Accountancy jobs - what's yours?

musashi10

MoneySavingUser wrote: »

Whilst the growth rate in CIMA students in the last year has been the highest it has only been about 0.1% above the growth rate in ACCA students and over the long term (2006-2010) - ACCA is growing a lot faster - however if you go on any of the institutes websites they will all have claims to be the biggest/best/most relevant etc. it's marketing mostly

I disagree with CIMA being preferred in Industry - ACCA has twice as many students employed in Industry than CIMA and a lot of large FTSE 100 firms offer ACCA training

In terms of international recognition
1) ACCA is most recognised in countries where it is possible to do ACCA as a local qualification & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Chartered_Certified_Accountants#Legal_.26_Mutual_Recognition

2) ICAEW is best recognised in the areas where the Global Accounting Alliance operates: http://www.globalaccountingalliance.com/Alliancebodies1.html and other bodies they have MoU's with: http://www.icaew.com/en/join-us/members-of-other-bodies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICAEW#Admission_to_membership

3) CIMA is mostly based on MoU's with bodies but the recent linkup with the AICPA means CIMA is likely to open more doors in the USA: http://www.cimaglobal.com/About-us/Press-office/Press-releases/2011/March-2011/cima-aicpa-jv/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartered_Institute_of_Management_Accountants#Strategic_alliances

A good place to read about which qualifications are accepted in certain countries and what further exams people have had to do is: http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=87

In terms of syllabus strengths:-

CIMA: Management accounting/business strategy
ACA: Financial Reporting/Auditing/Corporate Taxation
ACCA: a mix of both!

Remember you can't become a registered auditor if you do CIMA

Strongly diagree with most of this. I think that may have been the case 5 years or so, where ACCA was considered second to ACA, but now I think that it is generally considered the weakest of the three and ACCA's pay reflects this from qualified members in the UK.

At the end of the day its the experience of what you have done and what you can actually do that matters more than the letters you obtain.

Any

musashi10 wrote: »

Strongly diagree with most of this. I think that may have been the case 5 years or so, where ACCA was considered second to ACA, but now I think that it is generally considered the weakest of the three and ACCA's pay reflects this from qualified members in the UK.

At the end of the day its the experience of what you have done and what you can actually do that matters more than the letters you obtain.

And I strongly disagree with everything you said here!!!

ACCA pay is not reflecting anything like you said. I've never heard such a thing??

I personally worked with CIMAs and there are certain aspects they are not as strong at and some they are possibly stronger at... ie statistics, analysis - good vs actual accounting, double entry, tax - rubbish.

Generally CIMA is considered weakest for jobs involving actual accounting tasks IN MY OPINION.

Each has prefered roles - job adverts usually say CIMA/ACCA, but in my opinion CIMA would be prefered for analyst role while ACCA for financial controler role (but at the end of the day how you come accross in interview counts for awfull lot).

But then every one has different point of view.

And as you say - it is what you know, not about letters.


P.S.: So people as you see, at the end of the day it depends who your interviewer is:-))))
Whether they themselves are CIMA or ACCA or ACA :-))))

MoneySavingUser

zildjian wrote: »

I currently work as an "accounts assistant" full time for a large company. I have done this the past two years during my summer breaks from university. It has been great work experience and hopefully goes down well on my C.v. I have learned alot and have been near enough doing what their trainee accountants do initially when joining the company.

Having had a different boss each year who studied ACCA and the other CIMA. Ive still not got a clue which route i would like to follow. However, i would prefer to work for an accountancy firm or a company in which im not Niche'd into one market which i think from what ive spoke to is their only regret.

My question is how do i utilise my work experience on my C.v? Points to make and points to avoid!

Well a lot of firms recruit using 'competencies'

i.e. teamwork, communication skills, time management etc. so try and list examples of how you are good at these things (but keep some examples back for the interview) - google 'competency based interview' for more competency bases

If you apply for an i.e. audit job then if you have liased with external auditors in your current role mention it

mention any processes you have introduced/improved on

Any

MoneySavingUser wrote: »

Well a lot of firms recruit using 'competencies'

i.e. teamwork, communication skills, time management etc. so try and list examples of how you are good at these things (but keep some examples back for the interview) - google 'competency based interview' for more competency bases

If you apply for an i.e. audit job then if you have liased with external auditors in your current role mention it

mention any processes you have introduced/improved on

Agree with this.

Also list experience - which depends on the role you will be applying for. You can stress (ie details a bit more) your experience in analysis when applying for role where this is relevant, eye for detail is important.

I think you will have great advantage for your summer jobs - you will be graduate but with some experience already - always make boss's job easier!!

Hastobe_Katt

Total wrote: »

Thanks for the advice MoneySavingUser and Any that has helped me a lot in my decisions. One more question/concern I have is that my spelling can be pretty bad especially under pressure, such as, exams. So, with the essay based questions in ACCA would you still be able to pass if the content of what you write is good, but the spelling poor? Also, would poor spelling be a disadvantage working in the accountancy industry?

