Right then. Retraining as an accountant?
Discussion
Evening all. I work in a role that has very little supervision and involves producing accounts for auditing as part of the role. I'm looking for a new role with more scope for expansion and the ability to run my own business eventually. I was vaguely considering accountancy as I'm very good with numbers, excel and have managed to self-teach myself all I've needed to know in my current role. Tonight I took our accounts to be audited and spent an hour chatting with our auditor. I was told they were the best presented accounts she's had and that I could work in her office tomorrow.
So that got me thinking more seriously about heading in that direction. The only thing that puts me off is that I don't want to spend all day looking at a computer screen and writing excel formulas. But now I think maybe I should man the f
k up and earn some proper wedge and that it's agood way to end up running my own business, which is what I want ultimately.
So, how do I go about making it happen? What qualifications do I need to do and what's the best way to do get them given that I'm currently working? What's it likely to cost me and what's the job market like at the moment? I it possible to do on the job qualifications?
Thanks.
So that got me thinking more seriously about heading in that direction. The only thing that puts me off is that I don't want to spend all day looking at a computer screen and writing excel formulas. But now I think maybe I should man the f
k up and earn some proper wedge and that it's agood way to end up running my own business, which is what I want ultimately.So, how do I go about making it happen? What qualifications do I need to do and what's the best way to do get them given that I'm currently working? What's it likely to cost me and what's the job market like at the moment? I it possible to do on the job qualifications?
Thanks.
I'm not very experienced and I'm sure that someone more knowledgeable will come along later.
It seems that you have the basic skills needed that even some people who have been working in accounts for year’s lack.
I guess it all depends what area of accountancy you want to do.
As a generally stepping stone the AAT qualification will give the basics and is well recognised, from there you could do your ACCA.
With regards to the job market it took me 6 months to find my previous job, mainly due to recruitment consultants, it would be best to apply directly to companies which landed me my role 8 months back and now recently moved onto something permanent. It will be easier to find a job whilst you’re in work already. The starting pay isn't good but try to make the most of it, it's a long hard slog to become qualified
Auditing is a good way of starting out many people take this route, it pays well, companies often pay for your study which adds up to a lot over the year and depending which company you are with you may get to travel to some nice places.
Don’t get me wrong sometimes it is boring but all jobs have that to a certain extent.
It seems that you have the basic skills needed that even some people who have been working in accounts for year’s lack.
I guess it all depends what area of accountancy you want to do.
As a generally stepping stone the AAT qualification will give the basics and is well recognised, from there you could do your ACCA.
With regards to the job market it took me 6 months to find my previous job, mainly due to recruitment consultants, it would be best to apply directly to companies which landed me my role 8 months back and now recently moved onto something permanent. It will be easier to find a job whilst you’re in work already. The starting pay isn't good but try to make the most of it, it's a long hard slog to become qualified
Auditing is a good way of starting out many people take this route, it pays well, companies often pay for your study which adds up to a lot over the year and depending which company you are with you may get to travel to some nice places.
Don’t get me wrong sometimes it is boring but all jobs have that to a certain extent.
Accountancy is a very varied and interesting career.
I am retired now but qualified many years `ago as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Certified Accountant. Graduated in Psychology first dis law degree later.
I can well understand that the profession appears concerned with figures. They are important and a knowledge of Maths is critical but in reality the ability to deal with clients, The Inland Revenue and the like is equally important.
It is a job I thoroughly recommend.
Accountants have real power in business and used sensibly this can be rewarding and fruitful.
No businessman can afford to ignore his Accountants advice.
At every move, acquisition, disposal, amalgamation, expansion, retraction, profit or loss indeed with every business change alteration or activity the tole of the Accountant is critical.
I would seriously recommend the profession.
Find out as much as you can and be aware the competition to get into Accountancy is considerable.
The examinations are also pretty tough, well above first degree standard.
But IMO a worthwhile long term profession.
You will meet allsorts. Everybody needs an Accountant.
I found it really interesting and fulfilling.
I am retired now but qualified many years `ago as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Certified Accountant. Graduated in Psychology first dis law degree later.
I can well understand that the profession appears concerned with figures. They are important and a knowledge of Maths is critical but in reality the ability to deal with clients, The Inland Revenue and the like is equally important.
It is a job I thoroughly recommend.
Accountants have real power in business and used sensibly this can be rewarding and fruitful.
No businessman can afford to ignore his Accountants advice.
At every move, acquisition, disposal, amalgamation, expansion, retraction, profit or loss indeed with every business change alteration or activity the tole of the Accountant is critical.
I would seriously recommend the profession.
Find out as much as you can and be aware the competition to get into Accountancy is considerable.
The examinations are also pretty tough, well above first degree standard.
But IMO a worthwhile long term profession.
You will meet allsorts. Everybody needs an Accountant.
I found it really interesting and fulfilling.
