becoming an accountant?

IRISH DAYWALKER

hello everyone i just received my leaving cert results and i am thinking of studying accounting and finance in limerick institute of technology, i was just wondering when i finish my 4 years of college how many exams will i have to do after that to become a fully qualified accountant and are these exams hard and do they require a lot of study? thanks in advance

CGorman

There are several qualifications you can pursue. ACCA, ICAI, CPA, etc. For example with the ICAI, you have to sit three stages of exams - Cap 1, Cap 2, and the FAE. Each contains a few individual exams. Your degree may entitle you to full or partial exemption from Cap 1... so you might be able to skip all of it. In addition to the exams, you must work for a specified time in order to become qualified. At present this period is 3.5yrs with a degree, 3yrs with a relevent masters and about 5yrs starting from scratch.

Read some of the older threads to gleam a better idea of how it all works.

kabuk1

Also, if you receive full exemptions from cap1, many of the big firms offer a number of spots to do a paid MSc in Accounting, giving you exemptions from cap2s. This would give you a 3 year contract and only the FAEs to pass for the ICAI. You will want to clear the exemptions given with your college. The courses you choose to take within the degree can have an effect on your exemptions.

As for the ACCA, they are more straight forward as you go to their website and input your college and degree info and see the exemptions that are guaranteed and the exemptions you could be entitled to if you take certain courses within your degree.
https://portal.accaglobal.com/accrweb/faces/page/public/accreditations/enquiry/main/EnqInstitutionsTable.jspx

You should also consider what area of accountancy you want to work in. Many people go to the big4 and realise how much they hate auditing. Most people studying for the ICAI qualification usually train in auditing in a medium to big firm or a small practice. If you're more interested in industry, I'd say look into the ACCA as they are more flexible and you'll get lots more training in preperation of accounts and the like.

I know it's earlier, but this are things to keep in mind when deciding what optional courses to take.

Best of luck.

Hanley

kabuk1 wrote: »

Also, if you receive full exemptions from cap1, many of the big firms offer a number of spots to do a paid MSc in Accounting, giving you exemptions from cap2s. This would give you a 3 year contract and only the FAEs to pass for the ICAI. You will want to clear the exemptions given with your college. The courses you choose to take within the degree can have an effect on your exemptions.

As for the ACCA, they are more straight forward as you go to their website and input your college and degree info and see the exemptions that are guaranteed and the exemptions you could be entitled to if you take certain courses within your degree.
https://portal.accaglobal.com/accrweb/faces/page/public/accreditations/enquiry/main/EnqInstitutionsTable.jspx

You should also consider what area of accountancy you want to work in. Many people go to the big4 and realise how much they hate auditing. Most people studying for the ICAI qualification usually train in auditing in a medium to big firm or a small practice. If you're more interested in industry, I'd say look into the ACCA as they are more flexible and you'll get lots more training in preperation of accounts and the like.

I know it's earlier, but this are things to keep in mind when deciding what optional courses to take.

Best of luck.

I dunno... I work in a pretty big practice (100+) in audit alone and I've got quite a bit of accounts prep work, and I'm only in my 1st year!

I think training outside of the big 4's probably the best option. I'm really glad I didn't accept offers there. I've heard absolute horror stories from college friends and friends of friends.

ma.long25

Hanley wrote: »

I dunno... I work in a pretty big practice (100+) in audit alone and I've got quite a bit of accounts prep work, and I'm only in my 1st year!

I think training outside of the big 4's probably the best option. I'm really glad I didn't accept offers there. I've heard absolute horror stories from college friends and friends of friends.

What do you do in a small , medium firm that u dont do in a large firm.

I am with a big four firm and all i seem to do is audit which isnt great, u do the accounts the odd time, but all in realtion to the audit file!!!

Whats the experince like in the small - medium firm.

I was hoping after i qualified that having big four on my cv would impess employers but am wondering if employers would actually prfer people who have done a lot of indusrty relevant stuff.

Something tells me that if u trained in industry and did banks recs, debtors, rec, creditors rec, accounts prep, all this kind of stuff it would hold you in better stead than being in audit for three years and knowing nothing else???

Hanley

ma.long25 wrote: »

What do you do in a small , medium firm that u dont do in a large firm.

I am with a big four firm and all i seem to do is audit which isnt great, u do the accounts the odd time, but all in realtion to the audit file!!!

Whats the experince like in the small - medium firm.

I was hoping after i qualified that having big four on my cv would impess employers but am wondering if employers would actually prfer people who have done a lot of indusrty relevant stuff.

