CIMA Qualified - What now??? Want to start looking elsewhere
Discussion
but i'm worried about the fact that the longest role i have been in is around 2.5 years. Partly due to me relocating a few times and trying to broaden my experience when training...
I am 30 years of age, all blue chip experience and have worked up and down the UK in various roles.
In my current role, i manage a team of 8 and feel undervalued and underpaid IMHO.
I have been told to consider looking elsewhere by mates who have been in the same situation as me post qualification.
For accountants out there. Are there many roles that do not incorporate month end? I have been doing month end since 23 years of age and i am sick of it!
On another note, how easy is it to branch out into "non-financial" roles such as in operations or project management etc???
Basically i want better experience and a more rewarding job above all..
Many Thanks
I am 30 years of age, all blue chip experience and have worked up and down the UK in various roles.
In my current role, i manage a team of 8 and feel undervalued and underpaid IMHO.
I have been told to consider looking elsewhere by mates who have been in the same situation as me post qualification.
For accountants out there. Are there many roles that do not incorporate month end? I have been doing month end since 23 years of age and i am sick of it!
On another note, how easy is it to branch out into "non-financial" roles such as in operations or project management etc???
Basically i want better experience and a more rewarding job above all..
Many Thanks
I'm CIMA qualified and work in Construction Project Managment overseas, not easy to get into, although I think CIMA is a great base for commercial and contract managment. PM me if you want and I'll tell you what I did not on an open forem, and it will be next week as I am racing weekend and away.
Berw said:
I'm CIMA qualified and work in Construction Project Managment overseas, not easy to get into, although I think CIMA is a great base for commercial and contract managment. PM me if you want and I'll tell you what I did not on an open forem, and it will be next week as I am racing weekend and away.
PM'd mateTyson1980 said:
but i'm worried about the fact that the longest role i have been in is around 2.5 years. Partly due to me relocating a few times and trying to broaden my experience when training...
I am 30 years of age, all blue chip experience and have worked up and down the UK in various roles.
In my current role, i manage a team of 8 and feel undervalued and underpaid IMHO.
I have been told to consider looking elsewhere by mates who have been in the same situation as me post qualification.
For accountants out there. Are there many roles that do not incorporate month end? I have been doing month end since 23 years of age and i am sick of it!
On another note, how easy is it to branch out into "non-financial" roles such as in operations or project management etc???
Basically i want better experience and a more rewarding job above all..
Many Thanks
lol.... Guess what I am 30 too, just qualified as a ACMA. I hate the month end stuff! It is doing my head in and would love to move into another type of job. I am 30 years of age, all blue chip experience and have worked up and down the UK in various roles.
In my current role, i manage a team of 8 and feel undervalued and underpaid IMHO.
I have been told to consider looking elsewhere by mates who have been in the same situation as me post qualification.
For accountants out there. Are there many roles that do not incorporate month end? I have been doing month end since 23 years of age and i am sick of it!
On another note, how easy is it to branch out into "non-financial" roles such as in operations or project management etc???
Basically i want better experience and a more rewarding job above all..
Many Thanks
I also have worked for a string of blue chips and the longest job I have had is for 2.5 years! the rest were 2 years and 1.75 years etc etc. Most were contract roles as I was younger and wanted to experience different roles.
I really need change.
Today was my last day in my current job. I worked like a donkey and did silly hours.... My son was in hospital with phenomia for 5 days and needed after hospital care and I only took off 2.5 days due to the work load on. So glad I am out of that company.
I want a job which is non-financial based ideally, i.e no month end stuff!
Lostprophet said:
lol.... Guess what I am 30 too, just qualified as a ACMA. I hate the month end stuff! It is doing my head in and would love to move into another type of job.
I also have worked for a string of blue chips and the longest job I have had is for 2.5 years! the rest were 2 years and 1.75 years etc etc. Most were contract roles as I was younger and wanted to experience different roles.
I really need change.
Today was my last day in my current job. I worked like a donkey and did silly hours.... My son was in hospital with phenomia for 5 days and needed after hospital care and I only took off 2.5 days due to the work load on. So glad I am out of that company.
I want a job which is non-financial based ideally, i.e no month end stuff!
Hi mate.I also have worked for a string of blue chips and the longest job I have had is for 2.5 years! the rest were 2 years and 1.75 years etc etc. Most were contract roles as I was younger and wanted to experience different roles.
I really need change.
Today was my last day in my current job. I worked like a donkey and did silly hours.... My son was in hospital with phenomia for 5 days and needed after hospital care and I only took off 2.5 days due to the work load on. So glad I am out of that company.
I want a job which is non-financial based ideally, i.e no month end stuff!
