thinking of taking up accountancy

number13

I currently have no experience in accounting but am thinking og going back to do accountancy degree at night time. it sounds like an interesting career but i m afraid i wont like it. Im 30 and dont want to make a wrong decision. Any views ? are there any books i could get before i just straight into it> Im just sick of my dead end job . I want a career.
Please help:eek:

Lirael

If you are good with numbers and have no problem with basic maths and can use a cold logic u shall be fine

i am an accountant and i think it is a good job

Pisco Sour

If theres a way you can do accountancy by avoiding auditing I would strongly encourage you to take that option. Trust me, you dont want to do auditing.

Pawwed Rig

Hi Number 13. I can definitely give you some advice on this one. I could have written your post 3 years ago. I am 33 now and when I was 29 was sick of my job and started an accountancy degree in Dublin Business School. In final year now. DBS was the only place offering part time accounting when I was applying in 06.
Be warned it is a long road ahead. The degree itself is ok. 4 years part time 2 evenings per week. Depending on what you want you will then be required to do a 3 year training contract pursuing professional examinations. I would recommend keeping your 'dead end job'(your quote) while you're studying. That's what I did as it kept the cash coming in and could really devote my real attention to my studies. With a degree you will get exemptions from Cap 1 which are the first set of exams for your professional qualifications.

Alternatively If you can getta job now in an accountancy company you can go directly into professional exams without doing a degree. Wasn't an option for me for money reasons.
As is I will be 38 before I'm actually qualified but I am going to see it all the way through which will be the same for you if you follow the same path as me.
Big decision so don't make it lightly but I haven't regretted it for a minute since I started. Even quit my job this year to concentrate on my final year in college. So if I wasn't committed before I certainly am now:)

xoxyx

I saw this title and thought "did I post this thread in a fugue or something".
I've finished a part time law degree and realised in the final year that I no longer have any interest in law whatsoever, other than the fact that I hate, hate, hate it. Am not sure what to do now and don't like the thought that I've wasted the last three years, so am looking for something that the degree would at least give me a step up onto, and was thinking of accountancy.
Only think is, another four or five years study/traineeship? Ouch!!! Are there firms around at the moment that would take you on and have you doing relevant work on a half way decent salary as you train? I'm actually on a good enough salary right now (just over €36,000) but it's in a job I dislike with no room for promotion.

Pawwed Rig

I was doing interviews recently and there was people there with a variety of qualifications including Engineering and Law. Not sure bout decent salary. All the big firms seem to be offering low twenties.

number13

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Hi Number 13. I can definitely give you some advice on this one. I could have written your post 3 years ago. I am 33 now and when I was 29 was sick of my job and started an accountancy degree in Dublin Business School. In final year now. DBS was the only place offering part time accounting when I was applying in 06.
Be warned it is a long road ahead. The degree itself is ok. 4 years part time 2 evenings per week. Depending on what you want you will then be required to do a 3 year training contract pursuing professional examinations. I would recommend keeping your 'dead end job'(your quote) while you're studying. That's what I did as it kept the cash coming in and could really devote my real attention to my studies. With a degree you will get exemptions from Cap 1 which are the first set of exams for your professional qualifications.

Alternatively If you can getta job now in an accountancy company you can go directly into professional exams without doing a degree. Wasn't an option for me for money reasons.
As is I will be 38 before I'm actually qualified but I am going to see it all the way through which will be the same for you if you follow the same path as me.
Big decision so don't make it lightly but I haven't regretted it for a minute since I started. Even quit my job this year to concentrate on my final year in college. So if I wasn't committed before I certainly am now:)

If i do it it wil be for the long haul. Dont mind the work i would have to put in. The nearest college offering part time accounting only has a level 7 degree . does this matter ? the level 8 degree is bout an hour s drive in the evening to and from. Any ideas?
I would be starting from the start didnt even do it in school. Would this be a problem ? any books i could get to make soure i like it? Help:mad:

Pawwed Rig

Dunno really about books. I just use textbooks really. You could check out some leaving cert books or there is one we used in first year called appropriately enough 'Accounting for Non Accountants'. Best advice is talk to people you know who are accountants or check on-line. Haven't started working in the field yet as I'm still studying.
Be careful on the degree you get. There are lots of kids leaving college with good degrees that can't find work. Lots of companies are particular about academic performance and which college you attended etc. I got refused from one company because of my leaving cert results if you can believe that. 2 degrees and 15 years work experience and they look at an exam I did in 1994!!!

