This won’t work - physically! AS’s polls can only accept one vote per member, so people can’t vote for two.
Rather than this poll, why not decide what area you would like to work in &/or what subjects interest you the most (probably similar answers for both). This should help you decide.
This won’t work - physically! AS’s polls can only accept one vote per member, so people can’t vote for two.
Rather than this poll, why not decide what area you would like to work in &/or what subjects interest you the most (probably similar answers for both). This should help you decide.
MS - thanks for letting me know. I didn’t know if there was a limit per member.
Well, I don’t want to work in audit BUT it looks like the easiest, by far. From my experience so far, only a minority of what is studied really affects me at work, namely F3, F7 (a little) and F8 (although I’ve forgotten most of the exam material), so I am really just looking for the least difficult two. For example, much of what I learnt in F6 has changed now, which will go for P6 too, so I’m really just looking for the easiest ones to pass. I want to go into industry asap, but doing P3, P4 and P5 won’t help me initially as I will be in a more entry level position, having worked in practice for 2.5 years. By the time I actually get round to using any of the exam stuff (2-3 years, myabe more) I’ll have forgotten most of it.
I took P6 and P7 and didn’t have a massive problem with either. For me I had to put quite a bit work into P6 to get my head round some of it but once I’d done that it was fine.
I thought P7 was relatively easy for a ‘P’ paper. I put a lot less work into P7 than I did any other ‘P’ paper. I had very little audit experience as well.
I took P6 and P7 and didn’t have a massive problem with either. For me I had to put quite a bit work into P6 to get my head round some of it but once I’d done that it was fine.
I thought P7 was relatively easy for a ‘P’ paper. I put a lot less work into P7 than I did any other ‘P’ paper. I had very little audit experience as well.
I’m thinking along the same lines. There are so many common sense marks available in audit, compared to very few in adv fin man.
Hmm, frustrating though as I want to go into industry asap and doing the audit paper just won’t look too good in my opinion. “Why did you do the audit paper if you wanted to move out of practice?” “Er, it was easier” lol.
I work in industry and am doing audit. You can relate it from the point of view of focusing on the presence and effectiveness of internal controls in your organisation. If you learn what audit standards are looking for to ensure the financial statements show a true and fair view then it helps you ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place.
F9 was clearly an industry related subject however huge amounts of it didn’t relate unless you were working in a senior position in a large plc, in my opinion.
I work in industry and am doing audit. You can relate it from the point of view of focusing on the presence and effectiveness of internal controls in your organisation. If you learn what audit standards are looking for to ensure the financial statements show a true and fair view then it helps you ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place.
I can see your point, however you have the advantage of already being in industry. I am in practice and want to move between the two, and feel that taking the adv audit would send out the wrong message to industry employers.
Graemer - March 05 2010 03:24 AM
F9 was clearly an industry related subject however huge amounts of it didn’t relate unless you were working in a senior position in a large plc, in my opinion.
Completely agree, I imagine that Advanced F9 would only apply to even more senior/experienced people. I mean, who is really going to sit down and use the black-scholes model during the course of a normal working day? However, I guess that applies to most exams; anyone ever used ‘Mendelow’s matrix’ (P1) or Porter’s 5 forces (P3) at work? THought not!
It depends on your job Mdam. If you go into the strategic planning and advisory section of large multinational firms, use of SWOT, PESTEL analysis etc is your daily routine. Once you pursue your interest, you will most certainly be applying it at a later stage. Same goes for the jobs regarding finance; what ever you study will come in to application if you work at the stock exchange etc. My advice shall be that you do what you found the most interesting at the F level stage. What is easy for some can be very difficult for others.
It depends on your job Mdam. If you go into the strategic planning and advisory section of large multinational firms, use of SWOT, PESTEL analysis etc is your daily routine. Once you pursue your interest, you will most certainly be applying it at a later stage. Same goes for the jobs regarding finance; what ever you study will come in to application if you work at the stock exchange etc. My advice shall be that you do what you found the most interesting at the F level stage. What is easy for some can be very difficult for others.
