Any Accountants on here?

O

oli445

Senior member
I am ready for a new challenge and am considering studying to become a qualified accountant. I have been to uni and found it boring but I am quite good at home studying, reading and retaining info.

I am now 28 so don't want to be leaving my job or reducing hours but am willing to study in my own time if there is a better future at the end of it. I know I have the capability but don't want to study for a couple of years, spend a couple of grand and be no better off than I am now.

Has anyone on here home studied to be an accountant around a full time job? How long did it take? Was it worth it and what proffesional body would you recommend?
 
i'm an accountant.

studied on the job, i'll be honest, and i am being frank, it's not that hard. the exams are mostly book work and there is little more than application of fairly basic theory.

i did ACCA and have subsequently done the CIMA papers too. ACA is generally undertaken by trainees within the big 4 and you need (or did need) a training contract with an accredited employer iirc. so that avenue isn't open to you. i think ACCA do a transitional paper for non-graduates.

pros of accountancy are it's a reasonably secure field and if you have a decent CV you'll usually get a job. also, it's a relatively easy way of getting into senior management in a business, as knowing the figures and how they impact the business - and how the business impacts the figures - is a very useful skill.

cons, it's pretty boring and is often very desk / meetings based occupation (especially at the junior / senior ends) and it is very political, insofar as very average people can obtain their qualification and end up managing a team through sheer hard work and little talent, and at that point, they protect where they are by all means necessary.

having said that, i've always got on ok and, for someone who was prone to youthful laziness, i'm now earning a fair bit more than the teachers wh dismissed me. :)
 
I home studied and have passed all but 1 paper in 2 years. I had the added benefit of exemptions from my degree but I figure that you could easily sit 2 at a time (4 a year)

14 papers in total for ACCA so 3 1/2 years at a stroll. I think you can sit up to 4 a time. Mucho pressure if you are working alongside.

Not much to choose between ACCA, CIMA or ICAEW really. The advise is usually ICAEW for the Chartered Route or CIMA for the Management route or ACCA as an either/or. Check to see if your company is accredited to one of them.

Im ACCA and a management accountant. Deffo worth it especially if you plan on moving about job wise.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
 
I have just signed up to CIMA literally today.. I am lucky enough that my work (E.On) have offered to pay for it!

Quite a long road ahead but will defiantly help with future career moves.


iPhone using Tapatalk
 
FCCA and I'd say it's not easy, or at least it wasn't back when I studied alongside working full time and having to take the finals and pass all papers together or retake them all

I've never worked in Accountancy nor do I want to be a line accountant but what my qualification has done for me is open doors and makes it much easier to get the next role from my experience.
 
I have a degree in Accounting, and now ACMA.

Strategic level and Case Study will be very hard for home study.

ACCA is different from CIMA. If you just want to do financial reporting and management accounts, then you choose ACCA. CIMA is for someone who want to be part of senior executive management for driving the business forward.

For most accountancy qualifications, you need relevant work experience to become qualified (min. 3 years for CIMA). You need to gain accounting experience, but just passing exam.
 
ksher said:
ACCA is different from CIMA. If you just want to do financial reporting and management accounts, then you choose ACCA. CIMA is for someone who want to be part of senior executive management for driving the business forward.
Click to expand...

how does that work then? i don't think skills for driving a business forward are encapsulated in either qualification myself.

both qualifications have their share of non accountancy content on the syllabus. in terms of their financials content, one has a more inward facing slant the other outward, but to be honest they're broadly comparable. a lot of it will depend on the type of business you're in and how it positions its financing etc etc...there're loads of factors to consider.

horses for courses i guess. :)
 
ksher said:
I have a degree in Accounting, and now ACMA.

Strategic level and Case Study will be very hard for home study.

ACCA is different from CIMA. If you just want to do financial reporting and management accounts, then you choose ACCA. CIMA is for someone who want to be part of senior executive management for driving the business forward.
Click to expand...