Have a read of the milk round thread and you'll see the issues people are having finding a job.
Hopefully a real accountant will answer this thread and give you some better advice................. Anyone???

Pisco Sour

If you have worked anywhere in business before it might be worth checking out the ICAI Elevation Programme

http://www.elevationprogramme.ie/

Also you can claim credits for prior business experience, therefore reducing the amount of time needed working in accountancy to get qualified.

sue72

another option would be to just start doing some of the accouting exams. I have done the first 3 Acca exams by ordering the books & revision books and havent had to attend classes. After the first 9 exams you can do an assignment and get a Hons Accounting Degree from a UK university

Pisco Sour

When thinking about it a lot of people doing CAP 1 havent done accountancy before just like yourself, so make sure to look into the Elevation Programme. Provided you have 4 years work experience (i think it has to be in some sort of business sector but not 100%) you can enroll in the programme. This will allow you to sit the exams without having to be working at the same time. You can get your required experience after you sit your exams if you wish. Its a much more flexible way of doing the whole ACA thing.

jackthekipper

Regarding books I'd get a really basic leaving cert one to start with. You really need to grasp the basics initially.

You don't necessarily need a degree to move into accounting. Is the company you work for big?

I have a colleague who moved from IT into accounting a few years ago by talking to the manager and started doing bank recs.

She then started into her exams direct without exemptions.

If you can't move internally you would probably need a degree to show you are serious or to have started the exams.

A bit of googling suggests acca offer a degree
http://www.accaglobal.com/students/bsc/

unas

Hi OP,

I changed career to accountancy (practice) a while back. It was difficult to make the change (and that was in a much better job market) because interviewers tended not to believe that I would like it and stick with it. I can now understand why: it can be interesting and I don't regret the change, but you *do* need to like, or at least not mind: paperwork, repetitive administrative tasks, being obsessive about minor details, and also be able to deal with the stress of being responsible for other people's financial affairs. That's even before worrying about the exams and the paycut.

With all that in mind, and given the job market at the moment, I would highly recommend that anyone thinking about a career change to accountancy try to get some work experience, even unpaid, in an accounting practice. Even half a day a week. You truly won't know if you like it till you are in there, and the experience will (IMHO) make you much more likely to get an interview and much more convincing once you do! Working for no money seemed like an odd thing to do a couple of years ago but in the current economic blahdyblah, I don't think anyone would blink at the request or think you were odd for doing it.

ITs_rule

Well if you want a career; accountancy will certainly give it to you and yes it is interesting. You definitely wont be making a bad decision. Afterall your only thirty, still young and nothing is ever set in stone.

Moreover, you dont need to be fantastic at maths or be a human calculator. I never was but I learned to be. No one is born an accountant. Go to a maternity ward and I bet you there will be no babies looking to do a set of accounts or a tax return.

All in all, if you get excited and believe in yourself, you can do it. As Obama says yes we can.

Onearmedbandit

number13 wrote: »

thinking of taking up accountancy

Don't :P

Pisco Sour

ITs_rule wrote: »

Well if you want a career; accountancy will certainly give it to you and yes it is interesting.

:eek:

I politely disagree.

Pawwed Rig

number13 wrote: »

If i do it it wil be for the long haul. Dont mind the work i would have to put in. The nearest college offering part time accounting only has a level 7 degree . does this matter ? the level 8 degree is bout an hour s drive in the evening to and from. Any ideas?
I would be starting from the start didnt even do it in school. Would this be a problem ? any books i could get to make soure i like it? Help:mad:

I know this is a few months old at this stage but good book for an introduction is 'Introduction to Accounting and Finance' by Geoff Black.