accountant
hello everyone,
I am a current year 11 student who is studying for his forthcoming GCSEs and I am a bit confused and need a little bit of help
I want to become an accountant and I am thinking of doing business BTEC level 3 in college do you thunk this is the right choice and with this BTEC would I be able to become an accountant and would I be able to to do an accounting course in university and after that would I be able to become a chartered accountant any help would be great thank you very much
I am a current year 11 student who is studying for his forthcoming GCSEs and I am a bit confused and need a little bit of help
I want to become an accountant and I am thinking of doing business BTEC level 3 in college do you thunk this is the right choice and with this BTEC would I be able to become an accountant and would I be able to to do an accounting course in university and after that would I be able to become a chartered accountant any help would be great thank you very much
Original post by eeeeaaaahhhhk
hello everyone,
I am a current year 11 student who is studying for his forthcoming GCSEs and I am a bit confused and need a little bit of help
I want to become an accountant and I am thinking of doing business BTEC level 3 in college do you thunk this is the right choice and with this BTEC would I be able to become an accountant and would I be able to to do an accounting course in university and after that would I be able to become a chartered accountant any help would be great thank you very much
I am a current year 11 student who is studying for his forthcoming GCSEs and I am a bit confused and need a little bit of help
I want to become an accountant and I am thinking of doing business BTEC level 3 in college do you thunk this is the right choice and with this BTEC would I be able to become an accountant and would I be able to to do an accounting course in university and after that would I be able to become a chartered accountant any help would be great thank you very much
Just to check whether accounting is right for you:
•
Have you done any work experience in chartered accounting?
•
Have you checked whether it's chartered accounting, public finance, or management accounting that's right for you?
•
Have you spoken to a chartered accountant to see what they say about the job?
•
Have you checked whether your personality is suited for the job? (They can reject you simply because you don't have the right personality for the role or don't fit in with the rest of the team.)
•
What are your reasons to become an accountant?
•
How do you intend to get into the sector?
•
Why do you want to do a degree instead of a degree apprenticeship?
The key to get into accounting is to get the appropriate professional accounting qualification for the role that you want to go for. In the case for chartered accounting, this is either:
•
ACCA
•
ACA - by ICAEW
•
CA - by ICAS; Scottish qualification, so you would need to check
•
CAI - Irish qualification, so you would need to check
•
AIA - cannot go in with BTEC from the look of things, but do check
From memory, the above should accept anyone with a pass in a Level 3 qualification in any subject along with the appropriate number of GCSE passes i.e. you can study the qualification with a BTEC in pretty much any subject. Some bodies can be picky or only provide information for their own requirements, so contact the professional bodies just to check with them.
If for any random reason things end up going pear shape, you can always go for the AAT Level 3, which should allow you to go into ACCA or ACA for chartered accountancy (for other bodies, you would need to check).
If you want to go down the university route (not sure why you want to do this if you want to work in industry), it would depend on the individual university. From memory, most universities that accept BTEC (because not all universities accept BTECs) would accept the BTEC in any subject. This is becuase the degree doesn't require specific subjects (which aligns with the requirements from the professional accounting bodies), unless it's a joint finance degree and there is heavy maths content in the degree (A Level Maths would likely be required).
Having said that, I would check the specific degree that you want to do (look at their entry requirements and look for alternative qualifications that they accept) just to double check (too many universities out there offering multiple accounting degrees).
Of course, just because you're accepted for the degree or by the accounting bodies, it doesn't necessarily mean your prospective employer would accept you. Unfortunately, I can't tell whether employers would or not (not likely that anyone would unless you work in their HR department or are a line manager in one of these firms).
If any of the above confuses you, let me know and be specific with your questions.