I totally disagree with that statement. Both avenues give you broadly the same skillsets with regards to content. It is the individual that harnesses these skills with a passion that becomes the "senior exec".

I work for one of the largest companies in the UK where the FD and RFC are both ACCA. I manage a £70m budget just below these and am also ACCA so maybe not the shoddy lower management qualification that you make it out to be........



Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
 
Chartered management accountants:
- advise managers about the financial implications of projects
- explain the financial consequences of business decisions
- formulate business strategy
- monitor spending and financial control
- conduct internal business audits
- explain the impact of the competitive landscape.

Interview from Sir Alec Reed CBE FCMA (founder of Reed recruitment company):

What have been the biggest changes to the role of management accountants, and to the environment they work in, since you qualified?

CIMA has had a fantastic opportunity over the decades, because management accounting is much more important than financial accounting. A lot of chartered accountants are focused on tax, as that’s where their biggest fees come from, but management accounting is a much broader, more varied field. We have a lot of CIMA members in our company – we all talk the same language. Yet I still believe that the accountancy profession across the world has a long way to go. I don’t think it’s fully kept up with the changing world around it.

The complexity of business today is not reflected in the practice of accountancy. Computers simply splurge out numbers and can provide a huge amount of detail, which initially seems to be a positive thing. But there needs to be much more focus on the performance of people and on identifying the really meaningful figures. Our business is a good example: we have hundreds of branches, but we don’t focus on how one branch compares against another; we focus on how successful our individual people are, because that’s what really matters.

CIMA President quoted "When I joined CIMA, membership was around the 20,000 mark. Today it is nearer 90,000. Moreover, the CIMA qualification is now the preferred choice of CEOs all over the world".
 
What is the CGMA designation?

The Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) is a new global management accounting designation that recognises the unique role played by men and women at organisations around the world who are guiding critical business decisions and driving strong business performance.

Created through a joint venture of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the CGMA elevates management accounting and recognises the competencies and expertise of management accountants who are leading the world’s most successful organizations and providing employers with the best professional management accounting talent to drive sustainable business success. It demonstrates management accounting expertise in such areas as leading strategically with management to make more informed decisions; helping organisations manage change, risk and uncertainty; protecting corporate assets; and promoting operational efficiency and effectiveness. In addition, the CGMA advances management accounting while supporting and growing the U.S. CPA and the global reach of CIMA.
 
fair play....
i hope you all play hard cos this all sounds soo booooorrrinnnggggg
sure its worth it though :thumbsup:
But if i got a fezzer/lambo out of it i might be interested....
 
Where did you copy and paste that from?

In all honesty a qualification is in its simplest form a key to get you into an environment. It doesnt make you a superb shiney person in its own right. Experience once in said workplace moulds you into a business leader if that is what you desire.

I say no more.

Sent by a lowly ACCA accountant from my cheap GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
 
Mafoo said:
In all honesty a qualification is in its simplest form a key to get you into an environment. It doesnt make you a superb shiney person in its own right. Experience once in said workplace moulds you into a business leader if that is what you desire.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree.
 
ksher said:
Mafoo said:
In all honesty a qualification is in its simplest form a key to get you into an environment. It doesnt make you a superb shiney person in its own right. Experience once in said workplace moulds you into a business leader if that is what you desire.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree.
Click to expand...

not sure i'd really bother with a qualification if verbatim copy and pastes are what form your assertions.
 
JaEdBa said:
ksher said:
Mafoo said:
In all honesty a qualification is in its simplest form a key to get you into an environment. It doesnt make you a superb shiney person in its own right. Experience once in said workplace moulds you into a business leader if that is what you desire.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree.
Click to expand...

not sure i'd really bother with a qualification if verbatim copy and pastes are what form your assertions.
Click to expand...

Articles were taken from CIMA Financial Management magazine. All I wanted to show is the different career prospects of Financial Accountants and Management Accountants, and the objective opinions from other people, not from my personal perception.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom