accounting jobs without accounting qualification?

Where are you studying your accounting degree? You'll probably find you get some exemptions from ACCA or CIMA (or the ICAEW).

The reality is you won't have much of an accountancy career without qualifying as an accountant. Not only that, but there are not many finance directors who would willingly hire a freshly graduated accountant who was already saying they didn't want to do professional study because it would display a terrible attitude towards the profession and you would give the impression that you don't really want to be an accountant. When firms recruit raw talent, the expectation is that they are normally bringing in people who aspire to be a professional accountant who will one day replace the more senior members of the team when they move to a new role or retire. You would upset that succession planning.

My suggestion is if you feel like this then you need to question whether you are even studying the right thing at undergraduate level. There are places you can have a career with just a degree, but accounting is not one of them.

I’m studying at UOM and I think we get max 8 exemptions. And it’s not that I don’t ‘want’ to be chartered it just seems very difficult aka beyond my scope of abilities and it takes another 3 years to complete after the degree so it’s quite a long process if that makes sense

Hey,

I think you've maybe convinced yourself that you're not capable of passing Chartered Accountancy exams from what you've heard but I'm pretty sure you are capable of passing the exams. People always share the horror stories of accountancy exams but do not really talk about the positives and how lots of people get through them and become Chartered. It is an achievable task if you are disciplined and put in the work.

Given you are doing a degree in Accounting too it puts you at an advantage compared to the large majority of students I met during my time at college when I did my exams. There are people from various backgrounds who've done Language/Art/Engineering/Science etc degrees who are doing the exams and getting through and in some cases passing the exams first time too.

Don't be too hard on yourself and tell yourself you can't do it. The fact that you have 8 exemptions already is great because if your training company lets you take the exemptions, then it means you have fewer exams to do.

Think more about it positively.

I’m studying at UOM and I think we get max 8 exemptions. And it’s not that I don’t ‘want’ to be chartered it just seems very difficult aka beyond my scope of abilities and it takes another 3 years to complete after the degree so it’s quite a long process if that makes sense

I think you miss the point of what it would actually be like for those three years. Most of the time you would be working as an accountant, not studying (especially if you have 8 exemptions). Also, the level of study will not be any higher than what you are already doing at degree level until you get to the final level of examinations.

The reason a lot of people find becoming chartered hard is not normally the study, it's the job itself and here you do have choices. You don't have to join a Big 4 audit firm in a major city and do 12-14 hour days whilst doing your exams on a fast track scheme. There are plenty of other schemes and plenty of other employers out there who will let you study at a gentler pace and work a more normal 9-5 if this is what you want. You might want to look at finance schemes with employers like Lidl who run some great schemes.

Alternatively, having your degree won't do you any harm in a role in the finance sector (but not in the finance function) where further study would not necessarily be required. For example, back office banking operations or securities services would offer opportunities where further study was optional rather than mandatory.

If you get 8 exemptions from ACCA you have a load of options for training in industry - it need not be horribly intense. Plus - the different level of exams suit different people. It doesnt necessarily get harder. When I was doing ACA the Cambridge maths grads seemed super smart for the first couple of years but others of us overtook them on the final level when reporting writing etc became a big part of the exams.

That’s an interesting insight so I guess it depends on the individual and so I shouldn’t generalise the difficulty of it to my own potential experience

Hi thanks for your response, you make some good points. So would you say working towards the ACA in places other than the top 4 is much more manageable overall? And would they offer support like the top 4? Because tbh I don’t see myself working for any top 4 if I was to work towards the Aca, I’d rather work in a mid/smaller firm or like in a football club or educational institutions like college