Thanks again

I was an ACA examination marker a while back and, for me, I skim read looking for the points in the answer that were awarded marks. So in that respect spelling wasn't an issue, HOWEVER, when you are faced with a pile of 100+ papers, if the handwriting is illegible, the spelling horrible and the layout cramped and difficult to read then I didn't spend the extra time trying to look for marks.

My advice, make it easy for the examiner - make one point per paragraph, provide well spaced out answers with clear handwriting.

Not_a_Newbie

musashi10 wrote: »

Strongly diagree with most of this. I think that may have been the case 5 years or so, where ACCA was considered second to ACA, but now I think that it is generally considered the weakest of the three and ACCA's pay reflects this from qualified members in the UK.

Where do you get your facts from?? ACCA members have a more rounded knowledge base than CIMA. Yes I am ACCA qualified.

I have recently moved into a new role as Financial Controller. The person I replaced was CIMA qualified, and their salary was markedly less than my salary. This I believe has nothing to do with the ACCA/CIMA difference but purely down to my experience and their lack of.

One of my close friends is ACA qualified and has about 5 years more post qualification than I do, and our salaries are very similar.

Please get your facts right!!!

geek84

Good Morning Folks

I just wanted a bit of advice -

I am studying the AAT at the moment, and a few weeks ago I went for an interview at a firm of chartered accountants. The interview went quite well and the employer did verbally agree with me after the interview, that they will be calling me back within the next 2 weeks for a second interview.

The 2 weeks have now just finished but I have not heard from them. Do you think it would be a good idea to phone them just to remind them, or shall I wait for another week?

By the way, the original interview was arranged via email. So, do you think it would be better if email them to ask when they will be calling me back rather than phoning them?

Thanks in advance for your response.

SuzieSue

Have you been dealing with the HR department? If so, there is no harm in ringing them and asking what is happening with regards to second interviews. It is possible that they are still holding first interviews or have now decided not to call you for a second interview. Whatever the reason, there is no harm in you ringing. I personally would ring rather than email.

somethingcorporate

Not_a_Newbie wrote: »

Where do you get your facts from?? ACCA members have a more rounded knowledge base than CIMA. Yes I am ACCA qualified.

I have recently moved into a new role as Financial Controller. The person I replaced was CIMA qualified, and their salary was markedly less than my salary. This I believe has nothing to do with the ACCA/CIMA difference but purely down to my experience and their lack of.

One of my close friends is ACA qualified and has about 5 years more post qualification than I do, and our salaries are very similar.

Please get your facts right!!!

It's a fruitless (yet always lively) debate since they are different qualifications with different aims. ACCA / ACA has traditionally been more about bean-counting and CIMA more management accounts but nowadays there is not much to tell between them. It's unfair to say one is more "rounded" without providing any evidence to support what you say.

Rather than compare yourself to one colleague with ACA and one with CIMA to give salary comparisons how about you use the official bodies Salary Surveys?? they tend to be a bit more representative. It's unfair comparing my £50k+ benefits package less than 1 year into CIMA to the average NQ ACCA on £30k (in the North) because using that type of evidence (that you do) you would have to conclude CIMA is far superior! You would have thought with an accounting background you would understand how biased your example would be!

From the salary surveys you can tell there is little between them.

Ultimately it depends where you want to end up, if you want to be in practice then ACCA / ACA tend to put you in a far better position, CIMA appears to have a stronger grounding in industry (there are quite a few CIMA qualified CEOs in the FTSE 100).

Edit: Here is the CIMA salary survey: http://myjobs.cimaglobal.com/careers/2144

freakyogre

Hi everyone. I hope you don't mind me posting here, i've been reading for quite a while and wanted to ask for some advice.

I am considering starting an accounting course, but am getting confused as to where to start! I don't have any previous experience and have really only done general admin roles (hence the need to do something with my life).

I have been speaking to a friend who is a chartered accountant and they recommended the Home Learning College. I have spoken to the HLC and they have given me all the details and it all sounds very impressive, however, looking online, there are some bad reviews. I am also a bit wary of distance learning in case the help isn't available. I am currently doing an unrelated course with the OU and am finding it difficult which is where my concerns come from.

A local college does the same courses part time and I think I would be more suited to a 'classroom' environment, but obviously won't know either way until I start the course. I haven't contacted them yet, but am guessing that I will receive similar literature that HLC offer.

I don't want to rush into anything, but at the same time, don't want to faff around for too long as obviously the courses have deadlines.

After a lot of rambling, I suppose i'm asking if anyone can recommend whether distance learning or studying at college would be more beneficial? I have a couple of books on order so I can read about the basics before I start either course, but want to make the right decision in the long run.

Thanks in advance for any advice.