Right, back on this now it's not so late at night. Thanks for your replies so far chaps.
If I decided that what I wanted in life was to end up running my own business doing all the small business accounting type things, End of year accounts, VAT returns, Income Tax advice, IR35, possibly audit that sort of thing, what would be the best way of going about that? What qualifications would I need to be able to do that and what's the best way to go about getting those qualifications and some more experience?
Should I be looking to work with a company doing that sort of thing already, or should I be looking at working for a more corporate organisation before going my own way?
I want to avoid being part of some in-house finance team if possible, because I can see that being a lot more monotonous and dull and might not necessarily give me the breadth or relevance of experience I'm looking for. For that reason I think I'm not interested in Public Sector? I also want to avoid the sort of consultancy work that a friend does (Audit at KPMG) because although I'm happy to work hard, I'd rather not work that hard even if it does pay very well. There's more to life and all that....
Thanks in advance!
If I decided that what I wanted in life was to end up running my own business doing all the small business accounting type things, End of year accounts, VAT returns, Income Tax advice, IR35, possibly audit that sort of thing, what would be the best way of going about that? What qualifications would I need to be able to do that and what's the best way to go about getting those qualifications and some more experience?
Should I be looking to work with a company doing that sort of thing already, or should I be looking at working for a more corporate organisation before going my own way?
I want to avoid being part of some in-house finance team if possible, because I can see that being a lot more monotonous and dull and might not necessarily give me the breadth or relevance of experience I'm looking for. For that reason I think I'm not interested in Public Sector? I also want to avoid the sort of consultancy work that a friend does (Audit at KPMG) because although I'm happy to work hard, I'd rather not work that hard even if it does pay very well. There's more to life and all that....
Thanks in advance!
paulrockliffe said:
Right, back on this now it's not so late at night. Thanks for your replies so far chaps.
If I decided that what I wanted in life was to end up running my own business doing all the small business accounting type things, End of year accounts, VAT returns, Income Tax advice, IR35, possibly audit that sort of thing, what would be the best way of going about that? What qualifications would I need to be able to do that and what's the best way to go about getting those qualifications and some more experience?
Hi PaulIf I decided that what I wanted in life was to end up running my own business doing all the small business accounting type things, End of year accounts, VAT returns, Income Tax advice, IR35, possibly audit that sort of thing, what would be the best way of going about that? What qualifications would I need to be able to do that and what's the best way to go about getting those qualifications and some more experience?
It sounds like you want to work in Practise (rather than Industry). The “proper” way of following this career path would be
• Get job with small/medium/large Accountancy practise
• Enrol with AAT or ACCA
• Get practical experience whilst passing your exams
• Qualify (eventually) as an Accountant
• Get two years PQE to get your practising certificate
• Open up your own Accountancy practise (or work within an Accountancy practice whist building up your own client base)
paulrockliffe said:
Should I be looking to work with a company doing that sort of thing already, or should I be looking at working for a more corporate organisation before going my own way?
Not sure what you mean. If you want to work in general Tax you will need to gain experience in an accountancy Practise. This can vary from a 1-man band (such as Eric 
) to one of the Big 4 such as KPMG or PWCpaulrockliffe said:
I want to avoid being part of some in-house finance team if possible, because I can see that being a lot more monotonous and dull and might not necessarily give me the breadth or relevance of experience I'm looking for. For that reason I think I'm not interested in Public Sector?
This sounds like “Industry” rather than “Practise”. It’s a different career path. IMO its easier to move from Practise to Industry later on in your career but very difficult to move the other way. paulrockliffe said:
I also want to avoid the sort of consultancy work that a friend does (Audit at KPMG) because although I'm happy to work hard, I'd rather not work that hard even if it does pay very well. There's more to life and all that....
If you are lucky enough to get a training contract with the Big 4 it is very much Work Hard Play Hard.It sounds to me that you want to run your own business - not be an accountant. Unless you want to run an accountancy practise, I would forget about "being" an accountant and just decide on a business that you would like to run - and hire an accountant to do all the statutory stuff.
Which is it you want to do -
be an accountant?
run your own business?
run an accountancy practise?
Which is it you want to do -
be an accountant?
run your own business?
run an accountancy practise?
Eric Mc said:
It sounds to me that you want to run your own business - not be an accountant. Unless you want to run an accountancy practise, I would forget about "being" an accountant and just decide on a business that you would like to run - and hire an accountant to do all the statutory stuff.
Which is it you want to do -
be an accountant?
run your own business?
run an accountancy practise?
