Question:
hi, at present i am a revenue officer with the Inland revenue. I woud like to take an open university course in accountancy. This apparently gives me enough qualifications to go on to become an accountant. has anyone heard if this is true or tried it themselves ? also how easy is it to get a job in accountancy and is the money any good ? at the moment im a single parent on £18,700 and struggling. i live in south wales. thanks
Answers:
It is a common misconception that people that work for HMRC are equipt to work in Accountancy. Tax is only one element of accountancy and there has been no requirement for Revenue (ex IR) staff to take a basic bookkeeping course for a long time! The vast majority of people who work for HMRC are adminstrators who do not work in compliance and even within compliance then only around 10-15% of those are trained to a standard in which they could 'survive' in the world of accountancy (these are CPT qualified staff and those NFTs who did their training in the 70/80's).
You are not going to earn as much money and have the flexibility of the civil service in the private sector. Speak to colleagues with experience of working 'outside' or those that have been there a number of years and they will be able to give you advice.
P/s When you respond to queries on here you should not identify yourself as a 'HMRC officer' - people may take what you say as being correct (even though it may not be) and whilst you cannot be identified through this it is not fair on the person you are providing advice to who may claim to the Revenue that they have been advised to follow a particular course of action by a HMRC Officer.
Your previous experience would make it likely you would be in demand as an accountant.
Gamekeeper turned poacher...
I find it hard to believe that a single accounting course gives you enough qualifications to become an accountant. Accountants study much more accounting that.
my sister did AAT and then is doing CIMA, it takes a few years to train doing those courses and if you get a work placement like she had then it will pay for a course and allow hands on experience of accountancy.
"Good Luck" whatever you decide.
Hi, Working within the Inland Revenue you will already have a basic understanding of the concepts that you will learn about within Accountancy. My big advice to anyone studying is that if you are going to study a qualification, study something that is globally recognised. The ACCA is a recognised global Accountancy qualification and you also would get exposure if you moved into an Accountancy role to the practical experience you need, whether in Industry or practice. There are many agencies that can help you locate work, interim or permanent, e.g. Michael Page, Robert Half, FSS, Hays Accountancy Personnel. They recruit for Accountants at all stages. It is relatively easy to get into a career within Accountancy and very rewarding as you move up the scale. Hope this helps.
The OU course will only give you a grounding in what is a very long journey.
You might make it as a bookkeeper after a one year course, but that's about all.
Most accountancy training lasts five years (minimum).
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