I guess you’re right. I’m probably just negative due to the nature of my role.
Hmm, 6 replies, none for P4 or P5!!
Do you think that doing audit and tax may pigeon hole me? Considering I work in practice and all. I’m trying to get out, but tis not all that easy. However, do I want to go into industry and do payroll, vat returns, journals, accs/prepays etc etc. All the rubbish I do for clients, but for a company. Hmm.
How does one get valuable experience to transfer to a vaguely different/interesting job? I’m wasting my life at the moment. I’d probably be stypid not to finish it now, right? 4 exams left etc
You have come through a long way, it really will not be a good decision if you back out now. These ups and downs keep on coming in life, you just got to prepare yourself to face them. Backing out is not the right option, somethings are meant to be faced.
Well, if you ask me, i doubt that taking P6 P7 will limit your scope. You have studied F9 which gave u a base of finance. If you want to pursue a career in finance after appearing for P6 P7, you can always study any finance related qualification which gives you an edge and get a finance trainee job as a start. Studying P4 doesn’t mean that you will start off as a finance manager or something. Same goes for the rest of the papers. For me ACCA will not be the end, it is just a base and i am going to decide my field according to my interest after this. If i want tax, i can go for CloT, if i want finance i can go for CFA and if my ultimate interest is audit then ICAEW would be a good option. So for now, go for what interests you.
And what makes you say you are wasting your life? You have cleared more than half of your ACCA papers, you already have a job and you have a life ahead to make it better. Wasting is when you don’t have anything on your hands and can’t even picture your future. You know that you want to finish off ACCA and want to move into what interests you the most out of these four optionals
You have come through a long way, it really will not be a good decision if you back out now. These ups and downs keep on coming in life, you just got to prepare yourself to face them. Backing out is not the right option, somethings are meant to be faced.
Well, if you ask me, i doubt that taking P6 P7 will limit your scope. You have studied F9 which gave u a base of finance. If you want to pursue a career in finance after appearing for P6 P7, you can always study any finance related qualification which gives you an edge and get a finance trainee job as a start. Studying P4 doesn’t mean that you will start off as a finance manager or something. Same goes for the rest of the papers. For me ACCA will not be the end, it is just a base and i am going to decide my field according to my interest after this. If i want tax, i can go for CloT, if i want finance i can go for CFA and if my ultimate interest is audit then ICAEW would be a good option. So for now, go for what interests you.
And what makes you say you are wasting your life? You have cleared more than half of your ACCA papers, you already have a job and you have a life ahead to make it better. Wasting is when you don’t have anything on your hands and can’t even picture your future. You know that you want to finish off ACCA and want to move into what interests you the most out of these four optionals
Thanks, I see the logic in your points.
The thing is, I don’t want to be a trainee for the rest of my life! I am 26 now, and the earliest I can finish acca is next Feb, when I am 27.5. The chances are that I’ll fail some, if not all, of the final 4 papers so it could be 2 years. I can’t spend another 2 years in my practice trainee role, my motivation has gone and I’m now spending hours, even days, longer than I should be on jobs. I just want to get out of there every day. It’s really not good!
I don’t think I’ll be doing any more studying afterwards, I’d have had enough by then, particularly not finance/accounting, it’s just not interesting enough.
Re the wasting my life comment, I just wish for 4.30 every day, and desperately look towards Friday because I hate what I do so much. I’ve been in practice for 2.5 years and I can’t hack another 2 doing the same old rubbish. This is partly why I’d rather do p7 than p4, simply because I think it’ll be easier to pass. I will put a bit more effort into the next sitting, simply because there is an end in sight. In December I still had 7 to go and was ready to quit if I failed 2 or 3, as it happened I passed (50, 50, 55) so I was within a whisker of going through with the plan to quit. Also, if I can only get 55 in law at the 3rd attempt, what chance do I have of passing p2?!!
I also feel like I’m struggling with my work and the exam passes have papered up the cracks.