Thanks Eric, you're right I do want to run my own business, or at least work for myself. What I do at the moment is effectively run someone else's business, but I'd really like to be doing that for myself. It isn't possible for me to remove the 'someone else' in this line of work for a number of reasons that I won't go into, it's a very unusual setup. As with any business, assuming you are capable of running a business, the stumbling blocks are having something to sell that people will buy and getting everything started. I'm not sure I want to sell a physical product as I think I'd be better selling a service, which leaves me with the things I'm good at to sell. Usually you need some sort of qualification before people will buy your service from you, so how you get that qualification is an important consideration. It looks like the process of becoming qualified would leave me in a position where it would be relatively easy to get my own practice started and providing that service is something I think I could do well and would be happy doing.Which is it you want to do -
be an accountant?
run your own business?
run an accountancy practise?
From your list of options I reckon 2 and 3 would be fairly equal in terms of preference and option 1 wouldn't be a million miles behind.
Your comments are interesting, do you consider an accountancy practice a difficult or in someway unrewarding way of getting yourself in control of your own destiny?
Thanks.
Not at all, it's what I am currently doing and thoroughly enjoying it (most of the time - I might give a different assessment in the last two weeks of January).
However, to become a qualified accountant with the knowledge and experience of actually running and managing a practice on behalf of hundreds of clients does take time. Even if you were super-clever and managed to qualify as a professional accountant within four years, I would suggest that you would still need an additional three or four years working in a practice environment to build up the experience needed.
Go for it I say - if it's what you really want to do.
However, to become a qualified accountant with the knowledge and experience of actually running and managing a practice on behalf of hundreds of clients does take time. Even if you were super-clever and managed to qualify as a professional accountant within four years, I would suggest that you would still need an additional three or four years working in a practice environment to build up the experience needed.
Go for it I say - if it's what you really want to do.
Eric Mc said:
Not at all, it's what I am currently doing and thoroughly enjoying it (most of the time - I might give a different assessment in the last two weeks of January).
However, to become a qualified accountant with the knowledge and experience of actually running and managing a practice on behalf of hundreds of clients does take time. Even if you were super-clever and managed to qualify as a professional accountant within four years, I would suggest that you would still need an additional three or four years working in a practice environment to build up the experience needed.
Go for it I say - if it's what you really want to do.
Thanks Eric, I'd hope that I already had a bit of a headstart when it comes to managing a practice than someone just starting out, but I'm going to be working long enough yet that there's not a rush to get there at all. Have you any thoughts on getting to your position after starting out on the HMRC graduate scheme? I had a bit of a look on the net for jobs last night and bumped into that and as the deadline was the end of November I figured I should get an application in as a back-stop at the very least.However, to become a qualified accountant with the knowledge and experience of actually running and managing a practice on behalf of hundreds of clients does take time. Even if you were super-clever and managed to qualify as a professional accountant within four years, I would suggest that you would still need an additional three or four years working in a practice environment to build up the experience needed.
Go for it I say - if it's what you really want to do.
Cheers.
Eric Mc said:
Know nothing about the HMRC scheme - sorry.
A singularly honest answer: I am in the same position.Presumably there are adviser/experts in HMRC who are ready willing and able, indeed probably waiting, for an enquiry.
Two of the brightest partners in Deloittes and PWC the later firm, Peter Smith and Geoff Gosling were ex Inland Revenue Inspectors and quite brilliant with investigations and offshore work.
So the training clearly works.
I would certainly get an application in ASAP.
Thanks both of you, I can find out enough about their scheme easy enough, it sounds decent, but then they all do don't they! Anyway, my concern is that if I wanted to move from there to the other side of the fence and start advising people on where the loopholes were etc, would I need any other qualifications. All I could find on the HMRC website was that they're working to get their training accredited. But I'd have thought it would be a fairly logical step to move from one side of the fence to the other and I'd imagine there would be good demand for tax advice from former tax inspectors.
Eric Mc said:
There are no legal requirements for tax advisors to be qualified in any way. In other words, anyone can set themselves up as a tax advisor. Obviously, anyone using such an unqualified person would be wise to find out the extent of their knowledge before taking any advice from them.
But you would need to be qualified to run your own practice, prepare accounts for clients, submit end of year accounts, do VAT returns, all the other things you do Eric? I'm not sure only having a limited number of strings to my bow would be what I want. Thanks again.paulrockliffe said:
But you would need to be qualified to run your own practice, prepare accounts for clients, submit end of year accounts, do VAT returns, all the other things you do Eric? I'm not sure only having a limited number of strings to my bow would be what I want. Thanks again.
Nope.You do not have to hold any sort of qualification whatsoever to set up an accounting/tax advice practice.
And there are quite a few practicioners out there who hold no formal qualifications - including ex-Inland Revenue/HMRC types.
Oh right. I guess the draw back of not being qualified is being limited in the amount of work you can win as clients will expect some proof of competance beyond your say so? And professional indemnity insurance would be more expensive?
What can you do with the various qualifications that you couldn't do before?
All very useful info, cheers.
What can you do with the various qualifications that you couldn't do before?
All very useful info, cheers.
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