Best Route to take to Become and Accountant

Soldato
Joined
30 Aug 2006
Posts
8,312
A lot of the information so far is good so I don't have too much but...

Presumably from your 310 UCAS points you're including at least one AS level amongst that total as A-level grades come in multiples of 20. I'm pretty sure the big 4 only accept applications if you have 300+ UCAS from your 3 best A-levels which you sat first time and not including general studies.

Don't let that put you off though, there are dozens of other highly regarded accounting practices up and down the country that will happily take a look at your application and give you an interview, once you're qualified you can move into the big 4 if you had a good exam record throughout your training.

As others have mentioned you can also train at FTSE companies within there finance department, however in my opinion this doesn't give you such a wide range of options once your qualified, as the chances of moving from industry to practice are pretty slim compared to moving the other way.

My opinion of the qualications:
CA/ACA - arguably the most prestigious qualifications purely because the people who have gained them had to do so whilst being sponsored by an employer. Most people who train in practice tend to gain either of these qualifications.
ACCA - the exam content is very similar to CA/ACA but anyone can take it, ACCA unlike the ICAEW don't require the work experience gained to be under the supervision of an authorised employer. Most people who took ACCA trained in industry, although practices occassionally offer ACCA rather than ACA/CA.
CIMA - (imo) the better choice if your training in industry, it has far more emphasis on strategy and management accounting than the qualifications above. Unlike ACCA you cannot work in audit with a CMA but no one who works in audit trained in industry anyway, so the audit element of the ACCA is a waste of time unless you're training in practice.

Oh yeah and in response to the comment above about maths - just lol. Most jobs in accountancy require no more than the ability to use a calculator, some of the people who I work with in audit are attrocious at maths but are good at their job. The maths tends to be pretty simple unless you're working in corporate finance or something and are involved in company valuations, but most accountants don't.

Final year of what exactly? Sorry just not too clear on what you mean!

Final year of your 3 year training contract.
 
Last edited:
Associate
OP
Joined
31 Dec 2011
Posts
13
Location
Devon
That's a shame I was including General Studies and now I feel lost! I was including the other subject I took and the AS Level I got in that which would be 4 overall, 3 at A level and 1 at AS in the same way UCAS would count them towards university. With this I only have 240 UCAS points! :(
 
Last edited:
Permabanned
Joined
29 Aug 2003
Posts
31,330
The graduate schemes may have places all across the country although the ability to move to a big city such as London, Manchester, Liverpool or Birmingham would be an asset for you as they're much more likely to have options available there. London would be the obvious location with the most opportunities but it depends on the company and it is the most expensive of the options generally albeit usually with a London weighting.

Yes, graduate schemes are paid and your training is funded although you may be expected to stay with the company for a set period after graduating or pay back a proportion of the cost.

In brief I wouldn't be considering AAT in your position, there's nothing wrong with it per se but in terms of aiming to become a chartered accountant it's probably best to think of it to a stepping stone to one of the other qualifications which isn't necessary as you should be able to get onto the foundation level (or equivalent) of any of the others. Which one you study will depend on what the company you join offers - ultimately there's probably little difference between them all once you've been qualified a few years, at that point your experience is more of an issue.

What has made you choose accountancy? It can be a good and rewarding career from what I've seen but is there something particularly about it that appeals?

You forgot Scotland, where professional accountancy originated which also happens to be the second largest financial sector in the UK outside of London.

Just thought you might like to be reminded of that. :)
 
Associate
OP
Joined
31 Dec 2011
Posts
13
Location
Devon
Is it only the big 4 which take the best 3 A levels then or is this something which I can expect from most bigger companies? Or would I be able to use my AS results also?
 
Last edited:
Man of Honour
Joined
27 Sep 2004
Posts
25,821
Location
Glasgow
You forgot Scotland, where professional accountancy originated which also happens to be the second largest financial sector in the UK outside of London.

Just thought you might like to be reminded of that. :)

It's a fair point but the fellow lives in Devon so about as far South as you get while staying in the British Isles so I took a stab in the dark that they probably weren't thinking of moving to Scotland, the four cities were picked principally as four of the biggest in the UK rather than anything else. It wasn't an exhaustive list of where you could do an accountancy qualification with a big firm although sure, Edinburgh as the biggest single financial centre outside of London might be a reasonable choice if you want to relocate.
 

Ev0

Ev0

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
14,152
You get a job somewhere else :) Whilst the big four have these entry requirements as Castiel has said they aren't the be all and end all of things.

Yes they are very good opportunities but you can still get training contracts at many other companies.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
31 Dec 2011
Posts
13
Location
Devon
Ah right so its my understanding that the big four need 300 UCAS points in A Level, but nowhere else specifies and the 300 can just be accumulated from all areas of study?
 
Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
Posts
58,899
If you don't have enough ucas points but a degree, what route can you take?

