Mathematics graduate wanting to get into accounting

what have you decided ?

Hi DannyH,

Hope everything is going well.

I am the AAT Advisor. Here to help you and assist you.

In regards to starting AAT there are many different avenues in which this can be done. You can start to look for employment within the accounting industry whilst studying the qualification; employers like to see the initiative to study. Some might even be able to provide some support and funding for this. I suggest contacting the companies directly and seeing what availability they might have. You can also search for apprenticeships if this is a route you would like to take.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me on [email protected] or call me on 02073973135

Many thanks

Luke

So I graduated not so long ago with a 2:2 in Mathematics from the University of Leeds. I know it's me missing out on the 2:1 that is making things a little difficult at the moment, but I know with the right advice and motivation it shouldn't be too hard at all to get to where I want to be so any advice at all is greatly appreciated !

My goal was to secure a place on a finance graduate scheme where I could continue my studies (ACCA/CIMA) with them whilst gaining valuable experience. Obviously my grade shut out 90% of these schemes already through missing the minimum requirements of a 2:1, and the few I found otherwise ended up unsuccessful.

After this I have took a step back and began to look at pre-university entry level roles which to be honest appeared pretty similar to the graduate scheme in terms of qualification and experience except obviously greater in length. My only setback with these is as they are much lower paid whilst training and I would have to live at home. I could only apply to ones in Liverpool or Preston which makes the list very short. The first one I tried for Liverpool ended unsuccessful at the telephone interview stage.

Another option I am considering now is studying towards my AAT, ACCA or CIMA online. Again if I'm going down this route though I'm unsure which would be most appropriate and which would my options open. I only have very little work experience with a self employed accountant a couple of years ago and obviously at some stage I'm going to want to get in with a big or small firm (or maybe even self employed?) and they are going to want experience unless I'm getting it from the start with some sort of contract (again my 2:2 blocks out a lot of this option). I'm going to contact the few small accountancy firms in the town I live and see if there's any training/experience contract they can offer but I would guess It's highly unlikely at this stage.

So that kind of sums up my situation. Also I have a huge amount of spare time to complete the online course quickly if that's what I end up doing.

So what I'm pondering at the moment..

I feel if I'm not going to get into one of these larger firms, jumping into an online course might be my best option right now. Why would a small local firm take me in for experience straight away when at the end of the day at the moment I have no accounting knowledge?

In terms of the course ACCA vs ATT It's been very hard to decide. I get the impression the AAT would be more suitable for small practice work and maybe self employed work if I eventually end up doing that, and since I live in a small town and love it here maybe if I was to work here as an accountant this would be most appropriate for me? But then again would ACCA be appropriate for this also, as well as being a better qualification to start work in a larger company if I were to go down that route?

Thanks !

I'm not sure why you would opt for the AAT to be honest. If a grad scheme is what you want, the ACCA is the natural step after graduation. AAT is for school leavers and more of a foundation to ACCA/CIMA and not a prerequisite.

At least starting ACCA you'll be a 'studier' in job requirement terms. After a year or so, you could change that to 'part qualified' status.



Posted from TSR Mobile

Sorry I've been quite busy but this is where I'm up to...

I have a pretty tailored CV supplemented with a cover letter which also explains my situation and intend on sending it out to all the small local accountancy firms speculatively. In addition to this I am going to get in touch with a specialist financial recruitment company called "Marshall Moore" which operate in the Liverpool area and was recommended to me by a friend as they helped her find work when she was in a similar situation to me.

Still deliberating a bit over the AAT vs ACCA situation if it comes to self study. One thing I haven't really considered is price. An online college quoted me roughly 1.2k for each of the main 3 levels of the AAT everything inclusive. Doing it all on my own I think would work out around 600 ish ? ..... Is the additional 600 really worth it for what extra resources the online colleges can offer?

As for the ACCA, looking at the learning provider BPP their "platinum learning partner", the cost of learning (F1,F2,F3) is 3 x £275, the exams cost £74 each, and the ACCA registration + annual fee is £160 making the total cost for the "Knowledge" part of the ACCA roughly 1.2k. Does anybody have any experience using the BBP online classroom, and also would one say that the knowledge section of the ACCA is roughly getting to the equivalent stage of the AAT level 2?

