Starting an accounting degree

[Ishould_BeWorking]

Not sure if this helps, but seeing as you're planning on going management accounting anyway, why not go the CIMA route?
Highly regarded, internationally maybe more than CA, and it won't mean taking a massive pay cut to do articles at the end of it.

Shew more than a CA, right time and right place I guess, don't know about the comparability

 

[Paragon]

Good afternoon

Thank you for all the replies!

Especially to Daniel for the long post, it is much appreciated, and certainly taken to heart.

My chosen career is turning out to not be an entire failing, but certainly not living up to what I was hoping it would be/needing it to be, so at this point, while a little conflicted, I know that I need to switch out and pivot to my accounting plan. Im looking forward to the journey, wish I had done so earlier, but such is the path we walk I suppose.

Head down and keep moving toward the goal.

 

[HavocXphere]

Highly regarded, internationally maybe more than CA

It's solid. I've done both (though never finished CIMA) and the CIMA stuff felt substantially easier so wouldn't put them on the same level.

Plus you can convert CA to UK and USA equivalents now so it'll get you further internationally imo.

Better route though if you want mostly management accounting & aren't up for 7+ years of suffering.

 

[Paragon]

Good morning everyone

I am now a few months more informed and have been reading up and continued doing research regarding my choices to make sure they are as informed as possible.

From those of you in the industry, what are your views on automation?

It would end me at this point in my life to spend the time getting the degree only to not be able to find a place to do articles due to the entry level jobs being reduced so much due to automation, plus the fact I will be competing with those that did their degrees through places like UP and WITS. I see there are about 3000 students that take part in the ITC exam each year.

Basically concerned about getting a contract due to automation and competing with those from better universities upon obtaining my CTA.

 

[Affieplaas]

There is a big difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant.

Automation will impact bookkeeping (and has been doing so for a number of years) and to a certain extent financial reporting.
Financial Management however cannot be automated.

 

[Ancalagon]

Paragon what do you do at the moment?

 

[konfab]

Just as a word of warning, my wife found it quite difficult to find a company that will accommodate you for CIMA. You need to be able to bevery picky with your choice as you are going to be stuck with them for a while.

Honestly, I would never advise anyone to go down the accounting route for the sheer amount of B.S that the whole articles system imposes on you. Three-year degree plus three years' worth of articles whilst being paid peanuts. That is the same amount of time it takes for someone to do an engineering degree and a master's degree.

 

[Paragon]

Thank you for

There is a big difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant.

Automation will impact bookkeeping (and has been doing so for a number of years) and to a certain extent financial reporting.
Financial Management however cannot be automated.

Thank you for the reply.
I'm being hyper paranoid at this point as I would hate to go down a dead end again.

Paragon what do you do at the moment?

I'm a professional musician and private teacher.

Just as a word of warning, my wife found it quite difficult to find a company that will accommodate you for CIMA. You need to be able to bevery picky with your choice as you are going to be stuck with them for a while.

Honestly, I would never advise anyone to go down the accounting route for the sheer amount of B.S that the whole articles system imposes on you. Three-year degree plus three years' worth of articles whilst being paid peanuts. That is the same amount of time it takes for someone to do an engineering degree and a master's degree.

I have ruled out CIMA at this point due to the difficulty I had finding places that do CIMA articles. They do exist, but very limited.
I do understand the articles system to a certain extent at least. Yes, it is not ideal, but in some cases you truly are working with many people's livelihoods, where a screwup could cost a lot of people there jobs, or at best, some money.

 

[konfab]

Thank you for

Thank you for the reply.
I'm being hyper paranoid at this point as I would hate to go down a dead end again.

I'm a professional musician and private teacher.

I have ruled out CIMA at this point due to the difficulty I had finding places that do CIMA articles. They do exist, but very limited.
I do understand the articles system to a certain extent at least. Yes, it is not ideal, but in some cases you truly are working with many people's livelihoods, where a screwup could cost a lot of people there jobs, or at best, some money.

I disagree with that. Especially with people who have their degree.

Even with SAPIA it is absolute nonsense.
The biggest problem is they lock you in with the learnership. You cannot easily transfer your articles to another company. So for three years your are effectively stuck in one job. When my wife was working, there were people who had been clerking for years because they simply were never given the time to finish their articles.

