Have had enough of Auditing

fawltyfire

I'm half way through my 3.5 year training contract and cant take any more of it. I've hated it for over a year now and it just gets worse and worse. Its sucking the life out of me and I have such little motivation left to try and improve. I never want to work in Accounting or Audit again so I dont see the benefit of finishing my contract. There is a good chance I will fail at least one of my CAP 2's (despite putting absolutely everything into it) and the new FAE course for next year looks horrific beyond belief that the chances of passing that first time around aren't the best. I didnt get a good review performance wise and am terrified at becoming a senior. I have no confidence in what I'm doing, am terrified at making mistakes and feel like I contantly have to bluff my way through the day. I find the work so boring and confusing and ultimately pointless as it doesnt benefit anyone it seems. I just cant see the benefit in continueing anymore.

The problem is my parents dont seem very supportive of when I give out about my job, telling me to stop complaining and be happy I have a job when others are losing theirs. So by leaving it feels like I would be dissappointing them hugely after they supporting me financially through school and college. But the job is making me feel miserable a lot of the time and I dread getting up in the morning.

I put so much work into my leaving cert and into college to get a first class honours and it seems like its for nothing as I'm doing something I just dont want to do and have no interest in but feel trapped in and compelled to do (especially with their being so little job alternatives with the poor economic climate)!

What should I do?

henryporter

My Mrs. has spent the last 15 years wondering why she became an accountant and now finally has decided to do something about it. If you hate it this much now imagine what it would be like in another ten or so years. Just remember that it's more important to decide what you want to do rather than what you don't want to do. Also remember that you have to live your life just as your parents have to live theirs - i.e. what you do is your choice. Get yourself a copy of 'Get the Life you want' by Richard Bandler and see where that takes you. Best of luck with the career/life changing.

Happy Monday

Oh man - that is tough!

I am a chartered accountant and worked through the whole B Comm/FAE thing so I can sympathise - I am now in my mid 30s.

Most people find the whole auditing thing nauseating and boring but keep their heads down and look to pass the exams and work through it.

When you get your exams you can look in all sorts of directions as a qualified accountant - I hope you can make it that far.

Failing that as the previous post said think about you want to do - teaching, travel etc - and go for that - life is all about making mistakes and learning - best of luck!

Prezatch

The way I see it, the 3.5 contract for me is just a hurdle to get over and it provides the gateway to something else. Kind of like the crappy leaving cert. I don't enjoy my audit career and am just approaching the end of my 1st year but I am determined to get through it.

My advice to you is to stick it out and relax a little. Be a bit more laid back in work and dont worry about what the managers say. You will be totally screwed for a job if you leave now.

Also, in relation to the exams we can only wait and see next friday but I haven't heard of a single happy person yet so you're not alone there. They can't fail all of us! As for the FAEs next year, I guess the new course sounds daunting but the fact that we will have most of the material covered already is a major biggy

fawltyfire

JoeyD wrote: »

The way I see it, the 3.5 contract for me is just a hurdle to get over and it provides the gateway to something else. Kind of like the crappy leaving cert. I don't enjoy my audit career and am just approaching the end of my 1st year but I am determined to get through it.

My advice to you is to stick it out and relax a little. Be a bit more laid back in work and dont worry about what the managers say. You will be totally screwed for a job if you leave now.

Also, in relation to the exams we can only wait and see next friday but I haven't heard of a single happy person yet so you're not alone there. They can't fail all of us! As for the FAEs next year, I guess the new course sounds daunting but the fact that we will have most of the material covered already is a major biggy

The problem is that what you have just said is exactly how I felt this time last year after passing my CAP 1's. But it has only got worse and worse since then.