Original post by MindMax2000
Just to check whether accounting is right for you:
The key to get into accounting is to get the appropriate professional accounting qualification for the role that you want to go for. In the case for chartered accounting, this is either:
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_qualified_accountants#Audit_of_limited_companies
From memory, the above should accept anyone with a pass in a Level 3 qualification in any subject along with the appropriate number of GCSE passes i.e. you can study the qualification with a BTEC in pretty much any subject. Some bodies can be picky or only provide information for their own requirements, so contact the professional bodies just to check with them.
If for any random reason things end up going pear shape, you can always go for the AAT Level 3, which should allow you to go into ACCA or ACA for chartered accountancy (for other bodies, you would need to check).
If you want to go down the university route (not sure why you want to do this if you want to work in industry), it would depend on the individual university. From memory, most universities that accept BTEC (because not all universities accept BTECs) would accept the BTEC in any subject. This is becuase the degree doesn't require specific subjects (which aligns with the requirements from the professional accounting bodies), unless it's a joint finance degree and there is heavy maths content in the degree (A Level Maths would likely be required).
Having said that, I would check the specific degree that you want to do (look at their entry requirements and look for alternative qualifications that they accept) just to double check (too many universities out there offering multiple accounting degrees).
Of course, just because you're accepted for the degree or by the accounting bodies, it doesn't necessarily mean your prospective employer would accept you. Unfortunately, I can't tell whether employers would or not (not likely that anyone would unless you work in their HR department or are a line manager in one of these firms).
If any of the above confuses you, let me know and be specific with your questions.
•
Have you done any work experience in chartered accounting?
•
Have you checked whether it's chartered accounting, public finance, or management accounting that's right for you?
•
Have you spoken to a chartered accountant to see what they say about the job?
•
Have you checked whether your personality is suited for the job? (They can reject you simply because you don't have the right personality for the role or don't fit in with the rest of the team.)
•
What are your reasons to become an accountant?
•
How do you intend to get into the sector?
•
Why do you want to do a degree instead of a degree apprenticeship?
The key to get into accounting is to get the appropriate professional accounting qualification for the role that you want to go for. In the case for chartered accounting, this is either:
•
ACCA
•
ACA - by ICAEW
•
CA - by ICAS; Scottish qualification, so you would need to check
•
CAI - Irish qualification, so you would need to check
•
AIA - cannot go in with BTEC from the look of things, but do check
From memory, the above should accept anyone with a pass in a Level 3 qualification in any subject along with the appropriate number of GCSE passes i.e. you can study the qualification with a BTEC in pretty much any subject. Some bodies can be picky or only provide information for their own requirements, so contact the professional bodies just to check with them.
If for any random reason things end up going pear shape, you can always go for the AAT Level 3, which should allow you to go into ACCA or ACA for chartered accountancy (for other bodies, you would need to check).
If you want to go down the university route (not sure why you want to do this if you want to work in industry), it would depend on the individual university. From memory, most universities that accept BTEC (because not all universities accept BTECs) would accept the BTEC in any subject. This is becuase the degree doesn't require specific subjects (which aligns with the requirements from the professional accounting bodies), unless it's a joint finance degree and there is heavy maths content in the degree (A Level Maths would likely be required).
Having said that, I would check the specific degree that you want to do (look at their entry requirements and look for alternative qualifications that they accept) just to double check (too many universities out there offering multiple accounting degrees).
Of course, just because you're accepted for the degree or by the accounting bodies, it doesn't necessarily mean your prospective employer would accept you. Unfortunately, I can't tell whether employers would or not (not likely that anyone would unless you work in their HR department or are a line manager in one of these firms).
If any of the above confuses you, let me know and be specific with your questions.
thank you for the information but I want to become an accountant and work for a firm so could you help me out by giving me a step by step instructions on what I have to do in college (I want to do BTEC Business)and then what I have to do after thats I could become a charted accountant.please and thank you
Original post by eeeeaaaahhhhk
thank you for the information but I want to become an accountant and work for a firm so could you help me out by giving me a step by step instructions on what I have to do in college (I want to do BTEC Business)and then what I have to do after thats I could become a charted accountant.please and thank you
I'm parroting a lot of the things that I have mentioned before, partly because it's the same information that you're asking for. Also, vague questions.
