ACCA Certification

MartaSofy

Hi,

I have a BSc in Accountancy and Management and an MSc in Corporate Sciences. I have two years of experience as financial auditor at Ernst & Young, where I work now, and before I worked as Junior Financial Controller, for a year and a half.

Now I am looking for a job in Dublin but most of the job vacancies require ACCA certification and I do not have it.
In Portugal we can work without any certification in auditing or in accountancy without a problem. We only have to do an exam to become a certified Accountant so we could sign the accountancy. Usually in Portugal, companies have one certified Accountant that signs the accountancy and the rest of the accountants perform accountancy or controlling without being certified.
Similar happens in auditing, we can work as an auditor without having the certification.

Can you please explain me the following:
1. How long does it take to get the certification?
2. If I become an ACCA member (register), is it enough to be called for job interviews? Or must I have passed at least in one of the exams?
3. Will I have a chance of getting a job in Dublin without the ACCA certification?
4. What do you advise me to do to find a Job as Assistant Controller or Internal Auditor in Dublin?
Do you have any other advises for me?

Kind regards

CIARAN_BOYLE

In Ireland you can work as a trainee without exams, anything else you pretty much have to have exams.

dbran

As a trainee you may not undertake work or hold yourself out to be a practicing accountant where reports are issued that can be relied upon by a third party such as accounts, tax returns, management accounts etc.

You may provide bookkeeping services, complete VAT and PAYE returns etc.

dbran

MartaSofy

Yes, but in a Controller position or in an Internal Auditor position you don´t have to provide bookkeeping, right? In fact, to perform those positions you must have a good knowledge about accountancy but you don't need to sign any type of legal documents, or have you?
How long does it take to get the certification?
Could my experience in a big 4 company be a positive point that may mitigate the fact that I don't have a certification?

dbran

Hi

If you are an employee of somebody, then clearly, as you say, you are not providing any accounting information to the public but only to your employer. So this will of course be fine.

If you are asking how long is it going to take to obtain a professional qualification such as ACCA, ACA, CIMA etc then I am afraid that anyone on this forum will tell you that this could take years of study to pass all of the exams and get the approved experience.

Your Big 4 experience without the qualification that everyone obtains while working in the Big 4 would be of limited help. And as an unqualified accountant you will never be able to command the level of salary that your experience would otherwise entitle you to expect.

dbran

Whoisin thehouse

Hi
I would advise you to just bite the bullet and start your ACCA studies. You will be able to get an ACCA certificate after the 1st 3 exams (F1, F2 and F3) if you decided ACCA is not for you. You may be entitled to some exemptions from some of these subjects with your qualifications

Good Luck