Is a career in accountancy worth it if you have no passion for it?

Indeed, but the OP was asking about whether a career in accountacy is worth it... presumably then, he/she is planning on pursuing it as a job.

Once you start a career like accountancy you don't have to stick with it, could go into banking, investment management, private equity or just take a radical change, knowing about finance isn't sentencing you to a life of accounting.

I'm doing the ACA at the moment, but I don't plan on being an accountant.

Does anyone have a passion for accountancy? It's a boring job, but a lot of jobs are boring, and at least this one pays well.

On the other hand if you find the material difficult then maybe you're not cut out for it. It's mostly GCSE maths.


I hope you don't expect to become a banker, or work in private equity. Those jobs are at least a whole rung more competitive, and private equity isn't really graduate level at all. ACA on its own will be an impediment if anything.

You don't really know much do you?

There are specific ACA recently qualified schemes at banks e.g. Barclays Capital

I audit investment management and private equity, specifically, no other firms, I see plenty of ACA qualified working at these places.

ACA is not an impediment, I can't believe I'm replying to this your IQ must actually be nearing the retarded score?

You can work as an accountant at a bank or a private equity firm. That's not the same as being 'a banker' or 'in private equity'. It's like how you can be a security guard at NASA but that doesn't make you an astronaut.

Yes you can, although that is not what I said. I know it as I have friends and regularly hear of others who have made the move from big four, to investment banking and also private equity. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.....mr expert, oh wait, you're 21 LOL.

Yes, in second tier roles. It's not hard to get a job 'at a bank', but no bank is hiring people with 3 years of accountancy experience into IBD or trading.

Yes, in second tier roles. It's not hard to get a job 'at a bank', but no bank is hiring people with 3 years of accountancy experience into IBD or trading.

Yes they are hiring people with ACA into IBD and trading. Naive.

I'm sure it's possible. People have got in from operations which is effectively data entry. The question is, why hire you rather than 10s of thousands of other people with ACAs, or a fresh graduate who may be better? It only happens in case of people who clearly were credible candidates right out of university, but took a wrong turn for whatever reason.

No, it really doesn't, you're just an absolute fool.

so here you have two choices:

Oxford grad with ACA and 3 years of financial experience.

Oxford grad with no financial experience.

Oh wait did you just get destroyed? Yes you did....

3 years of accountancy experience. That says to me that he either failed to get into banking first time or didn't know about it and drifted into a career he doesn't like. Cet. par., the fresh grad looks better on paper. I might still hire the accountant since cet. it rarely ever par., but he would have to be more impressive at that point than when he had left university, and most accountants are less impressive or they would been able to do something better.

3 years of accountancy experience. That says to me that he either failed to get into banking first time or didn't know about it and drifted into a career he doesn't like. Cet. par., the fresh grad looks better on paper. I might still hire the accountant since cet. it rarely ever par., but he would have to be more impressive at that point than when he had left university, and most accountants are less impressive or they would been able to do something better.

Yeah I applied for a PGCE but got turned down. I'm from Northern Ireland and they limit the number of places in the course here.

Simstar88 is right - you really are a clown.

Myself and many of my ex-colleagues moved from big4 after ACA qualification into front office banking.

ACA is definately a plus but recruitment is based on the individual.

Keep dreaming - just realise that everyone in accounting would switch if they could and there are far fewer places than applicants.

no, you will die from absolute boredom if you have no interest in it ... this is especially true for accountancy and finance work. You'll look back years down the road and wonder why you wasted the prime of your life doing such an incredibly dull job.

I did it for 3 1/2 years and I just couldn't stand it anymore so quit one afternoon(right in the office, just after lunch) and went back to full-time study to finally pursue the career I always wanted to do.