Just catching up with the TV programme Silk on iPlayer. Totally hooked and got me thinking I'd like to re-train in law. Probably not realistic being in my early 40's but may check out an open uni degree in law. I think I'd enjoy the challenge of studying again, and I guess what I learn would be helpful for my bk business?
Should stop watching TV me thinks!
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Stuart
Birmingham City FC - Blues is my religion St Andrews is my church
don't know if but I mentioned in another thread that all of the chartered accountants that I know actually studied law at Uni, not accountancy!
I think that when it comes down to it accountants are in many ways closer to lawyers then bookkeepers so, thinking about it that way going to uni to study law will help you as an accountant.... But you still won't be able to cliam it as an expense (lol).
all the best,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
It's doable Stuart, even in your 40s. However, you may find you will have a harder time than your younger colleagues in finding a firm to offer you pupillage. Good luck whatever you decide to do though!
I am a law grad who spent a few months at law school (and hated it). There are a lot of similarities between Law and Accountancy. They both hold similar positions and go way back, hand in hand to the medieval periods.
In terms of useful similarities, I studied Financial Law in my final year so I already knew a lot about the 4 big trade types, especially shares. You also learn a lot about company formation and in Law School, you actually study basic accounts which covers how to do both Corp Tax & Self-Assessment. I know a few lawyers who find tax a breeze, but not many accountants who find law a breeze. It' just too big.
I think it's like 11% of ACA Accountants came from legal backgrounds. It helps when getting onto boards, etc (if you are wanted to) because many people look for board members from legal/financial backgrounds. If you have two in one, you are a board meeting machine!
My interest was Intellecual Property Law, but alas, times were hard and getting a training contract involved studying a second science course. That's why I moved into Accountancy.
Edit: I should probably add that I studied the Legal Practice Course (LPC) for Solicitors at law school. I have no idea what Barristers study in terms of course content. Oh and law school easily costs £12,000 (£6,000 per term). Not including travel etc.
-- Edited by Sunkin on Monday 18th of June 2012 10:25:51 AM
I started a business studies degree with the OU in Oct '10 and I'm also in my early 40's. Definitely not too late! Look at it this way - in 5 years we're still going to have a minimum of 20 working years left to our careers. Scary isn't it! May as well do something we feel worthwhile.
I really like the quality of the OU courses and the flexibility. All the courses are modular with credit points so you focus in or change direction as much as you want - you could literally change to any subject for an Open (Hons) degree. Just sign up one module at a time.
I decided to specialise a little and I'm now doing Business Studies with Accounting as I discovered a real liking for accountancy in the introduction module and went on to do the manual bookkeeping module which also makes me eligible for IAB membership.
I'm currently doing Financial Accounting which I'm enjoying and also getting Sage certified whilst I'm at it (independent of the OU). Any north London accountants / bookkeepers who need the help of someone enthusiastic let me know!
Good luck with your OU journey - you may have to wait until Sep / Oct but maybe not - you don't always have to do modules in sequence and some smaller modules start at different times to the core modules.
my first steps in this field were OU B680 (now replaced by S25 I believe).
It actually gives a surprisingly wide introduction and really prepared me for the lower level ACCA papers although in hindsight I think that it would probably have been more cost effective to have gone straight for ACCA as there are no financial savings going through the OU route.
That aside, as you say, excellent introduction to the field... Pretty sure that there's nothing in the AAT level III that's not covered by the OU course (and a fair chunk of the level IV as well).
Do they not give you the Sage course now as part of S25? We got I believe on the ground that Sage are always eager to get potential accountants early before they realise that Sage is just a bit of software and that there are other alternatives out there.
Look forwards to hearing regular updates of your progress on the course,
kind regards,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Thanks very much, Shaun. Yup, S25 / Certificate in Accounting is awarded for passing the module I'm doing now (B291) + Management Accounting (B292). This gives exemption to ACCA F1-F3, so at least I will have that option open to me. I think I may well go down the ACCA route although I still want to get a degree too.
As you say, this might not have been the most cost effective route, but I feel like a great opportunity has been opened up to me by starting with the OU which I'm really grateful for.
The course includes a Sage self-study cd-rom which takes 12+ hours to complete thoroughly, but not the actual certification itself - I paid for that separately (waiting for my certificate now, hopefully!).
there's a BSc in applied accountancy available from the ACCA via Oxford brookes at the end of the first nine papers (You also have to do a short thesis).
I think a BSc via other routes is probably easier than those six papers between F4 and F9 but if you're taking them anyway and you want the BSc it's there for the taking.
HTH,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Thanks again Shaun, that is certainly a useful option to have and makes a decision far easier. I had a good read of the forum this morning and picked that up from one of your earlier posts too, amongst lots of other gems! There are so many routes to go - a wealth of choices.
I think I need to see what work comes my way by the time I get to the F4 stage and see if I can get an employer willing to support someone in their 40's (just!) getting qualified.... in the meatime I'd like to get some bookkeeping work and that's another nut to crack.
Quite uncanny this! I am a qualified, albeit non-practising, Barrister re-training as an accountant! I would be interested to know what you decide to do. If you have any questions about the (second oldest?!) profession, give me a shout.