I'm not an accountant so only have knowledge of colleagues who have/are doing these exams. One route that you could take (if all else fails) is simply get an entry level job in say the finance dept of any random company and start working towards CIMA or ACCA exams yourself in your spare time. I know a couple of people in the finance dept at my place (financial software firm) are currently doing that and another guy started the exams in his spare time as he was working on accounting software and then moved over to some hedge fund place prior to qualifying.
 
Last edited:
Permabanned
Joined
29 Aug 2003
Posts
31,330
It's a fair point but the fellow lives in Devon so about as far South as you get while staying in the British Isles so I took a stab in the dark that they probably weren't thinking of moving to Scotland, the four cities were picked principally as four of the biggest in the UK rather than anything else. It wasn't an exhaustive list of where you could do an accountancy qualification with a big firm although sure, Edinburgh as the biggest single financial centre outside of London might be a reasonable choice if you want to relocate.

You moved to London.

;)
 

J.B

J.B

Soldato
Joined
16 Aug 2006
Posts
5,924
Im not an accountant but work for a big 4, I can confirm they take people in from all sorts of backgrounds and train them up to be accountants (or other professions) but where I work the training contracts are pretty tough, as in if you fail a couple of exams you're out the door.
 
Soldato
Joined
2 Jul 2010
Posts
3,098
My uncle came straight out of doing his A Levels to working in some accountancy firm, that offered to pay for his training and the like. He's now a partner in the company.
 
Associate
Joined
30 May 2004
Posts
549
Location
Glasgow, Scotland
The most available job at the Big Four is for Audit positions...just bear in mind that with a non-related degree you will be expected to know the structure of the exams you'll be expected to take.

My personal opinion is to find out if there are any upcoming events where you can speak to 1st/2nd year employees of these firms and ask what they do on a day-to-day basis. You do need to research thoroughly...check out wikijob for a guide on what Auditors do as well and see if it really is for u.
 

Ev0

Ev0

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
14,152
Ah right so its my understanding that the big four need 300 UCAS points in A Level, but nowhere else specifies and the 300 can just be accumulated from all areas of study?

I'm not saying that nowhere else specifies 300 points, just that there will be plenty of places who don't have the same entry requirements :)
 
Associate
Joined
31 Oct 2011
Posts
655
Location
London
240 ucas points will be a big problem with training contracts!
Your best bet is finding the top 50 accountancy firms from accountancy age website. And work through each ones career website and find the ones which arent too picky about UCAS points.

Big4 and grant thornton are out for sure, but you will be able to get into a smaller firm.

Generally speaking its better to do the qualification in practise not industry. And the main reason is that in practise you will be surrounded by accountants who have been through it all, and will be able to help you.
In industry, you might be placed somewhere with a small finance team, with hardly anyone thats been through the exams recently to help you when you get stuck (and you will!!)

Beware though, that the smaller firms dont pay too well for training! I have a friend that was offered a place in a small central london firm (wont say which :p), and was offered £13k starting salary - in CENTRAL LONDON!
 
Last edited:
Associate
OP
Joined
31 Dec 2011
Posts
13
Location
Devon
http://www.gaapweb.com/CareerLaunch/Graduate-Training-Schemes.aspx#1

I found this site and only the top one is asking for 300 UCAS points At A Level, the others don't seem to specify which would lead me to believe this is just cumulative of all my subjects I studied? My UCAS points are 270 with AS Level and 310 with General Studies. I think I need to start looking into work experience as a start to get me used to the format of working within accountancy, in the meantime I'll pass my driving test and save for a car so I can try to relocate to Bristol!

JB, there was no travel and tourism with my degree unfortunately!
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Oct 2003
Posts
5,454
Location
Worthington-on-sea
I am an accountant (part qual ACCA) and my advice would be to think about why you want to become an accountant and what you think it'll be like. If you enjoy processes & order and don't mind cyclical work patterns then you should be fine, but if doing the same thing each & every month doesn't appeal to you then it's probably not the right sort of job (not all accounting jobs are so cyclical but most will be working on monthly/yearly periods unless you're looking at audit, in which case you'll be doing the same sort of thing at each client you visit).

As an example I'll give you a very brief career history:
Client accounts cashier (receipts & payments)
Accounts Clerk (journals, reconcilitions, queries, fixed assets) > Senior Accounts Clerk (management accounts, analysis)
Capital Accountant (capital projects & fixed assets) > Management Accountant (reporting, analysis, forecasting) > Business Unit Analyst (planning, analysis, strategy & improvement)
Client Reporting Manager (process improvement, data reporting & analysis)
 
Soldato
Joined
29 Dec 2004
Posts
16,984
Location
Shepley
I graduated from my MA in September and have yet to do any sort of true accountancy experience, but I do currently work full time in an administrative role which is basically one step down the feeding chain from the company accountants. I'm fully used to cyclical and occasionally boring work but am hoping that accountancy would provide a bit more of a challenge!

I'm guessing it would be very difficult to get into one of the Big Four without first being on their intern schemes first? I ask as I'm happy to do the scheme but most seem to be restricted to undergrads or final year undergrads with a guaranteed postgrad place.

I should say that UCAS points and degree marks shouldn't be a problem. :)
 
Back
Top Bottom