Am I able to become an accountant through business studies

Same as above , I want to become an accountant but the college I want to apply at does not have accounting as a course but has business studies if I study that will I still be able to become an accountant

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

You could be an accountant even if you studied Assyriology, so yes certainly with business studies :tongue:

Reply 2

CaramelCamel

Yes, often business courses will have a finance topic so some of it will be directly relevant to accounting. I don't know if you're planning on doing BTEC or A-level but I'm doing BTEC Level 3 Business and there's a unit called Personal and Business Finance which teaches you some basic accounting principles and how to set out and fill in financial statements, balance sheets and cash flows. If you can do something like A-level economics or maths then that could be useful too, although as the poster above said it doesn't matter which subjects you do. Universities/apprenticeship employers generally don't specify any particular subjects and can teach you from scratch.

Reply 3

Freshcommander

I'm still confused on the route that I need to become an accoutant so when I do this course will it be the same as doing accounting

Reply 4

marple

Original post by Freshcommander

I'm still confused on the route that I need to become an accoutant so when I do this course will it be the same as doing accounting

To become a qualified accountant you must pass the professional exams of one of the accounting bodies and gain the required amount of work based experience. There are several routes to becoming an accountant, including doing an appropriate apprenticeship after A levels with a firm that will support you through the appropriate exams, or join a firm as a graduate and again work and study for the exams. PWC have a useful introduction - and similar routes are available with the other big firms:

https://www.pwc.co.uk/careers/student-careers.html

The ICAEW (Chartered accountants) website has useful information:

https://careers.icaew.com/how-to-become-a-chartered-accountant#:~:text=To%20qualify%20as%20an%20ICAEW,passing%20a%20series%20of%20exams.

as does the ACCA

https://www.accaglobal.com/lk/en/qualifications/glance.html

Doing an accountancy degree at university will mean that you get exemptions from some of the exams, whereas if you do a different degree (History, Chemistry etc) you have to do all the papers, as you do if you take the non-university route.

Accountants take A levels (and degrees) in a wide variety of subjects (most do not have an A level in accountancy), although you have to be comfortable and good with numbers

Many people working in high street general practices may have gone down the AAT route to qualify as an accounting technician. They can then go on to take ICAEW or ACCA exams if they want to advance their career. https://www.aat.org.uk/