Accountancy professional and the AAT/ACCA/CIMA

dac1

I've been working in Business Reporting for over ten years. For the last few years I've been working on a technology which is rare in which I'd have trouble finding a job using it within a three hour journey. In the mean time I've lost my other skills I had prior. I feel trapped in my current role and would like a change. 'Job Security' outweighs 'Passion'. I see the role of Accountancy as a job in demand and commands a decent salary.

I feel the role of a Management Accountant is more suited to me than that of a Financial Accountant (i.e. prefer Business strategy, Industry environment, and I could use my BI reporting skills more in Industry).

I have no Finance experience or Quals so I would not receive any exemptions. Wishing to be a Management Accountant I would see CIMA (with the Certificate qual) being the way forward but with CIMA changing their syllabus I hear of how difficult they have made it. This worries me. I hear of CIMA students switching to ACCA. DISCLAIMER: I hear that - not saying it's true. I looked at the ACCA angle (as the ACCA qual is equally accepted in Industry) and the ACCA Fundamentals level qual. I read some chapters and I have to say a lot of it went over my head - it is a different world.

Not scared of a challenge but I have to be clever here. I am not academically minded and haven't studied for years so baby steps. My end aim is to have job security (i.e. every town has multiple jobs going) with a half decent salary (35k).
I could do the CIMA Certificate, ACCA Fundamentals, or the AAT Level 3/4.

Any advice on how I should tackle this? Maybe further questions to probe my mind?

Questions I could ask are?
1) Which is the better qualification to break into the industry, the most recognised?
2) The CIMA and ACCA entry quals take between 6-12 months to complete but the AAT takes 1-2 years. Is the AAT worth it IF it has the same clout as the other entry level quals?
3) Does one explain the basics better (as I find it all alien currently)?
4) A big question - is there a role in Finance where my I.T. skills as a BI report developer will be key? Maybe a role I could target to make me a stronger candidate and not waste my SQL skills? - remember job security is key.
5) Would it be better to get AAT under my belt incase I don't complete the full CIMA or ACCA quals, rather than have an entry level version of them under my belt?
6) Is it common place to find people high up having just the AAT behind them, or do all wishing to become Management Accountants MUST have either the ACCA or CIMA behind them?
7) If AAT should I settle with Level 3 or go to achieve Level 4 too?

I guess I intend to home-study one of these entry level quals and then make a switch. I would have to switch at that point as I would have no chance in passing the exams whilst not in the role.
I think I'm a little concerned if AAT has any real clout other than a general 'Accounts Payable' or 'Credit Control' type roles (i.e. it is for those wishing to settle on £24k or so). I am not trying to undermine the qual or roles, or sound snobby (far from it - hey it's all above me currently), but just trying to understand the position of AAT.

I think you can tell I'm at a loose end and feeling confused. I need a change and want my future in my hands. Your advice and direction will be much appreciated. Thanks.

tomtontom

You're not going to get a £35K salary at certificate level, more likely you would be looking at £20K or less.

If you're not academically minded you will struggle beyond certificate level. What qualifications do you have to date?

dac1

I should clarify. I am referring to £35k once fully qualified, and not on the entry level salary. When I say I'm not academically minded I mean I'm not a natural at it. I don't study for fun like some do. I will pass the exams should I put my mind to it. I have commitment and determination to succeed. I have I.T. quals I've picked up along the way. Nothing formal, and nothing that will contribute towards Finance.

What I am asking for in my OP is what are the first steps I should be taking and where in the Finance world could I target with my experience, if there is such an aim, or am I to target the general Accountant position. Do people target the AAT if they want to reach the top or are CIMA and ACCA needed. I really am new to this. I am learning about the Finance world. I don't need to love my role as long as it pays well enough to provide a comfortable living whilst allowing me to control my future.

engineer_amy

I would agree with Tom that it would be difficult to achieve £35k within a few years with the lower level qualifications and no accountancy experience. Most trainee accountants roles are asking for a minimum of an accounts related degree who are also ready to start working on their professional exams and CPD.


I too am much more interested in Management Acc rather than Financial Acc, as I prefer the strategy/planning aspect of it rather than the historic reporting, but have to do both elements in my role in an SME. Larger firms who have big accountancy teams would have a more defined split in roles between management and financial.


I can answer some of your questions based on my experiences, I hope it will be of some use.


ACCA tends towards financial, but has some elements of management, CIMA is more inclined towards management, hence the name Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Both are recognised in industry pretty equally, and recent anecdotal evidence from my university lecturers suggested that there was a pretty even take up rate and success rate between the 2 for recent graduates. Probably because our degree course offered maximum exemptions from the first 2 levels of papers.
I don't have any direct experience or knowledge of AAT, other than it is not the way to go to become a professional accountant.


I don't think there will be many high flyers in the world of accountancy who only have an entry level qualification, you will need to get the full professional qualification if you want to be earning the big bucks.


The Cima certificate is really basic, 5 modules that are more of a general introduction to key accountancy areas for someone with no accountancy background, which then allows you to progress to the professional qualification. This would only allow you to gain entry level accounts roles. I don't believe the AAT certificate is recognised as one of the prerequisite for the Cima professional qualification.

Super_Whiskey

With the AAT, it gives you a good grounding in accountancy should you wish to move on to a chartered qualification. If you're academically minded you probably could go straight in to CIMA/ACCA.

