Dear Future Accountant,
My journey into accounting all started at Raffingers. I went to university and got an accounting degree, then I decided to stick to accounting and landed a job at Raffingers. I came into Raffingers as a trainee and then worked my way up to manager and then partner. At school I always directed my studies to accountancy, I did a BTEC business studies course but focused on accounting and naturally always geared towards accounting modules. During my studies, I think that work placements would’ve been useful to gain experience.
Going to university made my career in accountancy quicker in a sense. You need around three years’ work experience, although it has changed a lot from when I started, I believe most degrees have around 4 papers so overall it takes around 3 years.
With that said, I don’t think a degree is vital for becoming an accountant. A lot of people come into the profession as trainees, mainly from A levels. We’ve had people working in admin roles and then switching into accountancy, so no one is limited. Before entering the profession be aware of how hard you must work and how hard it is to maintain a healthy work/life balance because it takes focus to study for the exams and work at the same time.
In accountancy, not everything is about your education. Skills like, being methodological, patient, understanding figures, literacy, and being a team player are useful in becoming a successful accountant.
My top piece of advice is to be prepared.
Good luck!
Adam Moody,
Partner
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