There are generally 3 ways to get into accounting in my books:
•
Do an apprenticeship with a chartered accountancy firm
•
Do a degree then join the chartered accountancy firm
•
Do the beginner's professional qualification, then join the chartered accountancy firm for the more advanced qualifications.
As mentioned before, irrespective of which route you take, you would ultimately need to end up with the appropriate professional accounting qualification for the specific role. These include: ACCA, ACA, CA, CAI, or AIA. ACA or CA would be the most recognised in the UK (not entirely sure about CAI), so if you have to pick pick one of the 2.
What you want to make sure is that there is someone in the firm that you want to work at that's qualified in the accounting body that you want to qualify in. It's going to be difficult to qualify in ICAS for example, if everyone in the firm is only qualified in ACA - this is for the qualfied/recognised work experience component of the qualification.
The general entry requirement for the professional qualification is a pass in your Level 3 qualification (your BTEC in business should be fine, but check with the individual professional body just to be sure) + good passes in your GCSEs. As far as I know, they don't care what subjects you did your BTEC or GCSEs in (except for GCSE English Language and GCSE Maths, but these are mandatory anyway), so long they're good passes.
There are typically 13-15 papers in any particular professional qualification, which you should be able to complete within 3 years if you pass everything first time.
The requirements for an accounting degree would vary from uni to uni, so you would need to check whether the uni accepts BTECs for their accouting degree. Most usually do, and they generally don't care which subject you did your BTEC in. The degree would offer you exemptions from certain acoounting papers in your professional qualification (up to 9 papers depending on whether you have high enough grades in certain modules and on the specific qualifications), but you would need to check with the accounting body what the requirements are, since not all degrees offer the same exemptions for all qualifications.
You can still go into accounting with a degree in any subject, because the professional accounting bodies only care about your Level 3 results.
Whether your employer accepts your BTEC and GCSEs (and possibly degree) would depend on the individual employer. I am neither a mind reader or can tell the future, so I can't tell you what they are specificaly looking for and whether they accept your qualifications or not. The safe option is usually to have high marks in GCSEs and A Levels where possible. Whether you have an accounting degree or not is usually not of an importance (usually, not always).
At some point, you would need to get hired in a chartered accountancy firm, since that's where you want to work. Whether you do this after school, college, or uni is up to you. Bear in mind, it's also a lot more competitive to apply with specific qualifications and for specific firms.
Beware, you might end up with all the qualifications you need but they can still end up rejecting you because of other factors. It's important that you thoroughly check out the job role before you go all in with this.
Having said that, it's a competitive role and any work experience, internship, work insight days that you can secure would significantly help your applciation and help you stand out from the crowd. This would also help you get a very clear idea if you actually want this job, because it's not for everybody.
If you want the official step by step guides on the above, see the following:
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/private-practice-accountant (see: how to become)
https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/job-sectors/finance-accounting/job-profile/private-practice-accountant (see: how to become)
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/chartered-accountant (see: qualifications)
https://www.bpp.com/insights/chartered-accountant-job-profile (see qualifications)
https://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/job-descriptions/accountant-job-description (see qualification and training)
https://nigcareers.com/chartered-accountant-job-description/#Qualifications
https://www.accountancycareers.co.uk/profession-overview/chartered-accountancy-faqs/ (see qualifications and routes)
https://www.brightnetwork.co.uk/career-profiles/accountant/#training
Again, please avoid asking vague questions where I am required to write out lengthy essays to answer questions that I have already provided material for.
thank you for the information once again I am very grateful for what you have told. furthermore, is it hard to get an apprenticeship in this field.also if I get a decent BTEC grade would the university be interested as much as if I had done an a-level and had gotten a decent grade. does a chartered account make more money then a normal accountant and what is the differences in these jobs
Original post by eeeeaaaahhhhk
thank you for the information once again I am very grateful for what you have told. furthermore, is it hard to get an apprenticeship in this field.also if I get a decent BTEC grade would the university be interested as much as if I had done an a-level and had gotten a decent grade. does a chartered account make more money then a normal accountant and what is the differences in these jobs
is it hard to get an apprenticeship in this field?