Did you leave your last job with another job in hand???
Well i'm doing the rounds with the agencies tomorrow. Hopefully they should come up with summat decent!
I agree on the month end aspect. I've had a broken finger not heal correctly and have been unable to even get time for a hospital appointment due to work commitments!
Tyson1980 said:
Hi mate.
Did you leave your last job with another job in hand???
Well i'm doing the rounds with the agencies tomorrow. Hopefully they should come up with summat decent!
I agree on the month end aspect. I've had a broken finger not heal correctly and have been unable to even get time for a hospital appointment due to work commitments!
My line manager was annoyed I took time off to attend to my son in hospital. I then raised issues with the lack of training a few days ago. It now works out they ave decided to terminate my contract due to 'lack of performance' Did you leave your last job with another job in hand???
Well i'm doing the rounds with the agencies tomorrow. Hopefully they should come up with summat decent!
I agree on the month end aspect. I've had a broken finger not heal correctly and have been unable to even get time for a hospital appointment due to work commitments!
I am glad in a way as I was doing such long hours!
Its poor what they did with you.. you should have seen a doc about your finger!
NickHKent said:
When did you qualify?
The CIMA will help you get involved with business management which is a lot more exciting than purely crunching numbers. A large percentage of CEO's come from this route.
Hi,The CIMA will help you get involved with business management which is a lot more exciting than purely crunching numbers. A large percentage of CEO's come from this route.
I qualified this year. So not all that long really..
Currently looking at getting into a much more commercial role. I turned down an opportunity to be a Finance Directors "number 2". I am currently doing that atm....
I most definitely want to move away from "transactional" accounting and month end procedures...
Tyson1980 said:
Hi,
I qualified this year. So not all that long really..
Currently looking at getting into a much more commercial role. I turned down an opportunity to be a Finance Directors "number 2". I am currently doing that atm....
I most definitely want to move away from "transactional" accounting and month end procedures...
Bumping up from the depths! OP, if you're still about, what did you end up doing? I qualified this year. So not all that long really..
Currently looking at getting into a much more commercial role. I turned down an opportunity to be a Finance Directors "number 2". I am currently doing that atm....
I most definitely want to move away from "transactional" accounting and month end procedures...
ACMA here and haven't done finance for years. I find it boring, especially if you're on the reporting cycle treadmill.
I work as a BA specialising in data roles, usually helping finance teams with systems/BI.
Being qualified certainly gives you a USP compared to other BAs, particularly when the end customer is the finance team.
I work as a BA specialising in data roles, usually helping finance teams with systems/BI.
Being qualified certainly gives you a USP compared to other BAs, particularly when the end customer is the finance team.
I am a similar age to the OP and in a similar dilemma. I am ACCA qualified and have been working in practice for 12 years. I am thinking of moving into industry. I carry out a management accounting role at a client 1 day a week which i really enjoy. I have really struggled to get interviews in the past though due to lack of experience in industry. Has anybody made this switch, if so, how did you find it?
I am currently working for a practice in the North West which employs around 60 people - around 12 of which are partners. They have a tendency to recruit within for partner roles but this has not happened for around 15 years. I have found that the only people who make serious money in practice are the partners. To get to this stage may take years of hard work and simply waiting for a role to appear. I am prepared for the hard work but not the waiting. I also think that a few years in industry will fair me well if i decide to go back into practice in the future.
Unlike yourself, i quite enjoy the month end routine at my clients but i'm not sure if its because it is something different to my day to day role in the office!
I have an interview coming up for a management accountant role with the NHS which is something totally different for me. Though the couple of people i know who have worked as accountants in the NHS left with stress!
I am currently working for a practice in the North West which employs around 60 people - around 12 of which are partners. They have a tendency to recruit within for partner roles but this has not happened for around 15 years. I have found that the only people who make serious money in practice are the partners. To get to this stage may take years of hard work and simply waiting for a role to appear. I am prepared for the hard work but not the waiting. I also think that a few years in industry will fair me well if i decide to go back into practice in the future.
Unlike yourself, i quite enjoy the month end routine at my clients but i'm not sure if its because it is something different to my day to day role in the office!
I have an interview coming up for a management accountant role with the NHS which is something totally different for me. Though the couple of people i know who have worked as accountants in the NHS left with stress!
DaveyA said:
I have an interview coming up for a management accountant role with the NHS which is something totally different for me. Though the couple of people i know who have worked as accountants in the NHS left with stress!
