ACCA v IATI v ACA? Course advice needed!

Mimojo

Hi
Looking for some advice as I am frazzled!

So I work in a small company as Office Manager, doing a bit of everything. Our Financial Controller has just handed in her notice (part time role), and I was thinking I would love to do something accounting related. I am bored in my current role, and I know that her role is not too taxing either, I think with a bit of training I could learn it, and we send out accounts to an accountant so she would be there if I needed support etc. I know this business inside out, and we are only dealing with a small volume of financial transactions overall. There is another person pricing and generating invoice & doing payroll (also part time) so this role is basic banking, credit control, basic management accounts, profit and loss etc.

Just to note I have a degree and a masters, neither in business or accounting related fields.

I was thinking about possibly starting down the ACCA route. It would give me a qualification which would help in the future, and hopefully help for future jobs etc. I called them today for some information and have read the website extensively. I did consider the Foundation Course first, but I feel like I would prefer to just start with the Fundamentals and go from there.

My questions are:

Is ACCA the way to go? I know there is ACA, IATI also, can someone tell me the difference here or advice which route might be best? I literally don’t have a clue!

Also, should I pay for a course (in my case will likely be online as I wouldn’t make it into Dublin to Griffith etc as am about an hour away in the evenings, and there is no courses nearby), or is self-study a realistic option, given that I have very little financial experience?

I am thinking about proposing to my boss that I do the financial job (its part time) along with my own role (which is pretty handy to be honest) if they will cover the cost of my ACCA course and exams. In this way they are saving on hiring someone new, and I will hopefully gain a recognisable qualification, even if it will take me a few years to achieve, and will help with my future career.

I am 31, no kids and feel like I would have the time to commit to this over the next year or two. Kids are in the long term plan, but I feel that if that did happen sooner rather than later I would manage, even if I did only manage to do less study, again why the online option would appear to me as I wouldn’t be committed to attending a course.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I want to make sure I am choosing the correct course, and that I am taking the correct route!

Thanks in advance

The_Pretender

ACA is a non-runner in your current situation, as you need an ACA/FCA to manage you over the course of your training period. They have started doing a flexible route though, not sure if that will allow you to do just the exams.

ACCA is possible, but I'm not sure if you would be able to qualify through the route you're thinking. You could do the exams, but you still need not 3 years relevant work experience to become an ACCA. I assume this experience needs to be backed up by a member of a recognised accounting body.

Mimojo

Thanks for the reply

When I spoke to ACCA they said that the experience I would be gaining in the financial role here would be sufficient for the 3 years relevant work experience. Now I stand to be corrected as Im really not sure either. So I would have to have my work experience signed off my a recognised body?

Mimojo

The_Pretender wrote: »

ACA is a non-runner in your current situation, as you need an ACA/FCA to manage you over the course of your training period. They have started doing a flexible route though, not sure if that will allow you to do just the exams.

ACCA is possible, but I'm not sure if you would be able to qualify through the route you're thinking. You could do the exams, but you still need not 3 years relevant work experience to become an ACCA. I assume this experience needs to be backed up by a member of a recognised accounting body.

http://www.accaglobal.com/ie/en/help/student-faqs-practical-experience-requirements.html#FAQs-about-gaining-experience

Yes the work experience does have the be supervised by a suitably qualification person, so I dont know how I could get around that one. Maybe our external accountant could sign off on the work?

The_Pretender

I can't imagine that would work to be honest, not enough contact with the accountant. Plus, if the accountant was to spend say, 5 hours extra per hours a month focusing on your work in more detail before putting their name to it, a €150+ per hour it would add up pretty quickly.

Personally, I wouldn't sign off on the work of a trainee unless I was working closely with them supervising.

Mimojo

The_Pretender wrote: »

I can't imagine that would work to be honest, not enough contact with the accountant. Plus, if the accountant was to spend say, 5 hours extra per hours a month focusing on your work in more detail before putting their name to it, a €150+ per hour it would add up pretty quickly.

Personally, I wouldn't sign off on the work of a trainee unless I was working closely with them supervising.

Thanks for the response, that is what I was afraid of. Does make sense though, you wouldnt want to sign off on someone work unless you had personally supervised it.

Do you think it is worth my while going ahead with ACCA anyhow, and can always look for a trainee role once I have a few of the exams under my belt and more experienced?

Of is this the way to go?

