how to become a tax consultant/accountant/...

construct06

hi, i am thinking about switching carrer to somewhere in the Business sector. Currently i'm in the engineering/construction sector.

i believe a tax consultant is an interesting job and rewarding financially also.

Basically i have no business qualifications whatsoever, but have a degree in Engineering.

Just wondering could somebody explain the routes to the following and maybe also outline the different grades of each if possible:

tax consultant
tax technician
accountant

Is a business degree required/relevant to become either a tax consultant or accountant?

JCB

construct06 wrote:

Is a business degree required/relevant to become either a tax consultant or accountant?

Well of course a business degree is relevant but is definately not required to become an accountant/tax consultant. Have you done any business subjects in your degree such as management, it could be useful?

construct06 wrote:

accountant

There are 4 bodies in accountancy:
Chartered: ACA- must do a training contract on low salary.
Usually done if joining a big 4 firm or specialising in audit/tax

Certified Chartered: ACCA - must get relevant 'experience' with no strict time limit or contract.
Usually done if working in industry as an accountant but equally valid for a career in audit/tax.

Management: CIMA - must get relevant 'experience' with no strict time limit
Again usually for industry, especially production/manufacturing. Not for audit/tax

Certified Public: CPA - I must admit I don't know much about these. Wouldn't have as high a profile of CPA's in America (I don't think they're related). Similar to ACCA.

Unless you are in your young 20ies with little commitments I would steer clear of ACA for a while. The accountants in the construction field would most likely be CIMA - evaluating building projects, material planning, making budgets. You could get a decent salary in training for CIMA with your related experience. This is more decision making rather than "t-accounts" and "ledgers"

construct06 wrote:

tax consultant

To start on the road to becoming a tax consultant you would do tax exams offered by AITI - Institute of Taxation. These aren't easy exams especially with no experience with legislation etc... The main advantage is that you don't need any work experience to become a member. So you could keep your job and do these exams on the side. A lot of tax consultants would also either (i) be accountants or (ii) be studying to become one.

construct06 wrote:

tax technician

Again there are exams offered by the AITI for this purpose. It is a one year part-time course with no experience necessary to be qualified. I would recommend you do this first if you were to go down the tax route.

EDIT: Perhaps this should be made a sticky?

Green_Anorak

Hi,

I am also in the same situation as Construct06. I completed college 2 years ago and have been working as a System Analyst with a large organization abroad. However I’ve found that this job is not for me.....although I have probably known this for the last year I am only going about the process of changing career now.

Unlike Construct06 though I do have some knowledge of Accounting. I have always been interested in an Accountant career. During my Leaving Cert year Accounting was always my top and favourite subject. Ok while thats not anything really, during college I always did well in the modules that covered accounting. I did three/four management accounting modules, two finance and two basic financial accounting ones. The course that I did in College was BIS (Business Information Systems) in UCC. It was 4 years and mainly revolves around IT, so that’s the route I ended up taking. There was also a number of business and management modules in the 4 years.

I have decided to return in April/May to take up an accounting career. I think I am mainly interested in ACA. (or perhaps ACCA) I am relatively young at 23 so although im not younger than others who go straight in, Im not in a bad spot. I have also taken a look at the ICAI site and the process, exams etc. that is involved.

The few questions I do have however would be:
Does anyone know of any exemptions that I will get from the first round of exams? I was thinking perhaps Management Accounting since I did three modules in three years of this in college. I am unsure though. Does it depend on results, college course or what?

I see on the site that CA Proficiency 1 is being phased in for 2008. Does anyone know of any other changes besides the subject choice? With the change, would this be the first exams that I would be attempting?

Since I will be returning in April/May what will be the likelihood of getting a job? I know large organizations (Big 4 at least) have the typical graduate process with most jobs already decided upon in Feb/March for the following September. I don’t want to wait for the following year to get a job. I don’t mind starting in a smaller practice either. Would I be at a disadvantage here? I want to get started as quickly as possible.

What is the best process for looking for a job? Should i contact an agency, stick with the jobs that are advetised (Monster etc), or should i just contact any from the list that is on the ICAI website along with a copy of my CV?

Since I have most nights and some weekends free until April/May I would like to brush up on the basic concepts, theories, principles etc. I have taken a look at trying to do some night course but there doesn’t seem any available or suitable at the current moment. Can anyone recommend any books, online resources etc that I could perhaps use to get a feel for Accounting again?

Thanks,

Any help would be great! Sorry for really long post.

JCB

Green_Anorak wrote:

QUOTE]

Green_Anorak wrote:

.Does anyone know of any exemptions that I will get from the first round of exams? I was thinking perhaps Management Accounting since I did three modules in three years of this in college. I am unsure though. Does it depend on results, college course or what?

You'd definately get exempt from management accounting, but i'd say that's it. 1 module of finance wouldn't be enough. According to the ICAI website you need a 2.2 with passes in relevant college options.

Green_Anorak wrote:

I see on the site that CA Proficiency 1 is being phased in for 2008. Does anyone know of any other changes besides the subject choice? With the change, would this be the first exams that I would be attempting?
.

It just seems to be subject choice. [unlucky for you they just phased out BIS] Yes it would be your first set of exams: CAP 2 being the second.

Green_Anorak wrote:

.Since I will be returning in April/May what will be the likelihood of getting a job? I know large organizations (Big 4 at least) have the typical graduate process with most jobs already decided upon in Feb/March for the following September. I don’t want to wait for the following year to get a job. I don’t mind starting in a smaller practice either. Would I be at a disadvantage here? I want to get started as quickly as possible.

No you wouldn't be at any real disadvantage going into small practice perhaps less pay and shorter study time but nothing in the long run. As far as I know IT & systems staff in KPMG also have to do chartered accounting, so you might find a niche there.

Green_Anorak wrote:

What is the best process for looking for a job? Should i contact an agency, stick with the jobs that are advetised (Monster etc), or should i just contact any from the list that is on the ICAI website along with a copy of my CV?
.

You see if you're going in for training for ACA you have to make sure that they will take trainees. So I would recommend using that list - perhaps offering IS work as a sweetner?

Green_Anorak wrote:

.Since I have most nights and some weekends free until April/May I would like to brush up on the basic concepts, theories, principles etc. I have taken a look at trying to do some night course but there doesn’t seem any available or suitable at the current moment. Can anyone recommend any books, online resources etc that I could perhaps use to get a feel for Accounting again?

Since you're not in Ireland there really isn't much point in taking an accounting course. (besides, it would probably be bookkeeping and would more than likely turn you off the idea anyway)
A lot of the basic books are quite unappealing so perhaps you should look at some accounts for investors books to help you see the usefulness of the subject. Sure try a search on amazon and see what comes up!


You mentioned you might go for ACCA. If you're having problems finding a job ACCA offers a more flexible route so you could do some systems analysis job (ticking the days off the calendar;) ) and train at night.

Anyway, whatever you decide good luck!

Tony255

Does anyone know if there are courses available online I work out of the country most weeks but would love to do one of these courses.

construct06

could somebody list courses by night to become an accountant

Kinetic^

Tony255, some of them offer distance learning so I'd contact the relevent professional body about that.

Construct06, any of the courses that JCB listed are done at night, actually mostly at night.