HeinekenTicket

You've got to suck it up and get qualified. Do something else if you want to after you qualify. If you jack it in, you will be communicating to potential employers ( in any area) that you weren't able to persevere with something that you didn;t continually enjoy and you will get questioned about this in interviews. If you qualify, you can turn this perseverence to a strength on your CV, no matter what you do.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You're just one of thousands who doesn't like auditing but, as the other posters have said, it's a necessary slog on the way to a qualification that still has plenty of value.

dearg lady

TBH I think 'suck it up' is rubbish advice. If anything in life is making you so unhappy that you can barely get up in the morning I would get the hell out. I don't think it would necessarily impact you in later life, jobs wise. I've moved around jobs a good bit and my confidence took a knock with some jobs but when I applied for my current job there was no issue this, my abilities stood up on their own and were enough to get me the job. I think it's just scare mongering, I've walked out of jobs within a few days of startin cos I knew it wasn't for me, most people told me not to but it was the right decison for me at the time.

In saying that, things are a little bit different now, and you will need to think of your immediate future as jobs are hard to come by. I personally would feel the same as you, auditing would make me compeltely miserable. Off the top of my head, I can see a number of options,

1. Try to get a job in industry. It's completely different from working in practice, much more varied and interesting imho. I'm studying ACCA which is more flexible too.

2. Take some time out to go travellin if you're into that.

3. Do a course in an area that interests you, you may get some financial help with this form the government.

4. Look for a job in something completely different that interests you, but be prepared to start at the very bottom!

It's a lousy time(recession wise) to be in this position but there are options, most of them will probably reduce you finances, a lot! But if you can find a better standard of living and wellbeing overall, that's a better outcome.

Best of luck with the future

Johnny_Fontane

I recruit for Accountants and have done for nearly 10 years.

My advice would be very much to suck it up. You will not get another job at the moment - Its very easy for people to say 'go travelling or change career' but thats not viable for alot of people.

To give you an idea, newly qualified ACA's from Big 4 are really really struggling to find roles at the moment. Alot are looking overseas, alot are just not finding jobs. There are a few contracts out there for 3/6 months but really not much. Two years ago, Newly Qualified ACA's from Big 4 were getting €60k and even more if you include benefits. Now they are looking at €40k and would be very lucky to get €50k. Its absolute carnage out there. Especially for those coming out of practice. You would literally have no chance of getting a role in other areas of accounting at the moment (jumping out half way is frowned upon and you only know auditing)

If you stick at it, at least you will have an excellent qualification and you will also maybe get through the worst of this recession. Ireland may be very different in 18 months, but I doubt the economy will be worse than it is now.

Remember, becoming an ACA is much more than just auditing. It gives you lots of options when you qualify - 90% of accountants wave goodbye to auditing after their 3.5 year contract -

In my experience you can easily move into another career at that stage and you get through the worst of this.

I'm not an ACA myself or even a qualified accountant but having seen where people can go with the qualification its definitely the one to have.

Consider yourself very lucky to have a job at this stage. If you want to discuss this in further detail, pm me.

dearg lady

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

You will not get another job at the moment - Its very easy for people to say 'go travelling or change career' but thats not viable for alot of people.

You obviously are in a good position of knowledge in this area so fair enough, know what you mean. I just hate to think of someone stuck in a job they hate, absolutely miserable, out of fear. And there is a lot of scaremongering goin on! Not sayin you're doin it, just that it happens. I know it's not always viable however I do think it's important to look at all opportunities. I find that often, if a person really wants something they'll find a way.

fawltyfire

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

I recruit for Accountants and have done for nearly 10 years.

My advice would be very much to suck it up. You will not get another job at the moment - Its very easy for people to say 'go travelling or change career' but thats not viable for alot of people.

To give you an idea, newly qualified ACA's from Big 4 are really really struggling to find roles at the moment. Alot are looking overseas, alot are just not finding jobs. There are a few contracts out there for 3/6 months but really not much. Two years ago, Newly Qualified ACA's from Big 4 were getting €60k and even more if you include benefits. Now they are looking at €40k and would be very lucky to get €50k. Its absolute carnage out there. Especially for those coming out of practice. You would literally have no chance of getting a role in other areas of accounting at the moment (jumping out half way is frowned upon and you only know auditing)

If you stick at it, at least you will have an excellent qualification and you will also maybe get through the worst of this recession. Ireland may be very different in 18 months, but I doubt the economy will be worse than it is now.