Hi Davey - I did a big chunk of my ACCA training within the NHS. The good thing is you can get exposure to all the key areas of finance as part of a structured training program (Mgmt accounting, financial accounting, treasury management, creditor payments, capital accounting, internal audit), and IME the salaries are usually better than somebody in Practice. However the mgmt accting aspect is incredibly boring and there is very little responsibility. It really is a spreadsheet grind. CIMA here, qualified about 10 years ago, QBE prior to that.
Never worked in practice, always industry.
My accounting cycle roles were prior to qualifying, since I've done commercial / strategy stuff which is far more interesting. I'm not a detail person so suits me fine as I can't be bothered to find the missing 2p to make the books balance, I'd have fudged it ages before
Look to be the business partner for operations as the interface between (pure)finance and the business, that way you get hands on knowledge without the boring finance drudgery.
Commercial finance (where I am now) means contract writing and negotiations,KPIs, business planning and long term vision and strategic stuff. I also do bid management and horizon scanning for new opportunities and project manage these to implementation with the operational teams. Don't do this all on my own as I have a team supporting me, which also ticks the line management / people development stuff boxes.
On the flipside I'm also Deputy CFO and spend about a third of my time dealing with business planning and reporting for that, but as my boss knows my strengths and weaknesses (and likes!) he keeps me away from month end reporting
p.s - where in the NHS? FT, CCG, CSU or somewhere else?
Never worked in practice, always industry.
My accounting cycle roles were prior to qualifying, since I've done commercial / strategy stuff which is far more interesting. I'm not a detail person so suits me fine as I can't be bothered to find the missing 2p to make the books balance, I'd have fudged it ages before
Look to be the business partner for operations as the interface between (pure)finance and the business, that way you get hands on knowledge without the boring finance drudgery.
Commercial finance (where I am now) means contract writing and negotiations,KPIs, business planning and long term vision and strategic stuff. I also do bid management and horizon scanning for new opportunities and project manage these to implementation with the operational teams. Don't do this all on my own as I have a team supporting me, which also ticks the line management / people development stuff boxes.
On the flipside I'm also Deputy CFO and spend about a third of my time dealing with business planning and reporting for that, but as my boss knows my strengths and weaknesses (and likes!) he keeps me away from month end reporting
p.s - where in the NHS? FT, CCG, CSU or somewhere else?
Edited by Baron Von Alders on Sunday 9th February 15:26
I'm ACMA too, and have always worked in industry. Currently I do very little accounting, one journal per month on accruals stuff. Everything else done centrally.
I am a proper business partner, most of last week was 5 year strategy related as we had a quarterly strategy review.
Happiest I've been in a long time.
I am a proper business partner, most of last week was 5 year strategy related as we had a quarterly strategy review.
Happiest I've been in a long time.
Baron Von Alders said:
CIMA here, qualified about 10 years ago, QBE prior to that.
Never worked in practice, always industry.
My accounting cycle roles were prior to qualifying, since I've done commercial / strategy stuff which is far more interesting. I'm not a detail person so suits me fine as I can't be bothered to find the missing 2p to make the books balance, I'd have fudged it ages before
Look to be the business partner for operations as the interface between (pure)finance and the business, that way you get hands on knowledge without the boring finance drudgery.
Commercial finance (where I am now) means contract writing and negotiations,KPIs, business planning and long term vision and strategic stuff. I also do bid management and horizon scanning for new opportunities and project manage these to implementation with the operational teams. Don't do this all on my own as I have a team supporting me, which also ticks the line management / people development stuff boxes.
On the flipside I'm also Deputy CFO and spend about a third of my time dealing with business planning and reporting for that, but as my boss knows my strengths and weaknesses (and likes!) he keeps me away from month end reporting
p.s - where in the NHS? FT, CCG, CSU or somewhere else?
Seems like I really need to get out of practice!Never worked in practice, always industry.
My accounting cycle roles were prior to qualifying, since I've done commercial / strategy stuff which is far more interesting. I'm not a detail person so suits me fine as I can't be bothered to find the missing 2p to make the books balance, I'd have fudged it ages before
Look to be the business partner for operations as the interface between (pure)finance and the business, that way you get hands on knowledge without the boring finance drudgery.
Commercial finance (where I am now) means contract writing and negotiations,KPIs, business planning and long term vision and strategic stuff. I also do bid management and horizon scanning for new opportunities and project manage these to implementation with the operational teams. Don't do this all on my own as I have a team supporting me, which also ticks the line management / people development stuff boxes.
On the flipside I'm also Deputy CFO and spend about a third of my time dealing with business planning and reporting for that, but as my boss knows my strengths and weaknesses (and likes!) he keeps me away from month end reporting
p.s - where in the NHS? FT, CCG, CSU or somewhere else?
Edited by Baron Von Alders on Sunday 9th February 15:26
The interview is for a CCG.
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