Career Change to Accounting - Advise Needed :)

mikeb1000

Looking for guidance and advise

Have a 2:1 level 8 science degree, working in environment health and safety, 10 years industry experience.

In the early stages of changing careers into accountancy with the help of a careers coach.

I have three main concerns;

1 - length of time and steps required to qualify - there are so many different routes very hard to determine what to do

2 - salary within the timeframe of doing exams and qualifying - 3/4 years - paying a mortgage and kids being the concern.

Do I go back to college for a year and aim to get a role with a company after that? Or do I go straight to applying to a company to train while working with them?

3 - job opportunities in Galway, I don’t have the option of working for the big 4 in Dublin. I am very much committed to Galway or even Athlone area.

I know I need to do this, but apprehensive and concerned that it may end up being the wrong move.

if anyone has recently done the same, would love to here and tips or guidance.

Alan_007_

1. It will take 3 years at a minimum to qualify, regardless of which qualification you do (assuming you have no accountancy experience beforehand).

Each qualification has a slightly different structure in terms of the exams. Chartered is structured more like college where you do all of your exams in one sitting in the summer, so if you're starting from CAP 1 it'll be three year's worth of exams.

ACCA has 14 exams that need to be passed. There are quarterly exam sessions and it's possible to do more than one exam per session, so theoretically you could finish the exams quicker than 3 years.

I had exemptions to CAP 1 so I finished my exams about 18 months before I was actually qualified. I wouldn't be in a rush to have the exams finished so long before qualifying as I definitely wasn't getting paid like a qualified accountant for those 18 months and my in depth technical knowledge was worse than somebody who was also newly qualified but had completed the exams more recently (relevant when looking for a job post qualification).

2. The salary when training is poor. I started training in a small practice in 2017 on €18k. It rose to €21k after I passed the CAP 2's and when I finished my FAE's it rose to €28k, where it stayed until just before I qualified.

Industry pays better in general, although I couldn't tell you what the going rate is now.

If you don't mind me asking, what's prompted your desire to change career paths into accountancy?

mikeb1000

Many thanks for that Alan_007.

To answer your question, not enjoying the industry and career I’m currently in and looking for a complete change.

If I am to go ahead with this should I have any concerns on location for jobs? Living in Galway so conscious I probably won’t be applying for any roles with the Big 4.

All the Big4 have Galway offices.

I do think it's worth elaborating on your answer to Alan_007_ and giving a bit more info on what you want to do. Your study path should be tailored to where you want to end up. Similarly, what counts as "job opportunities" depends on what kind of job you want. You might not even need the professional exams depending on what kind of job you're looking for. Have you had a look at any job specs?

E.g.:

• Financial accountant
• Auditor in a professional services firm
• Internal auditor
• Management accountant
• Finance Director/Controller/other senior finance role
• Professional services firm offering tax/accounting
• Risk and Compliance
• Tax and Accounting services self-employed or in a small firm

Evelynmc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119159925#Comment_119159925

I am looking for info on switching careers to this area also, Is it a must to train in the field while studying or are there routes that would allow to study and do exams while continuing in my current role?

Pawwed Rig

I sis the same thing as you many years ago.

I wouldn't bother going back to college for a year. Send out a CV and a cover letter to all the firms in Galway and see how you get on. We are based in Dublin but are finding it very challenging to get staff at all levels and are considering candidates that we never would have considered before

mikeb1000

I haven’t yet figure out what specific area I am looking to pursue, as I said I am very much so in the early stages of this.

From my research so far I think financial accounting would be my area of interest.

For financial accounting, it's possible to work in it without professional exams, but you'd likely hit a promotion ceiling, so it's worth doing exams. Google search 'financial accounting jobs' to get an idea of the roles (also, accounts, accounts payable/receivable, accounts assistant).

I did the ACAs. If you're going to do professional exams, there's absolutely no point in doing a year of college first. You'll need the experience to qualify so you're best off starting your studies and experience at the same time. Especially if you find a firm to pay for the exams for you.

Don't write off the Big4 due to location; it would be hard to get into the Galway offices, but the benefits you get from studying with a bigger firm are reflected in the higher pass rates for Big4 students, so it's worth a shot.

I don't want to be negative; doing the exams was a game-changer for me. It was 4 years of great experience and I got what I wanted out of it. But it was 4 difficult years and I certainly wouldn't do it again.

What annoys you about your current position? What are you looking to get away from?

mazdamiatamx5

I would like to know more about the rationale here.

Much of the work traditionally done by the accountancy profession is going to be automated. The profession's long term future is dubious.

Alan_007_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119163646#Comment_119163646

Are you an accountant yourself?

Most of the work that's going to be automated is more low level work that has already been automated to some degree.

Best of luck to any software developer that can turn a shoebox full of sh*t into a tax return without any human involvement.

Pawwed Rig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119163636#Comment_119163636

In my day one of those reasons was that they sacked those who did not pass the exams

Alan_007_

Other factors that contribute to the big 4's pass rates would be the amount of study leave that they get, as well as selecting people who have a background of strong academic performance.

It's not surprising that the people who do better in the LC and college tend to do better in the professional exams too.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165903#Comment_119165903

And you think an Indian/Tamil/etc accountant can't do it..... with a final review in Ireland.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119163646#Comment_119163646

It's not just a question of automation, it's outsourcing as well, which is relatively new to accounting. Spain seems to be coming a popular location for outsourcing HR related services such as payroll, pensions etc.... It's no more difficult to outsource accounting than IT services - Hire a bunch of well educated locals and send out a few Irish accountants to supervise them.

The growing areas for accountants are bid data an machine learning, but that requires additional skills.

Alan_007_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119167983#Comment_119167983

That is a fair point, however from what I've seen, the outsourced providers can be extremely hit or miss as well.

I would think going forward that accountancy may be tougher to get into as traditional trainee work (which gives a good grounding in the basics) is automated/outsourced, however there should still be work there for more experienced accountants.