Remember, becoming an ACA is much more than just auditing. It gives you lots of options when you qualify - 90% of accountants wave goodbye to auditing after their 3.5 year contract -

In my experience you can easily move into another career at that stage and you get through the worst of this.

I'm not an ACA myself or even a qualified accountant but having seen where people can go with the qualification its definitely the one to have.

Consider yourself very lucky to have a job at this stage. If you want to discuss this in further detail, pm me.

But I was wondering is there any benefit to the qualification if I wanted to make a complete career change afterwards? I have no interest in ever working in anything even remotely related to accounting again. If I was to get through this marathon contract I'd like to try doing something I'm passionate about, which would involve a complete career change away from accounting. Obviously the qualification would serve as a back up, but would that be the only value for me if I didnt want to work in an Accounting/Finance area?

Johnny_Fontane

I have seen a number of people branch out -

In the good times, quite a number of ACA's did go down the banking route - i.e. get into corporate banking/lending - their ACA qualification was of no use at that stage, but it did get them in the door. They had to take a hit on salary (as they were basically retraining) but had they not been ACA's they wouldnt have got a look in.

Others have gone into Law and gone down that route - some use it to go overseas with Goal and Trocaire and work as part of their teams abroad. I've seen people become ACA's and then go into the Family business - Being an accountant gives you a great appreciation of the most important facet of any company - Notice how many MD's are qualified Accountants as opposed to say HR Professionals or IT professionals.

Hey, its your choice at the end of the day. If you can afford to not work for say 6-12 months - make the switch but if you cannot - grin and bear it.

As for scaremongering in the market about jobs - think about this. One of my clients put an ad in the Irish times a couple of months ago for a Financial Controller. They received 400 cv's. We have been talking to clients that are getting 150 job applications for roles that were up two days. Some of my very best candidates (qualified with say 10 years pqe working at FD level) have been on the market for six months. There's just very very little out there.

The media may actually be reporting it better than it actually is.

Heineken_Baron

I'm in my final year of auditing myself and have never enjoyed the work. I feel the work is pointless at best but hey I'm being paid to do it. And if you feel miserable everyday before going to work just think how you might feel every morning when you wake up on the dole!

I don't like saying that you should stay at a job or anything else for that matter if you feel miserable at doing it but really what are the alternatives in todays climate?? Realistically you wouldn't get a job anywhere else. I'd say stick at it for another while and see how the job market goes before making any decision.

Zoodlebop

Hey OP. I am currently interning in one of the Big 4 for the summer. TBH, it is the most boring, worthless rot I can imagine. I did apply for the job (not really knowing anything about it. My degree is in science.) and I am thankful to have the job as it has helped me pay off college debts, etc. The best thing I can take from the experience is that I definitely don't want to work in this environment ever again.

I'd rather be poor and live on a rock in Scotland with the GF, some sheep and a wae babby!

As for advice for you, I would say finish out the qualification. It looks bad on your record to have a big gap (how many years?) or for you to say you just quit the course. You should finish it out imho. You'll be getting paid too. Maybe get a week away from work and prepare yourself to leave. It's down hill from here.

BigFish75

OP, what do you really want to do? What do you like doing? Are you good with people? (Selling?) Are you good with numbers? (Analysing?)

Lot's of us take a wrong turn and are afraid to reverse back up. Some even keep going in the wrong direction for 20+ years. Imagine how sad that would be all becuase you thought not completing your ACA wasn't an option.

I have a son and if he was in your shoes I'd honestly trust him to make the right decision at this point and then back him to do what he really wants to do. I'll bet your folks won't react as you expect.

Think about it.

kabuk1

I've been contemplating leaving as well, as I really hate the work, going back to college as I really want to work in the renewable energy field, more as a scientist or an engineer. However, the qualification will be beneficial as it shows commitment and good business skills, especially management skills are highly coveted which could use in almost any field.