John Luttrell

Your accountant can sign off the PER, no problem there a friend of mine did it. Double check with ACCA just to be sure.
Most of the Irish colleges now offer online courses, I use AccountancySchool.ie and find them excellent, Griffith College also have online courses.
Sounds like an excellent plan and ACCA should suit you, tough exams but worth it in the end

tanit

ACCA and ACA are both certified accountants along with CPA level 9 in the National Qualifications Framework or in layman terms the equivalent of a Master. IATI is level 6 Accounting Technician the equivalent to 2 years in college.
Accounting Technicians in my opinion is a great qualification to start with if you have never had accounting studies proper after 2 years you get the qualification and exemptions to any of the bodies above ACA, CPA and ACCA. Depending on the body you get more or less exemptions.

All the bodies have what it's considered industry work, working in a non-practice environment to get your experience requirements. ACA has the Flexible Route they give more publicity to this than the other bodies because they were traditionally only doing the practice route, whereas the other 2 bodies already have it.

You can either go directly to any of the bodies and start studying from scratch or you can do IATI Accounting Technicians and get a feeling of the whole thing for 2 years, get the qualification, the exemptions and move to professional accountant.
If you have never done accountancy and you are working I'd go for IATI just in case you don't want to continue after 2 years. And if after 2 years you want to continue you get the exemptions can move on to either of them.

From IATI the best exemptions are for ACA and CPA, they are not so good for ACCA so if you really want to go to them you might want to start from scratch otherwise it might be a bit long and expensive.

I am very biased towards doing the IATI thing and then move on to professional because that's what I'm doing, still think it's a great idea. But it's certainly up to you.

Hope this helps

Mimojo

John Luttrell wrote: »

Your accountant can sign off the PER, no problem there a friend of mine did it. Double check with ACCA just to be sure.
Most of the Irish colleges now offer online courses, I use AccountancySchool.ie and find them excellent, Griffith College also have online courses.
Sounds like an excellent plan and ACCA should suit you, tough exams but worth it in the end

Cheers for the info, it would be great if the accountant could sign off on the work completed, am going to check with her this week and give ACCA another call.

tanit wrote: »

ACCA and ACA are both certified accountants along with CPA level 9 in the National Qualifications Framework or in layman terms the equivalent of a Master. IATI is level 6 Accounting Technician the equivalent to 2 years in college.
Accounting Technicians in my opinion is a great qualification to start with if you have never had accounting studies proper after 2 years you get the qualification and exemptions to any of the bodies above ACA, CPA and ACCA. Depending on the body you get more or less exemptions.
All the bodies have what it's considered industry work, working in a non-practice environment to get your experience requirements. ACA has the Flexible Route they give more publicity to this than the other bodies because they were traditionally only doing the practice route, whereas the other 2 bodies already have it.
You can either go directly to any of the bodies and start studying from scratch or you can do IATI Accounting Technicians and get a feeling of the whole thing for 2 years, get the qualification, the exemptions and move to professional accountant.
If you have never done accountancy and you are working I'd go for IATI just in case you don't want to continue after 2 years. And if after 2 years you want to continue you get the exemptions can move on to either of them.
From IATI the best exemptions are for ACA and CPA, they are not so good for ACCA so if you really want to go to them you might want to start from scratch otherwise it might be a bit long and expensive.
I am very biased towards doing the IATI thing and then move on to professional because that's what I'm doing, still think it's a great idea. But it's certainly up to you.
Hope this helps

Cheers for all the info, really really helpful. The accounting technician really does sounds like a good route to start with. I am really not sure if I will get into accounting, so that sounds like a really practical place to start. Like you said at least after 2 years you have a qualification, and the option to go on further if you wish.

I did like the sound of the ACCA, and have found an online study option, but will do a bit more research on the IATI today, I hope I have not missed the start of courses this September, but if there is an online option for that course am certainly interested.

tanit

This the online option for Accounting Technicians Online Program I haven't done it my self but I know people that did it and were very happy.

Chartered Accountants Ireland: Careers Team

The_Pretender wrote: »

ACA is a non-runner in your current situation, as you need an ACA/FCA to manage you over the course of your training period. They have started doing a flexible route though, not sure if that will allow you to do just the exams.

Hi there, we do indeed have a Flexible Route, which means you can start the academic programme and do exams before you start logging your work experience.

Experience can be signed off by any IFAC recognised accountant, it doesn't necessarily have to be a Chartered Accountant.

OP, if you'd like more information on Chartered, just PM me and I'd be happy to help.

billcullen1

Chartered Accountants Ireland: Careers Team wrote: »

Hi there, we do indeed have a Flexible Route, which means you can start the academic programme and do exams before you start logging your work experience.

Experience can be signed off by any IFAC recognised accountant, it doesn't necessarily have to be a Chartered Accountant.

OP, if you'd like more information on Chartered, just PM me and I'd be happy to help.

If anyone seeking independent advise, about CAI call Ronan O'Loughlin. He will sort ya out.