Hi everyone :-)
although i am not an open university student ( i didnt even know this was for open uni students until i read a couple of things however im hoping this site can help me one way or another...
I really require some urgent help since I have already applied to university however I am looking into Accountancy which has interested me, I havent got the advice i needed as of yet, however I hope someone can shine some light into my problem.

I am currently doing Alevels in ICT,Sociology and Textiles , I have finished ICT and have Sociology and Textiles to finish of now, so i have a month of Alevels to finish of , however I want to know whether an Accounting degree will be right for me, can someone please please tell me what accounting involves,

a.) what type of mind u need for this course,
b.) what is involves, what are the exams like,
c.) does it involve a lot of maths, i know this is a weird question but im not very good at maths i got a C for GCSE maths, but i feel i can be good at maths if i have a calculator so would this be ok?
d.) what about the assignments, is it research based what exactly does it involves

please anyone who has done accountancy for a degree or is currently doing it please can someone shine some light and help me out and please please give me as much detailed information, links anything will do
thankyou very much im just very panicy at the moment so sorry if i sound weird

thankyou very very much


Regards

Hi 5x's

I'm actually an accountancy graduate so I can try and shed some light. I'm also ACCA

a.) what type of mind u need for this course,

A methodical mind is needed for accountancy.

b.) what is involves, what are the exams like,

With accounting, there are no surprises in the exams, the only difference from your mock exams are the figures.

c.) does it involve a lot of maths, i know this is a weird question but im not very good at maths i got a C for GCSE maths, but i feel i can be good at maths if i have a calculator so would this be ok?

Maths is not a requirement for accounting, and there is very little maths involved in an accountancy degree. The only maths you are likely to face are statistics/quantitative methods, but to no greater extent than an A level/Scottish higher

d.) what about the assignments, is it research based what exactly does it involves

It involves studying the techniques of accountants for the accounting part. Accounting will probs make up less than half your degree content. It will mostly involve economics, law, IT etc etc. so if you have a methodical approach to study you will have no problems with accounting.


Personally, I would not recommend a career in accountancy. It has been good to me and I have earned good salaries Europe wide, but it is so bloody boring

Unless your heart is set on becoming ACCA, CA etc, I'd suggest thinking of an alternative career path. I'm in my thirties now and realised in my late twenties I could not continue as an accountant. Probs if you ask any accountant now they will tell you they wish they chose differently

thankyou so so much !
u have been so great, i dont know how else to thankyou im so pleased for this very good advice thanks once again!
You mentioned ACCA/CA what exactly is that?
i know u say its boring imo if its good salary wise thats great , but i do intend to do something like Fashion as a hobby on the other hand i want a stable degree with a stable career for instance accounting is very good if u join any company they will always need an accountant i believe so correct me if im wrong, but thats why id like to do a degree, i had applied to do Human resources, but i have been advised accounting is also very good for a stable career.
I know this might sound like a daft question but can u give me 1 exam accounting question if u can remember i know id have absolutely no clues as to what its talking about but im curious
u mentioned something about maths not being used but stats and quantitative issues, can u give me an example since i have only done this at GCSE level, apprantly thats meant to be very hard at Alevel maths
What other career paths would u recommend ?

thanks so much once again ur great!

Hi 5x's

Well, I didn't do an accountancy degree, but I did train to be a chartered accountant, and then a chartered tax advisor, so feel free to ask any questions on working in practice or industry

There are different types of accountancy qualification, with differing exams and rules & regs. CA is short for Chartered Accountant, which can refer to someone who has passed all the exams and qualified as ACA (Chartered accountant) or ACCA (Chartered Certified accountant). Some useful links:

http://www.icaew.co.uk
http://www.icas.org.uk
http://www.accaglobal.com
http://www.cimaglobal.com
http://www.tax.org.uk

If you go on to work in practice (ie in an accountancy firm) then you're likely to do either the ACA or ACCA exams. If you work in industry (ie for a company, not an accountancy firm) then I think the tendency is to go with CIMA or ACCA.

If you go with ACA (and I think ACCA, although Jim can confirm this) then the exams take just over 2 years to complete (assuming all first-time passes). As well as passing the exams, you have to get relevant work experience, which from memory covers a 3-year period. You have to have spent so many hours in audit, so many in tax etc...

When I started out in accountancy the starting salary was reasonable (some Uni friends were earning more, some less), although I was working for a relatively small firm. The money starts kicking in once you're qualified, ie 3 years down the line

So would I recommend a career in accountancy? Hmmm, tricky. What you actually do will depend on the size of the firm you go to work for (I'm assuming working in practice rather than industry for the mo). If you work for a small firm you're likely to get a good grounding in basic accountancy principles, preparing client's books from incomplete records etc. If you work for a larger firm then a large part of your 3-year training contract will be spent working in audit. Me, I hated audit... so dull Lots of checking, ticking and bashing... But larger firms tend to offer more opportunities further down the line.

After 3 years in audit, I got out at the first opportunity and moved into corporate tax. It's not for everyone but I like it (mods - any chance of a geek smiley?!!). And it's got me a 12 week overseas secondment within the next year, to somewhere in eastern Europe

Anyway, hope some of my ramblings above have helped

Cheers

Vik