Something tells me that if u trained in industry and did banks recs, debtors, rec, creditors rec, accounts prep, all this kind of stuff it would hold you in better stead than being in audit for three years and knowing nothing else???

Well by and large we don't do our own recs, they're normally prepared for us, but every couple of months somoene will get landed with shoeboxes!!

The big advantage that I see is that since you're dealing with smaller clients (NAV's of circa 10m and under) the jobs aren't as big. So you get to do more sections, and can follow the audit thru from planning to completition (obviously as a junior member of the team).

Whereas a lot of the bigger clients in Big 4 seem to be SO big that you only ever get to see small parts of sections, and maybe even not a whole section at all.

Like don't get me wrong, 99% of my time is spent on bog standard audit work, but every now and again ya get to see some accounts preps, and while that might only be to the extent you're posting a TB and then creating notes, it's still interesting and gives ya a much better understanding of what goes into, and how to read, financial statements!

IRISH DAYWALKER

thanks for this everyone, just one more question when i did work experience in transition year i was stuck in a back office on my own bored out of my head and i got the impression that this is what an accounting like will be like when im older, am i wrong? will i be dealing with clients and co workers all the time? or is it quite a solitary job?

kabuk1

You'll be dealing with clients and co-workers, and the level at which you do will increase as you gain experience.

I'm in a big4, just finished my first year, I've been on client's sites to do audits and work directly with their accountant(s). I did this mainly on small jobs. When a bigger job is involved, mainly the seniors will be dealing with the client. As you progress, your responsibility increases, and this will put you face to face with most clients.

On most audits, especially in the big4, you'll be working in a team for many of your audits as they'll be too big to complete solo (there are SPVs, pensions and other small audits that can be completed solo within 2 weeks time) and your senior and semi-senior will be providing you with work to do.

Sometimes you will be sitting in a tiny back room somewhere; however, it's usually at a client's site with your team. This happens often. There a many companies the seem to do their best to make you as uncomfortable as possible, or so I've heard from many of my colleagues. I've been lucky enough to work on smaller jobs where the client is quite accommodating.

Hope this helps.

Hanley: I'm in a big4, and we don't do accounts prep work. At least, I have never done it. I wish I would've taken an offer elsewhere as I don't find the Big4 to be all be seem/think it to be. Big disappointment.

Ma.long25: Big 4 does look good on a CV. It's usually because there are always people needed in audit, so if you plan to stay in audit, you'll have no problem. However, if you work in audit outside of Financial Services, it'll look good for industry work as well as you'll have had some exposure. The other thing that makes it look good are the larger clients you work with. Plus, apparently, people seem to think it's better training and you can handle more because of the study mixed with work load. However, I would bt more intersted in industry and FS audit isn't going to get me there.

Cantoris

ma.long25 wrote: »

I was hoping after i qualified that having big four on my cv would impess employers but am wondering if employers would actually prfer people who have done a lot of indusrty relevant stuff.

Something tells me that if u trained in industry and did banks recs, debtors, rec, creditors rec, accounts prep, all this kind of stuff it would hold you in better stead than being in audit for three years and knowing nothing else???

Trust me, Big 4 will get you noticed in industry. That's why most of those made redundant from KPMG recently were succesfully placed with clients. In actual fact, a lad who looks after my old group there said he sent four seniors to one client and the client wished he could take on all four rather than just one.

Anyone who pays any attention to their work during their training contract comes across bank recs, debtors recs, creditors recs etc. Jasus, a bank rec is the most important thing in an audit. If you are a senior in an audit firm (big or small) and you cannot do these recs then you haven't learned a whole heap.

The advantage of the small firm is that you get to see the detail and learn about tax, planning etc etc. It's a great starting ground for those that want to set up their own practice, particularly in towns around the country. It also provides a strong grounding for financial controller roles.

Big 4 gives you exposure to a variety of clients and you see how big business can work. But only if you want to see it. A lot of those in contract don't want to see anything as they think it's all a chore. But you have to embrace the opportunity to look outside the box. Yes the work can be boring but sit down and chat with your clients. Understand their business. Clients love being asked about their business rather than about some balance in some obscure account. It also teaches you how to manage people, whether it's the four people under you or your boss, the manager or partner. Partners get to their positions for a reason. If you find one that is nice enough to teach you a few things, then listen to them. Ask them questions. They don't bite if you approach it the right way.

Accountancy is a good grounding. Don't stay in it too long though or you get dull. Do your training contract and if you can get manager, do that for one year, two max and then get out into the commercial world.