They could make it far more fair to trainees if they just broke it down by year. If you complete a year at a company with all the logs and everything, that belongs to you and you can move to a different company. Elsewise they can hold that year as a ransom over you and treat their employees like absolute garbage.

As it stands right now, it is completely exploitative.

 

[Ancalagon]

I'm a professional musician and private teacher.

I'll play devil's advocate and give you another career choice to think about - software engineer.

Software engineering is an extremely well paid and very secure profession. If you're good, you will never be without work.

There are no professional bodies to certify you. No CA or CIMA exams, which is a downside but also a bonus. Downside is that there is nothing quite as prestigious as being a CA, but upside in that you can go it at your own pace and not need to fit in to someone else's definition of a software engineer.

Degrees are still valuable for being a software engineer, but de-emphasised as the world is changing. You could get an entry level coding job while pursuing a UNISA degree on the side. After 4-6 years, you'll have a good amount of experience as well as a degree.

I do think that, in South Africa, being a CA generally pays better and is better regarded, especially at the top. But, that trend may change. Also, you get software engineering jobs and then you get software engineering jobs. Work for a financial company in SA as a software engineer and you will make good money - at senior levels, probably as much as a CA.

 

[Comrade Alex]

It will be very difficult and it will consume you. I believe its gotten a little "easier" to be a CA with exam formats etc. Last I saw people were allowed to take in files with their own notes into exams (no writing at all was allowed in my time in any of the standards).

I currently just completed my 3rd year of BAcc and can confirm that we are only allowed IFRS, ISA and tax legislation. We're not allowed to make any writings but highlighting and flagging is allowed. To be honest though, save for tax, I only find the standards useful when I need to provide a definition for a discussion question. For anything else it can do little to supplement your own knowledge.

• After successfully completing your degree, you will feel great as this is a major milestone - and you should savor and enjoy it, you have worked hard ! After you have taken that moment to savor and enjoy - forget about it completely ... as you are about to enter the leg of the journey that causes the majority of potential CA's to fall by the wayside. CTA (honors in accounting, the next step after your degree), is by far the most challenging and daunting experiences - if you are not properly prepared. To successfully pass CTA, you will need to pass all 5 of the major subjects in one exam sitting (I'm not sure, if this has changed now - but this was the requirement in my day). So your preparation for your final exams in Sept/Oct - starts literally on the day you pass your last module of your degree. If you systematically work through the material and make a point of dedicating a few hours everyday to working through the study material (yes, weekends included) - you will be in a great position to pass. If you are only doing the bare minimum to pass the quarterly tests, you are doing yourself a massive disservice - and the likelihood of you passing is minimal. But if you remain dedicated and diligent, you will pass - no question here. Now why I mention that this is usually a vital moment of decision making is because those who are not prepared for the end of year exams, will leave the exam sitting feeling completely violated (mentally, physically and emotionally) - believe me I have had good mates who thought they could simply walk in and pass, without putting in the work - leaving the exam feeling devastated. Many at this stage decide to quit and leave as the thought of going through the process again from the beginning is a daunting one (especially with the way the exam left them feeling in the previous attempts) - and they pivot out into other areas within the Finance space. But this will not be you, as you are focused and dedicated and will be adequately prepared. Worst case scenario, you don't pass - get back up, learn from your mistakes, do it again. I have mates who repeated CTA 3 times, 4 times, even 5 times - and they never gave up !

Thank you for this information @Daniel63, I felt quite anxious regarding next year when I'll be doing CTA (and still do a bit). But I'll take your points on consistent discipline with me.

 

[Paragon]

I disagree with that. Especially with people who have their degree.

Even with SAPIA it is absolute nonsense.
The biggest problem is they lock you in with the learnership. You cannot easily transfer your articles to another company. So for three years your are effectively stuck in one job. When my wife was working, there were people who had been clerking for years because they simply were never given the time to finish their articles.

They could make it far more fair to trainees if they just broke it down by year. If you complete a year at a company with all the logs and everything, that belongs to you and you can move to a different company. Elsewise they can hold that year as a ransom over you and treat their employees like absolute garbage.

As it stands right now, it is completely exploitative.

O I completely agree that it absolutely favours the employer. To a certain extent I do understand their position, but I certainly do feel that it skews way too much toward the employer and while not taking the employee into account enough.

