Accounting

[Azid Rush]

Hey guys

due to the "economic downfall" which seems to be getting the blame for everything, and within reason lol my work industry has become very quiet and unreliable. My girlfriend has recently started an "oten" course part time while she works full time. I hadnt really heard about oten before but it sounds interesting to me as I dont want to go to tafe but this way I can study from home when I can and still work.

So heres the question lol I figure I might do a course while im not working every single day, and out of the courses accounting has appealed to me. I did a book-keeping course during my cert 4 course few years ago and did really well in it, but accounting is more difficult id imagine.

Is an accounting career, or even passing the course, within reach for someone that isnt an excellent grade a math student? I was always ok at math but no genius, probly b grade student, is it possible to still become an accountant?

Cheers for any help cause like I said, I did well at book-keeping but that's a lot different and Ive heard mixed reports about myob and computers doing a lot of the accounting work and just needing basic math to work things out etc

cheers guys

[tab]

Is that through a TAFE college?

It'll certainly give you some skills but to be a 'proper accountant' you'll need to do a business degree through a uni and then further post-grad quals. to become a CPA/CA if you wish to run your own public practice etc...in a nutshell

But if all you want is to get in to book-keeping then it'll certainly do the trick.

[ronburgundy]

Judging my some of my (past and present) colleagues, you don't need to be a Grade A ANYTHING to become an accountant!

But seriously... we've let go some people lately as everyone has, but in the bigger scheme of things there is a shortage of quality labour in accounting. Certainly once things 'bounce back', whenever you believe that will be, that status will be reinstated one would think. And yes, there's decent money to be made, even just as an employee like me (partner one day, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves!)

As tab said you'll need a degree, which is minimum 3 years, and then if you ever hope to become a management type or partner you'll need at a bare minimum to be CA/CPA which is another 2 years post-grad (on top of full-time work, you're looking at 15 hours a week of self-study).

At least if you have a background in book-keeping then you're on the right track. To answer your question you really don't need to be good at numbers at all; most of that stuff is done by a computer. So little of what I do revolves directly around numbers, as I'm a tax advisor. One needs to be able to read and appropriately interpret legislation more importantly than actually having a computer in your head.

Hope that helps!

[Azid Rush]

oh ok guys yeh the diploma course I was thinking of doing is a part of tafe except at home.

What about just to do tax returns etc at places like H&R Block and such, do I need to go to uni or will the course do?

heres the course http://www.oten.edu.au/oten/core/showpage....p;cofferid=8068

it says "On completion of this qualification, you will have gained the skills and knowledge to work as an accountant", so what sort of accountant would it be talking about if u have to go to uni to be a CA/CPA? (not sure what CA/CPA is though lol)

[JJJ]

CA = Chartered Accountant

CPA = Certified Practicing Accountant

Both are professional accounting bodies that are internationally recognized. Generally to be a management or financial accountant, auditor or specialist tax accountant (and also financial analyst) you would be required to be degree qualified with the preference given to a CA/CPA.

I myself started out as a tax accountant/auditor and now work as a financial accountant for an international mining company. I am currently progressing through my CPA after taking a couple of years break from study after uni.

[ZAP]

Becoming a Accountant really requires 4 years at Uni.

[aniken]

I think it also depends on what level you want to get to. All the responses so far are more directed at someone who wants to be towards the top of the food chain, rather than someone starting at the bottom. If you were just happy to work in the shared services type environment, and/or doing a bit more hack work, the course you are looking at will probably be good enough to get you in the door at many places. I also have a friend who works as an accountant, and she didn't go to uni. Works her own hours, and gets plenty of work.

Things are pretty tough at the moment. We recently advertised for a relatively senior accounting role, and got 193 responses. One year ago, we'd have been lucky to get 9.

[ronburgundy]

Bottom line is you need a degree. I can't see someone having a long career in the profession without one.

Sure you might get some entry level positions but you won't be able to hold them long-term

If you want to be 'just' an accountant so to speak you can still make some half-decent coin, all things considered

[ZAP]

We had the same result as Aniken.

Our bookeeper resigned so we advertised and got over 100 applications to a part time job.

When we hired the current bookeeper 3 years ago we struggled with only 5 applications.

We now have a degree qualified accountant with 10 years experience earning $25 per hour on a 2 hr week.

While the grass may look greener in other industries, it is not always the case. Every industry will be noticing a downturn (except liquidators) so the trick is to find a Niche in your chosen field and work hard.

Changing careers in this current climate may end up being a bad mistake.

[tab]

You should try advertising for wait-staff....enough to crash the friggin mail server

Totally agree on the career change thing, but it never hurts to do a bit more study when you can. By the time the course/degree is finished all should be well again. Hopefully.