Give us the Truth

Proposition Joe

Hey,
This is kind of a long post so bear with me.
I’m afraid it’s another post on accountancy. I’m a 90% qualified ACCA accountant (practice, non big 4). I really feel compelled to write this, not just for myself but for a number of my accounting friends. Basically, none of us seem to be happy. I know work is work and nobody grows up WANTING to be an accountant but it just seems to be a very unhappy profession.
Personally, I have received very poor training in my 3 years as a trainee and were it not for the economy the way it is, I would have the CV sent out to other companies long ago. I’ve recently met up with a few long lost college friends and, while some are training with the Big 4 companies, very few seem to be happy with their lot.
Training seems to be the major issue. My boss is a relatively nice guy, moody but ok. He has a lot of business interests in Eastern Europe and hence spends a lot of time out of the office. Now, this is all well and good for him, but in our office there is only myself, the receptionist and a part time accountant who only works on her own client cases. Basically, I am getting no training, even though it has been promised time and again.
Really what I am looking for here are qualified people to give me/us the low down (ie their experiences, is this just the nature of the profession, what's it like when one qualifies, etc etc).
I’m open to all sorts of suggestions and criticism but keep it constructive, no smart ass comments. I’m not a whinger by nature, but I’m sick of asking (accounting) people and getting round about answers that do not answer my questions.
Thanks

buzzing

Proposition Joe wrote: »

Hey,
This is kind of a long post so bear with me.
I’m afraid it’s another post on accountancy. I’m a 90% qualified ACCA accountant (practice, non big 4). I really feel compelled to write this, not just for myself but for a number of my accounting friends. Basically, none of us seem to be happy. I know work is work and nobody grows up WANTING to be an accountant but it just seems to be a very unhappy profession.
Personally, I have received very poor training in my 3 years as a trainee and were it not for the economy the way it is, I would have the CV sent out to other companies long ago. I’ve recently met up with a few long lost college friends and, while some are training with the Big 4 companies, very few seem to be happy with their lot.
Training seems to be the major issue. My boss is a relatively nice guy, moody but ok. He has a lot of business interests in Eastern Europe and hence spends a lot of time out of the office. Now, this is all well and good for him, but in our office there is only myself, the receptionist and a part time accountant who only works on her own client cases. Basically, I am getting no training, even though it has been promised time and again.
Really what I am looking for here are qualified people to give me/us the low down (ie their experiences, is this just the nature of the profession, what's it like when one qualifies, etc etc).
I’m open to all sorts of suggestions and criticism but keep it constructive, no smart ass comments. I’m not a whinger by nature, but I’m sick of asking (accounting) people and getting round about answers that do not answer my questions.
Thanks

Hi Proposition Joe,

Being based in a small practice myself, i can sort of empathise with you, I did believe at the start that my experience was not great, However I did hear stories from the boss that students who did trained here - progress successfully to top 10 practices.

But if you need any assistance with anything , drop me a pm.

Best Wishes,

Buzzing

henrietta

Hi,
I'm afraid I'm not much help to you as I feel much the same. I too trained in a small practice, 2 partners a manager and 5 trainees so bit bigger than yours.
I have finished my contract and am now out of work. I did the chartered route so have to submit an online diary of experience and to be honest I've had to make most of it up. Even many of the essential items didn't feature anywhere in my training. I suppose it is partly my own doing as I should have brought this to the attention of partner along the way and asked for more but not sure it would have done much good. I believe small firms have no concern for our education or development they just want slave labour, which is what it amounts to when you look at wages.
ANyway hoping to eventually bluff my way into job on basis of what I learned in college and then work damm hard to make it up as I go along and not get caught. All I have to do now is find a job!

Sorry but your post just rang true with me so much I had to add my two cents worth, probably made you feel worse though, sorry!

Proposition Joe

Hey Henrietta,

in a way it makes me feel a bit better because it's obviously going on wholesale in small practices (and not just mine)
I agree with you, the partners are more concerned with the wages than educating us. I tried contacting the governing body but because my boss is a member....they didn't want to take sides. Who are we supposed to go to for support if not our body? What a joke that is...

I wish you the best with the job hunting by the way

Odats

Basically in a small practice 99% of your companies are audit exempt status unless you miss ARD dates and that is where the difference is as in small practice audit is virtually none existent with accounts prep and income tax,CT and compliance i.e. VAT,PAYE/PRSI,RCT etc is the main stay. I know where that girl is coming from with the CA diary as I'm on the chartered route and a good chunk of it has to be made up as it is designed for the big not for the small firms.
Training wise in small practice myself but once qualified I want to get some experience in actually doing audits just for future experience.
I think the next step is crucial.