That's difficult to answer. In relation to what? Medicine, investment banking, engineering? It's probably more commonplace than other types of apprenticeship, but it's all relative. Apprenticeships are like trainee jobs, they're still difficult to get even if it's less competitive than other roles.
if I get a decent BTEC grade would the university be interested as much as if I had done an a-level and had gotten a decent grade?
That would depend on the individual university. If you want a rule of thumb, A Levels are appreciated more by universities than BTECs, However, if you meet the entry requirements for the specific degree, you meet the entry requirements, so you would be fine if they accept the BTEC and the grades you got.
Just out of interest, is there any specific reason to why you're not doing A Levels or IB if you intend to do a degree?
does a chartered account make more money then a normal accountant and what is the differences in these jobs?
Whether one type of accountant makes more money than another would depend more on various things other than the type of job e.g. level of experience, the specific job role, the skills you contribute, the expertise that you can offer, etc. The qualifications and titles you get doesn't mean all that much; it's more about what you do and what responsibilities you have.
I would see senior roles in accountancy categorised in the following 3 categories: public finance (public sector), financial accounting (preparing financial statements for any business or organisation), and management accounting (preparing accounts for one specific business, and typically employed by the business). The other variants such as bookkeeping, economist accountants, financial analysts, etc. I won't bother looking into since they're not the sort of roles you specifically said that you want to look into.
All accounting roles involve data entry, tight deadlines, high accuracy, and a lot of reports.
Chartered accountancy would focus on preparing financial statements for businesses in general, but they can provide other services such as external audit (checking for mistakes and fraud in financial reports), tax advisory (advise on tax), corporate finance (putting accounts together and pitch the business to buyers), consulting (advising on business matters), etc. It would depend on the individual firm what services they provide and what areas you can specialise in.
Public finance would focus on preparing financial statements and reports of a department in the public sector. Sometimes you might get to do some internal audit (checking to see if you're getting value for money based on what you paid for) and some financial analysis.
Management accounting does a lot of what public finance would do, but specialise in the private sector. Out of all of the types, this is the most analytical and mathematical (not that there's a lot of maths), since you're focus a lot on financial management and looking at the numbers in senior roles.
Note: if you get a qualification in financial accounting (more so with ACA in the UK), you can work in any accounting field. If you get a CIMA or CIPFA, you would be restricted to management accounting or public finance.
See the following for more information:
https://www.brightnetwork.co.uk/career-path-guides/accounting-audit-tax/types-of-accountancy
https://uk.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/types-of-accountants
https://www.accountancycareers.co.uk/profession-overview/which-accountancy-qualification-is-best-for-me/
https://www.unbiased.co.uk/discover/tax-business/running-a-business/what-s-the-difference-between-an-accountant-and-a-chartered-accountant
https://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/accountancy-banking-and-finance/which-accountancy-specialisation-should-you-choose
https://www.parsons.co.uk/types-of-accountant/
https://kaplan.co.uk/insights/article-detail/insights/2022/07/14/what-s-the-difference-between-an-accountant-and-a-chartered-accountant
https://www.spencerclarkegroup.co.uk/career-hub/blog/what-s-the-difference-between-an-accountant-and-chartered-accountant-/
https://www.tfmcentre.co.uk/article/what-is-the-difference-between-an-accountant-and-a-chartered-accountant/
https://www.icaew.com/about-icaew/what-is-chartered-accountancy
Some people can be picky about the difference between a certified accountant (not public finance) and a chartered accountant, but you generally can do the same sort of work.
(edited 5 months ago)
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