Exams totally took over this week but I’m back with another post!
I wanted to talk about some extremely valuable advice that I received when I was in university. I was advised by a family member, when choosing what to do after accounting, that if you have to choose between a masters and chartered status, choose the latter. That’s not to deter you from doing the former at all, but if you have to choose just one, there is much more credibility in the chartered within the field. Obviously a bonus would be to do both !
Post university I was very lucky Alhamdulillah to secure a graduate trainee scheme, which offered the qualification as part of the package. Going back to as we discussed previously, this was in industry. I was offered the option of ACA and ACCA, and in university we were told about CIMA. Let’s go into these a little further.
Before we jump in, a side route that I learned about while at work is that you can do you’re a-Levels, and then go to college (or find a training scheme in a company where they pay for your training) to work towards your AAT Qualification. This is considered to be the first step towards Accounting, and your chartered qualification, and once you achieve this, colleagues have told me you’re on par with someone who has left university in an accounts degree. In fact, may be better off as you won’t have accumulated debt on your shoulders!
So either AAT or University, (bear in mind this doesn’t necessarily need to be an accounts degree – yes it helps but rest assured you can still definitely work hard and decide to take the accounting route coming from a completely different background. I knew someone who did biochemical engineering at university then took a detour into accounting, as well as someone who did physiotherapy and had a change of heart! Changing your mind is totally fine – do your research, weigh up the pros and cons, do istikhara and if it feels right in your heart, go for it!
You’re stepping into the world of work, you’ve chosen to do a chartered qualification – the question is, which one?
Traditionally, ICAEW (also known as ACA) is aimed at practice, CIMA is aimed and industry, and ACCA is a middle ground. CIMA has a higher focus on management accounting, whereas ACA has a practice subject focus of technical areas such as audit and tax. In between them both lies ACCA, which covers all aspects of accounting as well as finance, tax and audit.
My studies are with ACCA, and with just a few exams left, I can confirm it has been an excellent experience. Something to note with these qualifications is that you are required to complete a set of exams, as well often some form of professional record, while proving you have spent time undertaking relevant work experience. Yes, while you can study privately for these exams ( I know people in Pakistan do this more so than we do over here), I would recommend securing a training contract as they can get quite expensive!
If you study a relevant degree at university, eg Accounting and/or Finance like I did, or in some capacity, you are able to gain exemptions from doing certain exams. So where someone who has not studied the field and comes in completely new to accounting will have to do all 14 exams for ACCA, I only had to do 6 thanks to having studied and passed modules in university! It can work quite well to miss middle exams but you will most probably be required to sit the final professional exams at the end – can’t get out of everything!
With ACCA, the exam sittings are spaced out 4 times throughout the year, and it is up to you based on your study as to which exams you sit when. Through my training contract, I am tied to a tuition provider (First Intuition) who support me in the study and revision from a couple of months in advance, and by preparing and revising myself, you feel confident enough to book and pass the exams! It makes such a difference to have that network of support around you through your journey!
One key piece of advice I wish I received was ‘get the exams done early’. Unless there is a genuine reason to delay, there is absolutely no harm in just pushing through the months and getting them done. I was told there was no rush so I could take my time, which meant I was comfortable with delaying exam sittings ‘because there was no rush’. But actually if I would have just gotten on with it, I could have simply qualified much earlier! It isn’t a problem for me and I’m happy Alhamdulillah to be finishing soon, but to my younger sisters out there, do them quick!
Revision wise, your study provide will give you material, but there plenty of resources online to support you too, independently and from the ACCA themselves! I will do a separate blog post on study tips soon! The international ACCA community is thriving and there are so many people to learn from – LinkedIn is a world of it’s own!
Let me know how far along you are in your journey, or if you’re considering any of the chartered routes, what is your thought process? Can I help in any way?
May Allah give us all success and barakah in everything we do, and allow our further studies to humble us as we grow from strength to strength, Aameen ♥
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