continuing ACCA or ditching to start ATT

felisleo

Hiya peeps, long time reader / first time poster so be gentle!

Sorry if this subject has been done to death...but here goes.

I am currently employed, (qualified aat) as a FM in industry, having started in practice.
Slogging thro' ACCA (nearly mid-way skills level), and struggling to complete the F papers...
getting me down

While the benefits of the ACCA qual are many and varied, I feel as though the pull of
being a self employed accounts & tax specialist is becoming too hard to ignore.

As many of u esteemed forumites know, being an acca student is a hindrance rather than a help
when considering self employment. I know the AAT-ATT pathway can be seen as a non-chartered,
but surely clients just want their work to be done professionally and accurately, without worrying unnecessarily
about letters after a name?

Just wondered if there are any amongst you, who dropped the chartered path, for non-chartered self employment
and how it is working out for you?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

David Ballantyne

Hi felisleo,

I am not and never have been in practice. However, it is a topic which I have followed on various forums over the last few years.

A couple of things I have picked up are:
If you want to have your own practice doing work beyond bookkeeping, you should only do ACCA if you are employed in an accounting practice in which you can get the necessary practice experience signed off for the purpose of ultimately being able to get an ACCA practice certificate. Make sure you have a clear understanding of ACCA regulations on this matter before deciding to proceed with the qualification.

Yes, you are correct when you say, "surely clients just want their work to be done professionally and accurately, without worrying unnecessarily about letters after a name". I have read many times on several forums that, in general, the majority of clients are not informed about the various accounting qualifications and will assume that if you are marketing yourself as an accountant then you know what you are doing.

Hope that helps,

David.