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Hi guys
I am looking for some advice on whether to study for the ACCA course. I live in the UK. I did my undergraduate degree in Marketing and Business. I achieved a 2.1 and have worked in Sales, and Account Management (Marketing) for the last 2 years. I have recently left my Account Management role and am joining a different company (which I hope will be better) to do Account Management. Honestly speaking, I can’t say that I am enjoying Account Management in Marketing. I have also come to understand the marketing industry a bit more since leaving uni I have noticed two things about the marketing industry: 1) average pay is lower in comparison to Accounting (especially for graduates such as myself and 2) there is a lack of structure in terms of career development (which also has to do with me working Agency side rather than client side). The last point means that people move around companies quite a lot in order to move up or get better pay.
I did a couple of modules in Accounting at uni which I didn’t really focus on as I wanted to get good grades in my marketing modules. Most of my friends at Uni studied Accounting and it seems that what they learned they apply in their jobs (excel skills etc.). I can’t really say the same thing for marketing as my degree didn’t really give you any practical skills apart from research. The long term prospects seem better in the Accounting industry.
So I am considering studying for the ACCA qualification part time over two years. This will involve me brushing up on my Excel and Maths skills and quitting my marketing job. I know that it is a long term commitment and that the papers are quite difficult. I will also need to get some work experience on the side. As I live at home for cultural reasons and am probably not going anywhere anytime soon. I thought to myself why not try and build a career in a respected industry, with better prospects and better pay.
Could anyone shed any light on whether it’s easy for people from non-accounting backgrounds to study and succeed in the ACCA qualification?
Also I have a C in Maths GCSE, but 2.1 Business Degree with modules in Accounting and Data mining. Is this enough to succeed at ACCA?
Also I live in the East Midlands could anyone suggest a good institution to study at?
Thanks
A few things that might help you decide:
There is no reason why you should not be able to pass the ACCA exams. They are difficult, but there are plenty of people who pass who did not study accounting at university.
You write that it would mean giving up your current job. You could study at home while still working. Most students do have full-time jobs and manage to study for usually two exams every six months. Our free lectures and course notes contain everything you need (the only extra thing you would need for each paper is a Revision Kit from one of the ACCA approved publishers – these are books containing lots of exam-standard questions to practice on, and practice is vital).
To fully qualify you will need work-experience as well as passing the exams. However it does not need to be at the same time, and you could get a lot of the work experience requirements in your current job. When you have passed the exams you will have proof of that, and that itself will help you get work in accountancy.
There are many firms of tutors around Birmingham – if you look on the ACCA website you will find a searchable list. (Although, again, you do not need to go to classes – you can study on here free of charge.)
If you are still unsure about whether or not you would find the exams too difficult, try watching a few of the lectures for the earlier papers on this website and see how you are managing to cope with them.
Am an SSCE holder and I wnt to study d ACCA,I dnt knw if I cn cope……need ur help on what to do.
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