If I decide to stay, (I'll be making my decision after the results for the CAP1 repeats are out), I think I'm going to switch to the ACCA and study full time and carry this 1.5 years of experience over to the ACCA. I know it's risky to leave my current position, but I would rather be a part-qualified accountant and look for a job in industry in a years time. If there isn't one, then I'll complete the professional exams on a full time basis.

I would consider all your options. Write it all down and talk to someone about everything you've written down. It helps.

Johnny_Fontane

kabuk1 wrote: »

If I decide to stay, (I'll be making my decision after the results for the CAP1 repeats are out), I think I'm going to switch to the ACCA and study full time and carry this 1.5 years of experience over to the ACCA. I know it's risky to leave my current position, but I would rather be a part-qualified accountant and look for a job in industry in a years time. If there isn't one, then I'll complete the professional exams on a full time basis.

I would consider all your options. Write it all down and talk to someone about everything you've written down. It helps.

In this market, this is lunacy. Part Qualified ACCA's tend to have experience in preparing accounts, cost accounting, basics like AP/AR/recs - A part Qualified ACA normally has just auditing experience. I see very few part qualified ACA's for this reason. You would not find a job any time soon in this market - You can PM me if you want to give me a shout at any stage.

KilgoreTrout

Over ten years ago I was in the same predicament as you. I was in one of the Big 6 as they were called then. I liked accountancy in school. I thought in the absence of an obvious calling, I could make good money as an accountant. I enjoyed two years of full time college because of the friends I made there, but once I started work (auditing) and had to deal with the work environment, I hated it. I felt enormous pressure all the time because I was becoming increasingly bad at what I was doing because my heart just wasn't in it. The whole set up seemed false. No offense to the people working in that profession, it just wasn't for me.

While on study leave for my prof 3 exams I could not motivate to save my life. Instead of cracking on with it, I found myself questioning everything back and forth all the time.

I enjoyed the study leave, took a back seat till the results came out and then handed in my notice shortly afterwards.

I decided that there were more important things in life. I decided being unhappy, hanging out with what for me were the wrong sort of people, wasn't going to light my creative fire and I'd regret it in the long run.

After that, I got a job in a restaurant for a year and had the most fantastic time. I worked under a brilliant chef who kicked my butt Ramsey style for about over a year. I'd always loved cooking as a college student in the old bedsits/flats. I found in contrast to the accounting environment that didn't suit me, here was one where I could work hard and enjoy it, and surpass everyone's expectations as I quickly learned and was given more and more responsibility.

A year later, I returned to college this time to study what I wanted. I studied arts while working some evenings in the restaurant to cover expenses. As far as my parents were concerned, I'd chucked in the golden meal ticket, and so I was loathe to go back to them with hand held out for college fees/expenses. During that time in college, I got an opportunity to open a coffee-shop in Ranelagh with some other guys. I had an amazing time doing that... we used have bands play on a small stage there all the time. Met loads and loads of people, had a total blast, and worked hard in college, got 1st class honours in both my subjects. In contrast to the ACA where I was failing exams and was unhappy, here in a different environment, I was back pushing my personal limits and really enjoying myself at the same time. I learnt the valuable lesson that if you follow your heart, then things will work out for you.

Since graduating arts, I went on to do some travel in the US. I thought I could get a job as part qualified accountant over there, even bought the jacket and shirt and tie ... but thankfully never did get one of those jobs. I decided there were a huge amount of computing jobs going. I was in Seattle just as the whole internet thing was taking off. I was working in a restaurant, so I decided instead of buying that beat-up old Datsun 240z ( a beautiful sports car ) I'd buy a PC instead. I taught myself some HTML in a few weeks and immediately got work in web design. I loved it. Decided to back to school again here in Dublin and get a formal qualification. Again, I excelled at that because I truly enjoyed the work. I easily found a job afterwards. Funnily enough, a year or two later, I found myself back in the Big 6 firm I'd worked for before, but this time I was up the front giving the computer course to their IT folk. This time I was much more confident of who I was and what I was doing.

