Start 3 year contract or do Masters

armbruster

Hi all,

I'm wondering if the accountant's out there can advise me on something:

What if one did a Master's in Accounting - obtaining exemptions from CAP 1 and CAP 2, then joined one of the firms, taking the FAE in 3 years time? Would the starting salary be higher? Is there any benefit to doing this?

Are there other courses (not a Master's) where you could just take the exams?

crapmanjoe

I'd recommend just starting the job
, unless you want another year of college life

The starting salary is slightly higher with a masters but definitely does not cover the cost of the master and the loss of salary for a year

PaidV

If I was you I would just start the contract, its 3 and a half years without a masters by the way. If you have done a masters it means you only have to complete a three year training contract. This is an advantage of the masters but there are disadvantages also. If you do a masters it means you are exempt from CAP 1 and CAP 2 so lets say you start your contract on 1 Nov 2011, you are exempt from CAP 1 and 2 so you will have to sit FAE's. You are not allowed sit these in the first year of your contract so you will sit FAE's in August 2013. I don't care what anyone says the CAP 1s and 2s are harder then any Masters so instead of having this experience of sitting CAP 1s and 2s you will be going straight into FAEs which are extremely difficult and not having sat any exam for almost 2 years. That is very difficult. In my opinion I would just get stuck into the contract without the masters but thats up to you. It isnt an easy job so be prepared to work hard.

Pawwed Rig

It depends on you really. At least one big 4 doesn't pay any extra whether you have a masters or not (I can't speak for them all)

If you are able to finance an extra year in college without working then that is what I would recommend to you. CAP2 is hell. While I agree with the previous poster that the experience will hold you well for the FAE's there are plenty who pass FAE after getting the CAP1/2 exemptions.

So do the maths
Starting salary 22,500
Cost of Masters 11,000
Company pays 6,500 and gives you 2,000.

So in real terms the masters will cost you €25,000. (rough figures based on Smurfit masters).

Dellboy2007

There are places that are cheaper than Smurfit (11,500).

You would be doing the FAE's in your second year of contract, if you did the Masters.

The benefit of doing a Masters is *not* to get a higher starting salary (that's even if you did get one). The benefit is not having to do CAP 2 exams while working. On the basis that you have, or will get a training contract with Big4, I would look at what fits with you personally. Would you mind working while doing exams? Where would you be doing the Masters? Would it be near your home? If so you could save a lot of money by living at home. Does research appeal to you? Would you like to write a Thesis?

*NOTE: (Don't have to write thesis in UCD)

george507

I heard the salary is same, and the Master in UCD is not easy.

Muzi5434

armbruster wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm wondering if the accountant's out there can advise me on something:

What if one did a Master's in Accounting - obtaining exemptions from CAP 1 and CAP 2, then joined one of the firms, taking the FAE in 3 years time? Would the starting salary be higher? Is there any benefit to doing this?

Are there other courses (not a Master's) where you could just take the exams?

I would recommend a masters because you won't be doing exams in the first year of your contract. But obviously you'll have to see what your financial situation is.

I started 3 weeks ago in Deloitte and am well relaxed in terms of studying while I see other people doing study after work and I'm just happy that I chose a masters

Rickyroma

One point that people haven't mentioned is that if you do a Masters you are potentially going in at with a much higher knowledge level than someone from, say, an engineering background.

If you work hard at the Masters (which you'll need to do - wherever you do it) you should have a far greater understanding of Audit, Tax and Accounting than those without a Masters. This should help keep you on the right side of your managers.

I came into a Big 4 from a completely non accounting background and really struggled initially. It took a year of late nights to catch up - and then I had to take six weeks out to get the CAP 1s.

The downside of a Masters is you don't get the benefit of sitting CAP 2s which, while horrrendous, are great preparation for the FAEs.

Both routes have advantages so take your time with the decision - but if you are just looking for an easy option then do something else. I don't regret joining for a second and if you get lucky it can be great, but don't kid yourself that there isn't a lot of hard work and late nights ahead either way!