If you do go down the AAT route, once you've completed Level 4 you do get exemptions from the first 3 papers of ACCA. I'm not sure what CIMA exemptions it gives. (https://www.aat.org.uk/why-aat/get-exemptions-from-chartered)

If you have no experience of accounting/finance, it might be worth starting with level 2 which covers the double entry principle which is the basis of a lot of accounting. Use AAT's skill check: http://www.aatskillcheck.org/home.aspx

Finally, it's always worth applying for trainee schemes with some of the big accountancy firms. Age isn't important if you have the desire and enthusiasm for it. You don't mention if you have a uni degree but grad schemes could also be taken in to account.

Folander

I started from the very bottom, City & Guilds book keeping & Accounts level 1, on to AAT & then finished CIMA a couple of years ago.

If you don't have any accountancy experience then I'd recommend doing AAT. It takes longer but gives you a firm base to build on. Stuff covered in AAT level 3 came up in my final CIMA exam. AAT level 4 will grant you exemptions from the CIMA certificate level.

AAT/CIMA/ACCA are very difficult, be prepared to not have much of a social life for at least a couple of years. I chose CIMA because their exams weren't at month end whereas ACCA's exams were at month end! I think with your experience CIMA sounds better.

Good luck.

xapprenticex

Also keep in mind that Accountancy seems to be the new Information Technology in that almost everyone who wants a career change seems to think they can do AAT LV2 and become and accountant. I think its starting to get quite saturated IMO and isn't the easy job and quick road to riches that some people think.

I've come across people on forums with AAT LV4 and still cant find anything, then even worse, they start ACCA with little to no experience.

At one point in the past I gave up on my dream to get into accounts because of the over saturation and difficulty in getting into it along with the requirement for experience. I focused on another skill of mine which is data management and reporting and ended up assisting in finance eventually getting me to where I am today in a different organisation, so now im back to studying which is much better for me because im already in the job.

Anyway, just giving you the other side of the coin, in case everyone gives the impression that its simple. Possible, but not easy.

jackomdj

IMO AAT is a great entry level qualification which will give you a good understanding in the basics, double entry and understanding how the entries link together. I think that is missing in CIMA/ACCA and have known people to struggle with the basics such as building a TB even though they are qualified.

I did not study after AAT and although I have managed to get reasonably high up within my current organisation I think of myself as QBE rather than due to the AAT. It also means I will struggle to get a similar level role if I was looking to move jobs.

dac1

Thanks for the replies guys.

After further thinking. I am ruling out AAT. I believe it would give you a very good grounding in financial foundations but I'm no spring chicken and can't really afford to spend two years on this and then go for a main qualification. Besides, I expect I will get the knowledge from doing all AAT stuff on the job.

I don't actually wish to become a number cruncher. I would like to be a business person advising on strategy. For this reason I will head towards CIMA. I understand both ACCA and CIMA are equally accepted in Industry however there will be subjects (Tax and Audit) in ACCA that I won't have any interest in, and CIMA will focus on decision making with their case studies. If I find the going tough on the exams then I won't have that 'maybe if I concentrated on Management topics only it would help'. With ACCA I may have that confusion. The big four will put you on ACA which is pure number crunching (audit) - not my direction.

Does anyone disagree with my thought process?

CIMA have changed their syllabus last year and I have heard it is much harder due to the following reasons:
1) 50% to 70% pass rate now
2) You don't get told how much you've failed by.
3) You don't get told on which subjects you were weak with.
4) Too many questions and not enough time?
5) Three case studies rather than just the one.

CIMA seem to have made it much more difficult. For those that know - is it really much harder? Have CIMA made it easier in any way to counter the increased difficulty?

I'm really puzzled as if CIMA have made it so much more difficult then surely people won't enroll meaning less revenue for CIMA.

Folander

I don't think they have made the qualification easier, they have just modernised it.

CIMA is as difficult as you will make it. You put the hours in and you’d pass the old exams or the new exams. Don’t compare the old to the new it is what it is. Be prepared to study a minimum of 150 hours for a likely first time pass.

If the impression out there that CIMA is really difficult then it makes the qualification more attractive to employers and potential students. Don’t you want to have the ‘most difficult’ accounting qualification?

To become a ‘business person advising on strategy’ you’ll need to work your way up from number crunching. I am now involved with multi-million pound procurements but I started on the old bank recs, intercos balance sheet recs. You really need to know your double entry. I’m still drawing out T accounts when stuck.

Good luck with CIMA, study 2 exams at a time and if you do fail, rebook for the week after! Had to wait 3 or 6 months before.

regprentice

When you say you have a background in business reporting exactly what do you mean? Managment information, divisional sales reports? That kind of thing?

Many large businesses will have 'finance' people who never look at a tb or touch a set of accounts. In fact most 'pure' accounting areas are being cut back through automation and offshoring. The drive now is value added activity in business/mi analysis, process improvement, project work etc etc.

Depending on your local job market i'd like to think that you could begin to direct yourself towards this kind of work. Instead of taking a step down and working back up through finance you could aim to move sideways towards finance with a view to moving into a more finance specific role as and when you can say you are qualified.

To illustrate the point i am making - when i became part qualified i left a job working as an accounts clerk for a distribution company and started working in the finance division of a bank working on statistical reports. The more interesting my jobs have got since then the less 'pure accounts' based they have been. Yet I. couldnt do my job if i wasnt qualified and, frankly, I couldnt imagine anything that would make me more miserable than going back to working 14 hour days trying to balance ledgers.

Have a realistic expectation of how long it will take to pass. People typically talk about three years but most people i know are around 5 years...particularly if you arent academically minded or have a busy life/family to juggle. Two of my colleagues had to resit the top cima 4 or 5 times before they passed. In fact one colleague has just completed cima in 9 years having taken a couple of breaks from the studying then come back to it.

Good luck.