It will be madness to take 4 P exams when you found their basics kind of tough already. You passed F7, F8, F9 in first attempts? F4 is no where near related to P2, so don’t put them together and judge your potential. Just think it this way; law is something that doesn’t click with you. It is normal for people to find at least one subject that doesn’t just click. I know a fellow who appeared for F8 seven times and still completed ACCA. That is called motivation to achieve something, he just didn’t give up. As for your trainee job thing, a large number of the ACCA students do that for three years; to complete their PER. You are doing nothing different than others you know. The day you are an ACCA, things will start to change and you will most certainly progress in your career. Once you have achieved a higher level of expertise, you will have the option to transfer into firms in areas you actually want to be. There are many ACCA’s serving the roles of CFOs etc. P4 is not the line which separates you from finance. It is just something which will give you an edge.
Pursue your interest. The fact that you hate being in your current job is because you don’t have an interest in it. I read on the forums that you felt audit just clicked with you. You have 2.5yrs of experience on your hands, it is lot better than those who try to get into firms without any. With your ACCA just four exams away, try to get in to Audit firms; either you can start applying now or when you are done with ACCA. Within a year you would have progressed from an audit junior to a senior Just pursue your interest if you want to succeed, that is my belief.
It will be madness to take 4 P exams when you found their basics kind of tough already. You passed F7, F8, F9 in first attempts? F4 is no where near related to P2, so don’t put them together and judge your potential.
I definitely haven’t considered doing 4, I even think 2 will be a stretch with my current level of motivation.
F7 and F8 at first attempt, f9 at the second.
Sorry, I think you misunderstood me re F4 and P2. I wasn’t comparing them, just saying that if it takes 3 attempts to pass a relatively easy paper (f4) then what chance to have with a near impossible one!!
aaisha - March 07 2010 01:49 PM
I know a fellow who appeared for F8 seven times and still completed ACCA. That is called motivation to achieve something, he just didn’t give up. As for your trainee job thing, a large number of the ACCA students do that for three years; to complete their PER. You are doing nothing different than others you know.
Crikey, he was motivated, or a glutton for punishment. Admire his perseverance though.
aaisha - March 07 2010 01:49 PM
Pursue your interest. The fact that you hate being in your current job is because you don’t have an interest in it.
That’s the trouble, in 2.5 years I’ve done accounts prep, tax returns, a bit of management accs and some audit. The only vaguely interesting (in the loosest sense of the word) bit was management accs but even that was only analysis work.
aaisha - March 07 2010 01:49 PM
I read on the forums that you felt audit just clicked with you.
I think I meant that the exam was easier than, say, f9 but that’s largely to do with the fact that a lot of it is common sense. I’d wager that most people would agree with this.
aaisha - March 07 2010 01:49 PM
You have 2.5yrs of experience on your hands, it is lot better than those who try to get into firms without any. With your ACCA just four exams away, try to get in to Audit firms; either you can start applying now or when you are done with ACCA. Within a year you would have progressed from an audit junior to a senior Just pursue your interest if you want to succeed, that is my belief.
Oh god no! I had an offer from a large firm to be an audit semi senior but rejected it because I felt it wasn’t what I wanted. Probably a bad move as I’d have been on 2-2.5k more in that role, and in a bigger office in a better firm. Hmm. Hindsight.
You are one interesting person. Why did you step into ACCA when audit, tax and management was not of your interest?
Me thinks not.
Hmm, I don’t really know. I was 23, just finished a Business degree, thought I wanted the whole ‘respect of a profession’ thing, thought I’d earn decent money, liked the prospect of study leave, thought that it would make me more employable in areas other than number crunching and, the old favourite, something to fall back on.
I think I’m just a working class boy who shouldn’t have gone to uni and got silly grandiose ideas in my head. If I’d trained to be an electrician I’d have none of my current debt and would be on about 3-5k more, with the option of going self employed.
Hurrah for dumbing down of education and careers advisors.
Lol. You should have inquired nah. That stepping into ACCA will lead you to audit, tax and stuff like that. Did you ever try reading sciences? They might have been your thing.
