Guidance

Lewiswoods

Hi guys,
I need some guidance on how to become chartered, I left school last year and have just passed my level 2 and my goal is to become chartered as soon as possible. Is there any way that I could become chartered by the age of 20?
Thank you in advance for any help

Nps

When you say, just left school, how old does that make you?

Basically, whichever chartered route you choose, you need 3 years experience regardless of how quickly you do the exams. Even doing the AAT/ACA fast track scheme which states 2 years experience, depends on you having already completed 1 years experience with your AAT qualification.

Lewiswoods

I've just turned 17 but as soon as I left school I got a job in practice as a trainee accounting technician so does the apprenticeship count as experience?

Nps

I believe it does. In that case if you passed all the exams within 3 years and continued to gain relevant experience, yes you could be chartered by 20. It would be tough going though as you either need to finish your AAT exams and then do your chartered exams, or start on your chartered exams now (I'd advise finishing AAT for reasons I've mentioned on other posts). Taking ACCA as an example (as I don't have experience of the others), you need to do an extra 11 exams over 2 exam sittings per year. Not impossible, but a lot of work particularly if you don't start them now and you want to be qualified by 20.

Chill out a bit, aim to be chartered by 21/22. You may even change your mind by then. Life's too short to worry about squeezing all that in by 20, a bit later won't change anything in the whole scheme of things.

Nps

Though I should add, I admire your determination and having a clear goal. Just don't pursue it at the expense of all the other things you could be enjoying at your age. I know I sound like an old woman, but you really are only young once, so don't let it pass you by. You can easily achieve a happy balance and still be fully qualified at a young age.

James Patterson

Nps1976 wrote: »

Though I should add, I admire your determination and having a clear goal. Just don't pursue it at the expense of all the other things you could be enjoying at your age. I know I sound like an old woman, but you really are only young once, so don't let it pass you by. You can easily achieve a happy balance and still be fully qualified at a young age.

Nps is spot on.

I'm almost 19 and have almost completed level 4 AAT. I came out of 6th form at 17 and took on an accounting apprenticeship, been working for 2 years now with the council.

Once i'm done with AAT, the plan is to go onto CIMA so potentially by 22 i could be done with all qualifications i want.

But don't sacrifice your social life. You can achieve a good balance with your exams and still be young, it gets tough at level 4 but is still do-able

I'm sure you will get where you want to be soon enough with determination. Feel free to message me if you want any advice.

jonmaron

I beg to differ..
I fully believe in stretching yourself and getting out of the comfort zone - your mind is a muscle, the more your train it, the bigger it gets.

some motivational quotes below;

'If you think you can or you think you cannot - you are right'
'Success in life goes to those who have the courage to dream, the ability to organise and the determination to execute'
'keep your goal vividly before you at all times, obstacles are what you see when you take you eyes off the goal'
'You will not know to what heights you can soar until you spread your wings'
'Go the extra mile - there is no traffic jam on the extra mile'

go for it!:thumbup1:

Nps

On the contrary, I don't think we disagree at all. Anyone can do anything they put their mind too and they should be constantly stretching themselves. I think it's great that the OP has a plan and determination. All I am saying is that, at 17 years old, training to be an accountant is just one part of what you should be doing at that age. At 17, you are turning into a young adult and there are other skills which will be just as needed in the world of Finance. Someone who was chartered at 20 may well not have had time to develop their social skills, so struggle to find a fulfilling role. A 17 year old who has not had chance to experience being young may go off the rails a few years down the line, or burn out at 35.

All the best to the OP, if he can combine AAT/ACCA/full time job/being a teenager, and squeeze it all into the shortest amount of time, then fair play to him, but a balance is very important. I doubt an employer will care less if he was chartered at 20 rather than 22, but they will care if he is not a rounded individual because of it.

OP, I'm not really specifically talking about you (so don't think we are dissecting your life) just any 'hypothetical' 17 year old.

Jonmaron - I assume you are aware of the sheer workload involved in completing 2 whole levels of AAT, and up to 14 ACCA/CIMA/ACA exams in less than 3 years. That is a phenomenal amount of work to try and fit in around a full time job. I do 3 ACCA exams per sitting but I doubt I will be able to continue that when I reach the professional level. And I am currently on maternity leave so not trying to fit in a full time job too. I did AAT in 6 months so can consider myself to be a quick learner/worker, but there is no way I could do all of that without sacrificing every other part of my life and making myself ill in the process. No one is trying to dissuade the OP from following his goals, but we wouldn't be doing him any favours by giving him unrealistic advice.

James Patterson

jonmaron wrote: »

I beg to differ..
I fully believe in stretching yourself and getting out of the comfort zone - your mind is a muscle, the more your train it, the bigger it gets.
go for it!:thumbup1:

Don't get me wrong, its great to have the aspiration and i'm not trying to deter in any sense! I have the same ambition.

Simply offering advice through being in the same situation as lewis.

Nice quotes :001_tt2:

blobbyh

Pushing yourself is good but if it's to the point of suffering mental exhaustion and potential breakdown, then it can be disastrous and have possible life long consequences.

You can break a mind by overworking it and unlike legs, arms or other bones, depending on the damage you cause it, it may take years to heal... and sometimes not at all.

Source: speaking from experience.

Lewiswoods

sorry for the late reply, I have been really busy, i would like to say thanks for all of your advice and i will take all of it on board. i think because I'm young and relatively energetic at the moment nothing seems to be to hard but as you've said i could hit a certain age and quite literally burn out. I think this is a goal that may need to be achieved by a balance, as I said thank you a lot for the advice