I always found great courage and strength from that initial decision to quit. Never did it go against me in job interviews. The opposite in fact. I believe it shows that you are committed to following your interests. That you are there through real choice, and not because you fell off the school-job-conveyor belt and cannot think independently for yourself.

Everyone said no, no, don't do it. Yeah, friends of mine carried on, got their full qualification, and have been very very successful. Fair play to them. So, yep, some can stick at it, get the exams under their belt and move along .... and more power to them. But it is not the only option.

In short ... your life won't end. Mine didn't. There is no right / wrong answer. You'll never be able to compare the two alternative life paths, the life you'll lead if you quit, versus the life you'll leave if you stay on. You're obviously very capable if you've got as far as you have, without doubt easily able to succeed in many different fields in life should you choose. Now, I'm wondering about my IT job. I've been giving some thought to this 18 week course that fast-tracks a person into becoming a professional yachtmaster. The course promises to help find graduates a career in the yachting industry. I'm wondering if I've got the courage to make another change .....

That's my story for what its worth. Nothing amazing. How run of the mill in the long run to end up working in IT in Ireland. But for me, back then, I was doing what seemed impossible. Best of luck with your decision. My final word of advice is to trust your personal skills and abilities will allow you to flourish at whatever you choose to do.

Slippers

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

To give you an idea, newly qualified ACA's from Big 4 are really really struggling to find roles at the moment.

Are newly qualified ACAs from other practices doing better or worse than those from the Big 4?

Kinetic^

fawltyfire wrote: »

I'm half way through my 3.5 year training contract and cant take any more of it. I've hated it for over a year now and it just gets worse and worse. Its sucking the life out of me and I have such little motivation left to try and improve. I never want to work in Accounting or Audit again so I dont see the benefit of finishing my contract. There is a good chance I will fail at least one of my CAP 2's (despite putting absolutely everything into it) and the new FAE course for next year looks horrific beyond belief that the chances of passing that first time around aren't the best. I didnt get a good review performance wise and am terrified at becoming a senior. I have no confidence in what I'm doing, am terrified at making mistakes and feel like I contantly have to bluff my way through the day. I find the work so boring and confusing and ultimately pointless as it doesnt benefit anyone it seems. I just cant see the benefit in continueing anymore.

The problem is my parents dont seem very supportive of when I give out about my job, telling me to stop complaining and be happy I have a job when others are losing theirs. So by leaving it feels like I would be dissappointing them hugely after they supporting me financially through school and college. But the job is making me feel miserable a lot of the time and I dread getting up in the morning.

I put so much work into my leaving cert and into college to get a first class honours and it seems like its for nothing as I'm doing something I just dont want to do and have no interest in but feel trapped in and compelled to do (especially with their being so little job alternatives with the poor economic climate)!

What should I do?

I think if you want to leave you need to know what you want to do. Being in limbo now is a lot different to when you left college. Do you even know what area you would like to work in?

If you want to go back to college, you're probably too late for a lot of colleges to apply as a mature student (if you're over 23 that is). CAO is definitely out the window for the 09/10 school year. If you can't get in that way, do you have the funds to perhaps go private to somewhere like DBS/Griffith either part/full time?

Have you had a look at any of the FAS courses on offer? You do need to be unemployed to be eligible for these though.

I'm kind of in the middle with what to tell you to do. I myself left auditing because I disliked the work and the people but I had started in industry so had experience of both areas and found it relatively easy to pick up contract work, something I've been doing for about 2/3 years up until the end of May and have been out of work since then apart from 2 weeks I got temping. Thankfully I've finally got in to a FAS course where I have a lot of interest.


However, what Johnny_Fontane is saying about getting work is true, every job is getting hundreds of CVs and the standard of applicants is only getting higher as time goes on as people who would've been managers/team leaders now find themselves having to take a step back in their career.

Before you quit, find out what you want to do. Find out what you need to do to get there and then start working on that. All of that can be done while still working and saving money in case you do need to re-educate yourself or take a big drop in money to be happy.

