Accountancy jobs - what's yours?

minnie123

jessicamb wrote: »

Are your friends in practice rather than industry Minnie? I think that may be the difference.

Two have moved to industry and one moved to another practice. I also work in practice and am nearly on the ceiling salary you mentioned and there are quite a few people there in higher roles than me that are only AAT/CAT qualified too (we are not allowed to discuss salary at my place of work) but the roles they occupy must give salaries of 25k up to 35k.

Of course with ACCA and CIMA higher salaries can be obtained but AAT can give a good earning potential too from my experience.

MrsE_2

minnie123 wrote: »

Hi just wanted to say I don't agree with AAT qualified having a ceiling earning limit of £21k I have worked in an accountancy practice for nearly 10 years and so have met a lot of work mates who have moved on etc etc I know of 3 who stopped at AAT and are yet to start ACCA/CIMA the one earns 22k and he is just starting the technician stage, the another earns 26k (AAT qualified), and the final one earns 28k (AAT qualified).

I haven't posted this to be argumentative lol I just want people to know that you can earn more with AAT.

I didn't see that.

I am AAT qualified, there is no 21k ceiling;)

jessicamb

minnie123 wrote: »

I'm at a bit of crossroads myself to be honest regarding my job I love the practice I work for but I have been there 10 years and my plan has always been to move into industry. I currently only work P/T due to having a preschool boy but want to go back fulltime when he starts school. I don't know whether to look for part time industry jobs or stick where I am until I can work more hours.

Another thought is I eventually would like to do ACCA and my practice would fund it and give you the college, exam and revision days off, a lot of industry places my friends work for do fund ACCA, but you have to go to college on weekends or take it as holiday/unpaid.

I haven't seen many part time accounting jobs advertised above clerk level except in local authority. What you do tend to see is people going part time back to their current jobs when they have had children. The jobs exist but they arent the norm.

In all the places I have worked it is standard practice too to have industry fund ACCA costs and to go to college in your own time. Some very lucky people do get days off to go to college but again its not the norm. Even then some companies say that they will pay for a study course or a revision course and not both. Instead you get a few study days a year as paid leave. Working part time and getting time off work to go to college is going to be really hard to find IMHO. If you can get that where you are now then it is very valuable.

Another alternative could be to do consulting or contract work. You could have more control over your hours but of course there is no guarantee of work.

valos_mummy

valos_mummy wrote: »

Would anyone say the ICB exams are roughly the equivalent of any AAT level? The way I'm reading my CV now (after yet another rejection letter this morning....) if my manual level one and computerised level two put me at the same level of knowledge as any of the AAT foundation levels, maybe I should mention this on my CV - that the exams I've taken mean I am at a certain level of know-how.

Right now I need something to make all these AAT loving employers take notice at me too. After all, if I can complete the AAT skillcheck at 85% (test was all about double entry, ledgers and trial balance) I'm not exactly thick when it comes to this sort of thing. After all, if Any, with what they do, didn't know what ICB was there's going to be others out there who also don't know. And some of them might be potential employers!!!

A follow up to my own post....I went to an agency on Friday that specialises in more accounting staff, she said not to mention anything on my CV but if an interviewer asks about my qualifications and mentions AAT I can say what I've done on the skillcheck which will show that I have some knowledge.

Feeling more positive with this agency though, no duff job descriptions (I applied for one with Reed the other day with a May date, only to be told I'd applied for it already. In JANUARY!! And another who have taken to putting fake jobs in the window to get CVs) so we'll see.

Didn't get the other finance assistant I went for; although they asked me nothing apart from did I have any questions, I had to take up talking about myself and my roles instead. Then they asked me my marital status and whether I had any dependants! So maybe better I didn't get that. I just want a basic entry level job, there must be one out there somewhere!!!!

jessicamb

Valos_mummy have you searched on gaapweb.com? That has specialist accounting jobs on there. There are some fake agency jobs same as the shop windows but it might help a little.

Amara

jessicamb wrote: »

I dont see how you can successfully be self employed without any experience. What service would you sell?

I'm doing now level I, II and III bookkeeping course and sage computerised bookkeeping. I know my situation is hard. I can only think about self-employment to get any experience.

flossy_splodge

Amara wrote: »

I'm doing now level I, II and III bookkeeping course and sage computerised bookkeeping. I know my situation is hard. I can only think about self-employment to get any experience.

I am learning Sage Line 50 on the job and also Sage Payroll.
I have found it to be perfectly straightforward and certainly not onerous.
I work part time (my choice) either 2 or 3 days a week.
My boss, who runs his own business is 'only' AAT qualified so he employs a qualified accountant to do the management accounts.
He has specialised in Tax and I understand is very good at it.
So anyone concerned that AAT limits their earnings? I don't think so!:rotfl:

Amara

I think I will go for self-employment, because simply I don't know what to do in my situation. I don't want to work in dead-end job for rest of my life and think "But I've got degree!". I can't take any temp jobs, because I need stable income.

geek84

Hi Everyone

I am thinking of having a career change and going into accountancy. I have not got much knowledge of accountancy, although I do have an 'O' level in accountancy - so I know what a debit & credit is!

I have started doing the ICB distance learning course in book keeping. I then hope go on to do the AAT and then hopefully progress to 'chartered status'.

Can someone give me a rough idea of how long it, how many years, would take me to get to chartered status from where I am now, including any work experience required.

By the way, I chose to go into accountancy becaue I love dealing with numbers.

Finally, is this the best route to take ICB - AAT- CIMA/ACCA?

Thanks in advance.

katebl

Hi geek84,

If you haven't already read through this thread you definitely should - loads of helpful people have explained what qualifications they've got and their exact job role - it's a great read!

I'm currently studying AAT through distance learning - to be honest I hadn't heard of the ICB until this thread but it's not something I did as I actually had previous book keeping experience. Looking at the thread I think the next step for me appears to be ACCA if I want to work in practice. There is a lot of positive feedback on the CIMA but tbh the strategy would bore me to tears - I much prefer the numbers! I'm hoping to be chartered by the time I'm 30 - got a good few years left yet