IT and Accountancy?

itaccount

I've been in I.T for ten years now working in support for banking, investment bankking etc.. so have a very wide range of IT skills.

Im considering a carrer change and thought that taking an AAT qualification might be a good idea (i've already studied the foundation level when i was 18)

Can anyone offer any advice about career paths bearing in mind my IT skills? Perhaps a combination of IT and accounts ?

Rinske

Have you considered goinig for a company that develops and implements accounts software. Helpdesk, implementation or development require IT skills and accounting skills.

Marga

hi i work for an IT company as a finance analyst

I didnt have any qualifications to apply for a finance job they said so i started AAT which has helped me to understand better P&L's BS, CF etc you name it

once i pass the diploma level i will apply for Management roles within my company specially forecasting and budgeting side

itaccount

Rinske wrote: »

Have you considered goinig for a company that develops and implements accounts software. Helpdesk, implementation or development require IT skills and accounting skills.

Implementation and development sounds interesting, i'll have to research some companies..thanks

Miss_HJ

I work as an IT management Accountant, your IT skills would be a huge benefit in my job!!

Also something to bare in mind is our internal Audit team are IT qualified/experienced and then go on to this, they done want accounts only type people! they need the experience of IT staff!

You can make accountancy waht you want it, every profession needs Finance staff!! and if you are experienced in the indusrt your working in then BIG bonus.

steveJ

Marga wrote: »

hi i work for an IT company as a finance analyst

I didnt have any qualifications to apply for a finance job they said so i started AAT which has helped me to understand better P&L's BS, CF etc you name it

once i pass the diploma level i will apply for Management roles within my company specially forecasting and budgeting side

Can i just what qualifications you needed to get your role as finance analyst ?
Im working as a billing clerk at the moment, but once i pass diploma im going to apply for analyst positions...

itaccount

Miss_HJ wrote: »

I work as an IT management Accountant, your IT skills would be a huge benefit in my job!!

Also something to bare in mind is our internal Audit team are IT qualified/experienced and then go on to this, they done want accounts only type people! they need the experience of IT staff!

You can make accountancy waht you want it, every profession needs Finance staff!! and if you are experienced in the indusrt your working in then BIG bonus.

Hi Miss_HJ

What are the duties involved in your job? How would i go about it if i didnt have any Accountancy quaalifications? Im thinking about starting AAT

What sort of companies should i be approaching?

Marga

steveJ wrote: »

Can i just what qualifications you needed to get your role as finance analyst ?
Im working as a billing clerk at the moment, but once i pass diploma im going to apply for analyst positions...

hi steve


i did have a maths degree which helped get the job as a contractor ( i started just doing some crunching numbers and reporting ) but then i had to overtake a course called

Finance for non financial Managers to be able to get the permanent position after that i have had to spend time with Credit control , the existing finance analyst and the finance manager until i was confident

i asked them what did i need to carry on progressing and they said that besides the experience i was getting as an analyst if i could pass the AAT they would consider me for the job.

So i believe experience played also a good role in this

mark130273

it and accounts would go together like socks and shoes....go for it !

Miss_HJ

itaccount wrote: »

Hi Miss_HJ

What are the duties involved in your job? How would i go about it if i didnt have any Accountancy quaalifications? Im thinking about starting AAT

What sort of companies should i be approaching?

My job is to work as a team of 3, looking after an IT department of 500+ staff, broken down into sections, and within the sections they have requirements like software, hardware, capital etc.
Off the top of my head .....my job is to help them build their budgets, present this to the IT director who will then take forward to the chief ex for approval. Once all approved we then phase the money out over the months, as the manager requests, and then based on spreadsheets analyse what comes through the financial system for these codes, identify any problems, rephase the money if necessary, have regular monthly reviews with managers, revise the budget with forecasts 2ice a year, we manage the manpower for each sections as they cannot recruit above this, and general management of their cost centres.
The reason I say your knowlege would be of benefit is i am forever unaware what certain items coming through the system are, licences, capital spend etc, and by this i mean millions of £'s for 1 item in some instances!!

Like i also said our audit team are all IT staff who have gone into finance, My job was advertised as wanting someone who was studying, i had completed my 1st year of AAT, my collegue had no experience, tho a degree and said he wld take up ACCA and they accepted him, so you dont need loads of experience in Accounts, just a stern background and willingness to study and you would be fine.
If you want details of what company I work for, job descriptions etc IM me and i will be happy to help!

PGM

I work as an IT manager / Accountant. IT and accounts often go together, maybe because the finance department is often the most demanding department from an IT point of view, and it also controls the money, and obviously IT is a big expense!

I'd recommend getting some experience of major packages such as Sage, and also if you know how to write Sage reports or can do SQL queries, which is a very desirable skill for any medium to large size companies that will want to get as much information out of the accounting databases.

AatAbi

unless you used Sage all the software you used wont help but Excel and some analysis applications are very good.

in banks, they don't use Sage

itaccount

Some great advice here thank you!

PGM - I have very good Excel knowledge (also some VB) and some basic SQL so will brush up on that, thanks for the pointers.

Miss_HJ - message coming over.

return2sender

Just trawling through some threads and came across this one.

I too work as a Billing Clerk - though as I am sure you're aware (coming up to 1/4 end) it's more than just pushing bills through the books.
I have good IT skills and have worked in finance for over 6 years now and as such have just applied for a more technical role within the finance dept as a Senior Financial Systems Admin. The core skills needed are Strong analytical skills, some basic VB programming and SQL.

Maybe look at some law firms as they should all have practice management systems which are maintained by the financial systems manager who has a team underneath him.
IT skills and Accountancy training is a nice combo mate - good luck.

KW17 2LN

itaccount wrote: »

I've been in I.T for ten years now working in support for banking, investment bankking etc.. so have a very wide range of IT skills.

Interesting reading. I'm pretty much in the same position, 10yrs as an IT contractor doing my own books and working mostly on back office systems ledgers etc. Getting bored of the IT/teccy side though interested in more finance / management stuff. Currently doing AAT in my spare time, possibly with a view to greater things - ACA or CIPFA perhaps - and a move out of contracting which is a pretty unstable place to be at the moment!

Little unsure how career change / newbie accountants in their late 30s/40 are generally regarded by the industry though - particularly by the likes of PWC, EY etc. - can anyone comment?