Then I'm not even talking about the strangle hold SAICA has on the profession at the moment. While I do feel it helps keep standards relatively high and competitive, I think it again skews too much toward SAICA having complete control over degree and university accreditation.

I'll play devil's advocate and give you another career choice to think about - software engineer.

Software engineering is an extremely well paid and very secure profession. If you're good, you will never be without work.

There are no professional bodies to certify you. No CA or CIMA exams, which is a downside but also a bonus. Downside is that there is nothing quite as prestigious as being a CA, but upside in that you can go it at your own pace and not need to fit in to someone else's definition of a software engineer.

Degrees are still valuable for being a software engineer, but de-emphasised as the world is changing. You could get an entry level coding job while pursuing a UNISA degree on the side. After 4-6 years, you'll have a good amount of experience as well as a degree.

I do think that, in South Africa, being a CA generally pays better and is better regarded, especially at the top. But, that trend may change. Also, you get software engineering jobs and then you get software engineering jobs. Work for a financial company in SA as a software engineer and you will make good money - at senior levels, probably as much as a CA.

I certainly considered this. I have enjoyed the bit of coding I have done, and I am interested in systems analysis and data analytics.

I am a little concerned about ageism though. I'll be 40/41 when I finish my degree and am worried that might count against me, even if only subconsciously?

How id it actually in the work place? Is a developer in his 50 and 60's frowned upon? (Assuming he keeps up with trends).

I currently just completed my 3rd year of BAcc and can confirm that we are only allowed IFRS, ISA and tax legislation. We're not allowed to make any writings but highlighting and flagging is allowed. To be honest though, save for tax, I only find the standards useful when I need to provide a definition for a discussion question. For anything else it can do little to supplement your own knowledge.

Thank you for this information @Daniel63, I felt quite anxious regarding next year when I'll be doing CTA (and still do a bit). But I'll take your points on consistent discipline with me.

Good luck!!

 

[Ancalagon]

I think I'd be lying if there wasn't a bit of ageism, but then I think ageism is present in almost every career.

I think you would experience less ageism as a manager, whatever field you are in. So, the quicker you can get on to the management track, the better.

What about combining your music knowledge with programming skills? I know of a guitar teaching app, for instance.

 

[Paragon]

That's what I was thinking as well.

I suppose if I go accounting I'll at least have the CTA which would raise my worth?

With the developer/tech route I could add certs to raise my worth?

 

[Ancalagon]

That's what I was thinking as well.

I suppose if I go accounting I'll at least have the CTA which would raise my worth?

With the developer/tech route I could add certs to raise my worth?

The trouble with developer certs these days is that I don't know of many of them that really add value. I mean, you get the Microsoft Certified track, and Oracle has their own track, but from my experience, these are mostly just marketing tools.

The thing that counts the most is experience, the thing that counts the second most is a good degree from a good university. But experience will trump even that, and not everyone cares about degrees.

The best thing you can probably do is start building up a portfolio on Github. If you can do that, you're in a good spot.

 

[Paragon]

Thank you for the advice. It is greatly appreciated.

Now I just need to decide if I should go accounting of SWE

These are honestly the two fields I have been looking at, it's just a choice of deciding which one I can do till I'm seventy.

 

[Paragon]

With everyone switching to tech these days, isnt the tech field at risk of becoming over saturated?

 

[Nerhzelok]

With everyone switching to tech these days, isnt the tech field at risk of becoming over saturated?

I really doubt it.
There's so much unexplored territory. And it's difficult to find competent, passionate individuals in the tech space.

 

[Paragon]

Well guys, after a lot of thinking and planning and calculating, I've decided to do accounting. I'll be adding a few online courses such as data analytics, BI, databases and SAP.

I hope this is the right choice, and I am **** scared!

Thank you to everyone that shared their thoughts and advice. Wish me luck!

 

[butters89]

Hi all.

I have my degree, completed my articles, worked in various roles in fund administration (fund accounting before becoming a Team Leader), and finally now in Financial Accounting.

I am thinking of studying next year and came across Project Achiever by SAIPA.

Has anyone here gotten their SAIPA designation?

I see it as a low risk program as it's only 6 months and not intensive.

Perhaps after that I'd like to study CIMA, but I want to see if the study bug bites me first