New to Accounting field

[Mom4notyboyz]

Hi, please can someone advise me about getting into an accounting job? Where to start ? Accounting is a new field for me. Should you be a pro in Maths?
Would apprenticeships in Level 2 Accounting be a good option? I came across an apprenticeship opportunity in my local college. Would it be difficult to complete the apprenticeship? As I am new to the field I am a bit confused. Many thanks (:

What qualifications and experience do you have?

I am from an engineering background, but have been a SAHM for more than 15 years now. Worked as a software engineer for a short while before taking the career break. I am finding it hard to find jobs as they require experience. I have volunteer experience working in schools.
Thought of completing a course and getting a job, so thought about accounting. Thank you

In our practice we have taken people on with no prior experience as trainee bookkeepers, usually completing their AAT courses at evening college.

AAT would be a bare minimum required, not necessarily maths.

Thank you very much (:

There's two main types of accounting. You can work in an accountancy practice, where they produce sets of accounts for clients and do their tax returns, corporation tax, and Ltd Company accounts etc on their clients' behalf. The other alternative is to work in the accounts department for a business doing all the day-to-day finances, raising sales invoices, paying bills, producing management reports and so on.

Which sort of thing are you aiming for?

Do I have to do different qualifications if I have to choose what type of work I want to do in accounting job? I have no idea about it.
thank you !

If you don't even know what accountants do (or how to become one) then why do you want to train in accountancy?

Don't do an AAT course unless you have a relevant job. Having AAT without relevant work experience is almost worthless.

AAT also won't make you a qualified accountant. It's a technician qualification, if you want to be a qualified accountant you need to do ACA/ACCA/CIMA/CA.

You need to research and decide your ultimate goal then find a relevant job and do the right qualification.

Pretty much every community college in the country offers AAT because it's an easy money earner - always a steady stream of people doing exactly what you've done here. Enrolling without understanding what they're getting into because it seems like an easy way into what people expect to be a lucrative field.

If something looks too good to be true, it usually is.

I was in pretty much the same boat as you after taking time out with my children.

I enrolled first on a bookkeeping course, that was just for a few weeks to see if it was my king of thing. I really enjoyed it so enrolled on AAT level 2.

There was a real mix of people- all ages and some in work and some not.

I kept applying for jobs and after a little while I got an admin role with some accountancy. I was only looking for part time- I think finding a full time role would have been easier.

I went in to do levels 3 and 4 and part way through level 4 I landed an Accounts assistant role in industry.

That was 6 years ago and I am now a Finance Manager, earning a hell of a lot more than I ever thought I would.

For some roles AAT will not be considered and you have to be chartered. I’m in my 40s and frankly cannot be bothered to do any more exams. However, for me, AAT has worked out really well.

if it’s what you want to do I would enroll on AAT and apply for admin / finance assistant / purchase ledger roles. If you do AAT you get some exemptions if you do want to go on and do further exams.

if you want to work in practice, you could approach local firms and see if they would consider taking you on with study support.

And you do not have to be a maths whizz. You do need to be able to understand numbers but you don’t need to be able to solve complex, or even simple, problems in your head. That’s what calculators are for! It’s sometimes more about rules and processes.

Good luck!

Just jumping on here.

There's AAT, which is typically for if you want to be employed, and there's ICB, which is if you plan to be self employed

I started AAT at 44. I was a SAHM for a few years beforehand and worked in a totally different field prior to having DS. 6 months after starting AAT, I bagged a job as the accounts manager for a small company.

I am doing AAT because I prefer classroom based. Online is hard if you don't really have a working knowledge of accounting. I also get it funded by my local college. I am now on level 3. When I complete this level, I can apply for my bookkeeping license. I will then go on to level 4, which will qualify me to do sole trader and limited tax returns.

I don't know yet if I want to work for a company or accountancy practice, but I know I need to massively increase my pension pot!

Feel free to ask me any questions you might have.

@folkjournals you wouldn’t recommend someone through ACA without them having some accounting knowledge and experience first surely? AAT is the very basic starting point but for someone like OP who has 0 accounting knowledge then there is no way that they’d pass their ACA or CIMA exams without some knowledge of basic bookkeeping and accounting

Plenty of people go straight into the professional qualification without doing AAT. It is the traditional route in accountancy firms.

My post was imploring the op to do more research about accountancy careers and to ensure she obtained relevant work experience, since she has said herself she doesn't even know the basics about what the career paths would involve or which qualifications are suitable.

How have you managed to twist that to accuse me of "recommending" people launch into ACA blind?

Spending money on an AAT course without even knowing enough about the profession to be aware of the different routes is a recipe for failure. There are so many people on this site who have made that mistake already.

@folkjournals sorry i misread (what I get for half reading and half shushing a toddler to sleep) I blended about 4 of your sentences together somehow there 🤦🏽‍♀️ my apologies!

I went from doing a humanities degree straight into ACA. With all the base modules there is no assumed knowledge and you are taught from scratch everything you need to know. I had GCSE maths, not A Level.

Some higher level qualifications you may want to consider are ACCA, CIMA and ACA (the latter more relevant in practice / audit).

OP depending on the sort of accounting you want to do (practice or industry) have a look at entry level training jobs. These usually tend to be graduate jobs requiring a degree (do you have this?). If no degree then AAT may be a good route in. I'm a team leader and I would consider a trainee with AAT, and we would sponsor them for CIMA usually. You would have exemptions from some early CIMA exams with AAT.

This would show a willingness to learn and to take exams, as well as a base knowledge to help in the day to day role.

Have a real research of the sort of role you'd be looking for. Do you want accounting or finance? (Finance roles are typically held by qualified accountants but aren't pure accounting).

In industry (eg in a non finance company) finance roles are quite interesting, eg as a business partner. A role more on the accounting side may look more like a bookkeeper or a financial accountant/ assistant/ controller.

Another option is working in an accountancy practice, helping customers with their accounts (be that individuals or companies).

@justasyouare

That's amazing. I am currently on level 3 and not sure which direction to go in. I am 46 with only a very very small pension pot, so I am wondering about a finance career with the NHS.

Hi I'm an accountant in a top ten practice. It's a great job with lots of paths to go down. One thing I would say is avoid paying for training. Most decent employers will pay your training even with no experience if they think you have any potential. You need experience to get any of the qualifications so get a related job.

If you’re thinking of doing a Level 2 apprenticeship, you will study AAT whilst you are working in a related role (80% work, 20% study). If you progress through the Apprenticeship levels you will study AAT until you’ve completed Level 4, and then you’d usually get to choose which professional qualification you would take at Level 5-7.

The benefits of doing an App is that your training will be paid for, and you’ll be given day release for college. The negative is that the pay will be shit, at least at Level 2. Once you’ve got that, the pay is usually comparable with others doing the same role who aren’t on an apprenticeship.