Being an Accountant

longwalks1

Whats involved in becoming an accountant? how qualified would i need to be (i.e what degree level etc) and what are job prospects like at present and in the future (i know its an open question that one)
And is it sometihng i could mainly do as home study/OU or distant learning?

Any advice greatly recieved

u_r

Britishboy, I would say that accounting has been in for ling now and there will always be demand for accountants. So if you qualify prperly and have good work references it is a career with lots of money and vacancies.

You do not have to have a degree to be an accountant. You can start with AAT and then do ACCA, that will give u a charterd accountants quals. As far as OU is concerend , I think that may be possible.AAt and ACCA course are offered by many FE colleges.

It definetly is a career to give thought to, has been around for ages and will be around for ages.after all we need ppl do the numbers for us!!!!!!

Cazza

You would need to study and qualify with one of the professional accountancy bodies - ACCA, CIMA, ICAEW, CIPFA etc. Many people will study after they have graduated, as they get taken onto graduate schemes. Depending on the scheme, you may get time off to study, or it may all be distance learning. There are also some people who qualify as Accounting Technicians (AAT) and then choose to progress further by continuing with one of the qualifications above.

You will probably need to work within an accounts department, in order to gain the background knowledge you need for the job; many people choose to pay for their own study completely whilst working like this as many employers are not large enough to offer sponsorship. You will need to work in the area in order to fully qualify, all the bodies will require you to produce a portfolio of work based experience to back up your exams.

Average time to qualify is 3-4 years. And it will drive you crackers while you try to study - I'm currently using up annual leave to revise for CIPFA exams in December!

A degree in Accountancy will not in itself qualify you as an accountant (it's a bit like studying Law at University, it won't make you a lawyer or solicitor). If you pick the right degree, you may wel get exemptions from some exams though, so research this aspect carfully.

GavB79

Firstly figure out what you want to do. Accountancy is a broad field. Do you want to do book-keeping? Tax returns? Company accounts? Management accounts?
Then follow the appropriate course of study.
AAT used to exempt you from the first level of chartered exams, not sure if it still does though.

LilacPixie

Why do you want to be an accountant?? It is something that really takes dedication and is not easy, you will be driven made by the exams and the study and everything. Auditing could drive even the sanest person to the loony bin.

Cazza

GavB79 wrote: »

Firstly figure out what you want to do. Accountancy is a broad field. Do you want to do book-keeping? Tax returns? Company accounts? Management accounts?
Then follow the appropriate course of study.
AAT used to exempt you from the first level of chartered exams, not sure if it still does though.

Not sure about the other bodies, but AAT exempts you from the first 2 of 13 CIPFA exams, plus the portfolio is slightly smaller (because you have to do one for AAT too I believe).

GavB79

I did CIMA, it exempts from foundation stage of that too (or it did ten years ago)

Running_On_Empty

http://http://ww2.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/financial_management_and_accountancy.jsp

This info from the Prospects website, the careers website for students and graduates, gives detailed info on the four main types of accountancy qualifications.

heretolearn_2

Just be aware that it is a long training period, then you need to back up the theory with real practical experience, and that is quite hard to find these days.

Not wanting to put a dampner on it, but we run an accountancy firm, and I wouldn't advise anyone to go into it right now unless it's your undying ambition. We have accountants coming out of our ears in this country - far too many for the number of jobs available.

tiff90

I have done AAT and currently studying ACCA, AAT exempts you from the first 3 papers of ACCA. Yes it takes a while but I started at 17 and will qualify hopefully at 23, which I think is around the time people come out of uni (give or take a year or two), in the 6 years I will have worked fulltime in practice earning money and getting all study paid for. I started off as an apprentice through my local college (earning £50 a week) but became employed after 3 months. I'd ring around your local college and accountants offices if you are really interested, thats how I did it.