Any lovely accountants around??

I'm not qualified yet, but am in the process (not sure if I'd be classed as lovely though ?). And there's a few more round here who can help...?

What sort of careers advice are you after?

OH is, and if I can get any advice out of him for you, I will!

I did not know training to be an accountant involved wasting time on hitched and faceyb ?

I do it at home Flow, not at work. ?

Thanks guys, well.......

I hate my job and am wanting to apply for some part-qualified accountancy roles but obviously need to get part-qualified.

From what I can gather I will need to complete the foundation level 1st and then I can go on to ACCA Level 1 & 2 which will then mean I am part-qualified so can then apply for these jobs.

I will need to study whilst working full time (weddings don't pay for themselves) so I would like to know how long roughly it would take to complete the foundation level and what kind of cost I am looking at etc

Hi Jlo84 - I'm another accountant on here. I'm ACCA qualified. Luckily my company paid for all my studying so it wasn't something I needed to worry about. However that is of no use to you. I think your best start would be to look at what options local colleges to you offer and if there are any of the bigger firms that specialise in accountancy qualifications such as BPP or Kaplan FTC near you. That way you can see what they offer regarding study schedules i.e. evenings, weekends, day release (some even do home learning). I think as well they then offer different prices depending on the level of support you are getting and the facilities you are using. This is all from memory as I've been qualified a couple of years now and it may have changed a little but my assistant at work is doing weekends only for his ACCA.

Also time wise depends on how many papers you will sit. Exams are June and December and I wouldn't recommend taking any more than 2 at a time.

I started ACCA about 8 years ago so it's all changed now so I couldn't comment on how long it will take / costs.

Can you not start lower down with a firm who will offer you the support and time off for study? I would wait until after the wedding now and apply for jobs with study support with a view to starting in Aug / Sept time.

WSS as well

And again. I know OH has said there are lots of people who joined his firm as administrators and then went on to become trainee accountants. The firm then supported them through it. Could this not be an option?

Thats why shes not qualified yet ?

I will look around for firms that are taking on juniors etc but not sure how we would cope with such a drop in my wage

Cheeky moo! ?

?

Courses, books, time off, exams, subscriptions etc will soon add up though.

Good luck!

Can I ask why you want to be an accountant?

Have you done any work in accounts?

Are the roles you are looking at in practise or industry?

The problem you will face is that a lot of firms will take on trainees straight for college or apprentices as they are a lot cheaper

I qualified in 2001 and would be more than happy to answer any questions you have

I am a Tax Consultant but started life as an accountant.

What sort of work do you do now?

If you don't have any background in the industry you might want to think about starting at AAT level and working your way up? A lot of practices will pay for study costs vary depends what sort of package you go for but you are looking approx £2-£3k maybe at least that is what the CTA is, i took the others too long ago to remember and am sure it will have changed.

The sort of jobs that are looking for part qualifieds are ones that would also require experience so maybe have a think about how you would get that. You also need a couple of years working in practice/industry to become a member of the insitiitute.

I'm an accountant. started with AAT, then ACCA now i'm part way through CTA. With my exemptions(from doing AAT) from the first level of ACCA it took me 2.5 years to complete all the ACCA exams. If you do your studying through a college (Kaplan, BPP) it is very expensive (roughly £800+ per subject for tuition and revision if i remeber correctly). I was lucky enough to have mine funded by my employer but had to pay half back when I left soon after qualifying.

If you haven't worked in accounts before AAT is a good start as it gives you a lot of knowledge for ACCA.

I'm ACCA qualified too - albeit i'm now 3 years post qualified, but have recently being supporting someone through, an don't believe it''s changed. I agree with Houdini - i'd try and find a related job supporting your studies.

In terms of time, I sat 3 exams at a time while working full time - so effectively there were 14 exams and I did them in 30months - but was also allowed 30 days a year out on study leave (5 per subject x 6 exams per year) plus I had to do additiional home study and revision. Without study leave you'd probably have to limit that to 2 per sitting - so 4 per year. I'd estimate a need to study 5 hours per week per subject on top of classes.

In terms of cost - my employer paid, but I went to BPP for taught courses, revision courses, question days etc. The costs I recharged my company are:

£500 - £750 per exam for taught ccourse, £200 - £300 per revision course, £100ish for a question based revision day, £70-£100 per exam entry fee, £75 materials (revision and taught). Plus travel to my college (40 miles away) plus city centre parking of £15 a day, plus a hotel the night before each exam (it was about an hour away - but with a risk of traffic at rush hour).

Totals something like £9k a year - which when added to my starting salary, and pro-rating that for taking 30days off in addition to normal holiday - I bet my salary was close to £30k (Though of course, took much less than this home!!)

Sorry, OH is no help whatsoever, he qualified over 8 years ago, and his advice was to check acca and kaplan websites! See? No help!

Hope you figure it out!

Thank you all for you help and advice. Think I need to sit down and work out what is really best x