Tbh after a bit more thought I think the best course of action for me at the moment is to study (F1,F2,F3) parts of the ACCA off my own back, as all three can be completed in around 2 months starting on the 7th April according to the BBP site. After passing all these I feel I'm be in a much better position to convince a company to offer me a training contract after already showing the initiative to go about it on my own, and if they can offer me experience on top of that I can go into that role with at least some basic accounting knowledge that I can build on rather than the situation I am in at the moment.

Thanks for your replies so far !

Also, have you tried looking at Kaplan online classes? I study with Kaplan and they've been really at the forefront of online lectures, having provided it way before BPP ever did.

As a lot of their revenue is overseas, they have had to really focus on it and it's now the core basis of their business model going forward. Worth investigating!


Posted from TSR Mobile

Thank you I'm looking at Kaplan now to compare. I didn't really consider it initially as it wasn't mentioned on the ACCA site as their top learning providers.

Thanks Luke, just a couple of questions..

What advantages would you say one has in studying the AAT over the ACCA?

Also (as I previously mentioned), I was quoted from "Home Learning College" around 1.3k for level two, whereas I've worked out it would cost roughly 600 buying everything myself and learning completely on my own. Is the extra really worth it with one of these online colleges?

So I graduated not so long ago with a 2:2 in Mathematics from the University of Leeds. I know it's me missing out on the 2:1 that is making things a little difficult at the moment, but I know with the right advice and motivation it shouldn't be too hard at all to get to where I want to be so any advice at all is greatly appreciated !

My goal was to secure a place on a finance graduate scheme where I could continue my studies (ACCA/CIMA) with them whilst gaining valuable experience. Obviously my grade shut out 90% of these schemes already through missing the minimum requirements of a 2:1, and the few I found otherwise ended up unsuccessful.

After this I have took a step back and began to look at pre-university entry level roles which to be honest appeared pretty similar to the graduate scheme in terms of qualification and experience except obviously greater in length. My only setback with these is as they are much lower paid whilst training and I would have to live at home. I could only apply to ones in Liverpool or Preston which makes the list very short. The first one I tried for Liverpool ended unsuccessful at the telephone interview stage.

Another option I am considering now is studying towards my AAT, ACCA or CIMA online. Again if I'm going down this route though I'm unsure which would be most appropriate and which would my options open. I only have very little work experience with a self employed accountant a couple of years ago and obviously at some stage I'm going to want to get in with a big or small firm (or maybe even self employed?) and they are going to want experience unless I'm getting it from the start with some sort of contract (again my 2:2 blocks out a lot of this option). I'm going to contact the few small accountancy firms in the town I live and see if there's any training/experience contract they can offer but I would guess It's highly unlikely at this stage.

So that kind of sums up my situation. Also I have a huge amount of spare time to complete the online course quickly if that's what I end up doing.

So what I'm pondering at the moment..

I feel if I'm not going to get into one of these larger firms, jumping into an online course might be my best option right now. Why would a small local firm take me in for experience straight away when at the end of the day at the moment I have no accounting knowledge?

In terms of the course ACCA vs ATT It's been very hard to decide. I get the impression the AAT would be more suitable for small practice work and maybe self employed work if I eventually end up doing that, and since I live in a small town and love it here maybe if I was to work here as an accountant this would be most appropriate for me? But then again would ACCA be appropriate for this also, as well as being a better qualification to start work in a larger company if I were to go down that route?

Thanks !

I have a Mathematics degree as well.

Best route is to test the waters by looking at the FIA syllabus (http://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/student/foundation-lvl-qual-student-journey/qualification-resources/foundation-lvl-qual.html)

FIA gives you a basic understanding/intermediate understanding of accounting - and if you do the full qualifications, it gives you exemptions to the first 3 Fundamental exams of ACCA. It's also known that people that study FIA first, have a better chance to pass ACCA Exams.

Hope this helps.