become an accountant. He is currently torn between doing a masters or applying for post grad jobs that would allow him to do the accountancy exams alongside working.

He does not have A level maths so I hope that would not go against him. He dipped his toe into accounting by passing AAT levels 1 and 2 alongside his AS levels.

Please could anyone comment on masters vs a job? No one else in the family has been to uni and while it is 100% his decision I would really appreciate any advise I could pass on.

Sorry again to the OP.

@FrogFairy

I am an accountant of thirty years and have mentored / developed many over the years. By chance I have a maths degree, but that and A level maths isn’t a requirements. Accountancy is not remotely like maths, the only similarity is that people that are good at them tend to be numerate.

I am honestly scratching my head at the masters comment as I am not even sure where you are coming from. If he wants to do a masters then he should do a masters but it is not a path into accountancy.

To become a qualified accountant, practical experience is as essential as passing exams and the usual route is to be studying alongside working (with some support and study leave hopefully).

I started working in an Accountancy practice aged 18 studying ACCA - but I hated where I worked and left after 18months to work as an accounts clerk (purely as a get out route).

This was in the 80s in the days of manual ledgers for double entry bookkeeping - Collins Cathedral Analysis books and Kalamazoo anyone? 😄

From there I studied CIMA and am now FInancial Controller (have been GM and FD along the way).

AAT is ok as a starter/taster and is something you could do alongside your current role to give your cv a nudge in that direction - if I was looking to employ an accounts assistant I wouldn't consider someone with no experience AND no qualifications. It will also give you an idea whether you enjoy accounting.

If you want to progress in accountancy you will likely then need to uplift to ACA/ACCA/CIMA/whatever but ideally within a work based training program for exam time off/funding.

I have no formal maths quals btw unless you count O level 🙂

It's doable - good luck!

Check out exemptions as your maths qualification just might gain you some exemptions particularly in early stages of AAT

@FrogFairy

Thank you for the advice Weepingwillows12.

He is looking for jobs but seems to stumble at the first hurdle as he has failed a couple character/personality tests. Poor lad has worked his ass off so I hope something comes along to suit him.

@FrogFairy

I wouldn't do a Masters unless he really can't get a job. If he is failing those sorts of tests, then it looks like he is applying to the larger firms.

Has he considered applying to a medium or small accountancy firm?

To the OP, it really depends how ambitious you are.

If you aren't that ambitious and good at exams you are.

If you you don't want to be a finance director then AAT is a perfect. You can work up your way up to be a financial controller and earn a decent amount (up to £40k in London).

If you are ambitious, then CIMA / ACCA / ACA are the way to go, but they are much harder exams.

@ILoveAllRainbowsx thank you for the advice.

Yes he is applying for the larger firms. So far he has failed the character test for Islington Council and PWC, possibly others I have forgotten. Currently through to the next stage with KPMG. Frustratingly he got through to the final interview stage with Deloitte but pulled out at the last minute because the role was in tax rather than accounting.

I will suggest to him that he should look at the medium/smaller firms.

To the OP, it really depends how ambitious you are.

If you aren't that ambitious and good at exams you are.

Should say:

To the OP, it really depends how ambitious you are and how good at exams you are.

[quote FrogFairy]@ILoveAllRainbowsx thank you for the advice.

Yes he is applying for the larger firms. So far he has failed the character test for Islington Council and PWC, possibly others I have forgotten. Currently through to the next stage with KPMG. Frustratingly he got through to the final interview stage with Deloitte but pulled out at the last minute because the role was in tax rather than accounting.

I will suggest to him that he should look at the medium/smaller firms.[/quote]
Everyone goes for the larger firms but, of course, not everyone gets in.

The big 4 (which everyone applies to) are very different to the others in the top 15 but all the top 15 are large firms.

I graduated in 1988, so things are obviously very different, but he should definitely apply to some of the others:

www.accountancytoday.co.uk/top-30-accountancy-firms-uk-2021-2022/

@ ILoveAllRainbowsx thanks for that list.

We exchanged messages earlier and he has now decided against the masters and says he is also looking at medium/smaller firms. I have sent him your list which I am sure will be very helpful to him.

Thanks again for your help.

I’m ACÁ (ICAEW, it would be ICAS for you) . My employer is listed in the top 10 of the top 30 linked to above. I qualified with a small practice after taking an accounting degree. I moved to an even smaller firm, which was acquired and acquired again.

I love my job. I was an auditor, who moved into an internal compliance role including technical and GDPR in my role.

As a mature trainee, audit would not be high on my list, mainly as the hours are not always conducive to family life. I consistently work hours in excess of my contract, but I am a partner, and rewarded accordingly.

Thanks for the advice @AuditAngel.

I think im leaning towards the ACCA qualification. Think i will try and do it alongside work. Its going to be tough and hard work but i want a challenge and i will see what happens. I dont know exactly what role i want to do in accounting (there seems to be so many roles). I might update the thread every now and tell people how im getting on.

@FrogFairy i hope your son gets something.

Thank you for all your help. For the first time in ages, im feel quite ambitious and excited for change.

@Crimblecrumblelover please do update the thread, I would love to see how things work out for you.

I read some reviews and as mentioned by AuditAngel it seems in some companies to be expected to work a lot of extra hours unpaid even as a new starter. Which is worrying if you are also trying to find the time to study for accountancy exams.

I am just graduating from a Scottish University this year in my 30's returned to do accounting.

All of the firms I've applied for are ICAS with no mention of any other qualification options. Starting pay 21.5k - 23.5k roughly that's from the top 6 in UK.

I think you need to try and get a firm that will be happy to support you whilst doing your qualifications. Ime pre uni, trainee jobs are so hot in demand that without a degree you don't get a look in. I tried really hard and ended up returning to uni and haven't had any issues in securing something. I don't have highers but completed an access course.

Could try audit Scotland, v family friendly from what I've heard but their interviews are happening now for trainees.

Good luck! I am dreading my chartered exams.

Hi i have done acca and worked at small firms. although I was good at maths at school it isn’t something that is the most important when working in practice. I have found that the clients with the most money/highly skilled are the ones that need you to really explain tax/accounts so they understand. So good people skills are a good thing to have. I have 15 years experience but I do not think my pay reflects this and I do wish I had gone into something else as I worked really hard to pass the exams. Saying that I do enjoy my current job and there isn’t pressure to work extra that I can imagine there is at the big firms.

AAT & CIMA here - Currently a Management Accountant in a housing association, but have done similar roles in Education, in a few big manufacturer companies, in a small family owned company - all similar but different and I really enjoy many aspects of it.

Be careful when you are going through the levels that you get relevant experience working at each level, try not to get too far ahead with your exams.

The teaching experience may be useful when dealing with non-accountants in your future audience.
You don’t say how long you’ve been a teacher for - if it’s been a while you may need to expect a big drop in salary to begin with. Accountants do not have the same pay & conditions as teachers as I’m sure you’re aware !