That first post by the OP scares the absolute crap out of me. Literally, it terrified me reading it and made me feel temporarily insecure for about two minutes reading it because I pretended to be the OP while reading the thread to get a feel of how bad this is for him.

My advice to the OP is to look at the job as a means to an end, fair enough, you don't want to work in this career, it's understandable. It's a bloody good qualification but that's besides the point if your heart is not in it and I have a group of friends who are on the road to being qualified/already qualified and I know how tough it is and how boring the career is. Life is far too short for additional torment, it's tough enough as it is.

I'd suggest getting a few books in different topics to give your brain some food for thought to break the mundane cycle you are presently in. It strikes me that you seem to have an issue with the corporate culture of an organisation as much as you do about the job you are doing. Do a SWOT analysis on yourself, it might give you some insight.

Some may find this odd but I'd also suggest you write a eulogy (yes I got this idea from a business book) about yourself and write what you would have liked to accomplish in your life. Be completely honest and serious and remember you get out of it what you put into it. Yeah I'm sorry, it's a bit deep but it's a great way to get to know yourself a bit better to find some hobbies.

Johnny_Fontane

Slippers wrote: »

Are newly qualified ACAs from other practices doing better or worse than those from the Big 4?

nobody's picking up work. Candidates from smaller practice tend to have more hands on accounting experience so are quite hireable, but there's just very little out there at the moment. Granted its the summer but lets pray there is a pick up in September.

The Big Red Button

fawltyfire wrote: »

But I was wondering is there any benefit to the qualification if I wanted to make a complete career change afterwards? I have no interest in ever working in anything even remotely related to accounting again. If I was to get through this marathon contract I'd like to try doing something I'm passionate about, which would involve a complete career change away from accounting. Obviously the qualification would serve as a back up, but would that be the only value for me if I didnt want to work in an Accounting/Finance area?

But what are you passionate about? Have you a definite plan in mind about what alternative career you want and how you can go about achieving it? There is no point in you walking out of a job in the current climate unless you have a viable plan of what to do next.

I don't usually advocate sticking at something that's making you miserable, but I can see you being a lot more miserable in the long term stuck on the dole, and having to defend your decision to walk out of your contract at every interview you go to in the future.

Slippers

Two more questions, if you don't mind.

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

Its absolute carnage out there. Especially for those coming out of practice.

Would doing ACA training in industry, e.g. BoI, give better prospects than doing it in practice?

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

I'm not an ACA myself or even a qualified accountant but having seen where people can go with the qualification its definitely the one to have.

Is that compaired to other accounting qualifications or to all other qualifications?

kluivert

I was near enough the same.

I did not enjoy auditing while training in practice.

Once I passed my ACCA exams I decided to move into Industry which is far more exciting (compared to auditing).

Everyday is different and each day has its problems for you to find solutions, implement them, while focusing on the job at hand.

I always knew that I didnt like auditing. I perfer to be in the thick of business.

Auditing is not the only avenue to accounting - try and focus on the longer term - improve work proformance - if your not sure on something ask the question, and keep asking, the more you ask the more you learn and the quicker you learn, set yourself personal targets to meet while at work.

Meaning - your not sure on something - make a note of it - go home spend 30 mins researching it. Done you know it for next time.

Do not be afraid of failing. Its important to fail otherwise you will never learn how to pick your up, dust yourself down and go again - better and faster next time. Its practice and this also applies to work.

Best of luck whatever you choose.

Hector Holmes

fawltyfire wrote: »

But I was wondering is there any benefit to the qualification if I wanted to make a complete career change afterwards? I have no interest in ever working in anything even remotely related to accounting again. If I was to get through this marathon contract I'd like to try doing something I'm passionate about, which would involve a complete career change away from accounting. Obviously the qualification would serve as a back up, but would that be the only value for me if I didnt want to work in an Accounting/Finance area?

Having complementary qualifications is the way to differentiate yourself for the future. It is difficult to think of a role, of any importance, that will not be directly impacted by the accounts function and controls and risk management will be of much greater importance in the future.
A Biologist with an accounting background is going to be much more atractive at board level than one without.