is it fun being an accountant?
- Thread starter bob shovel
- Start date
Depends what type of accounting you get into. In my opinion it's tax and auditing generally give accountants a bad name - that's where the boring stereotypes come from... Management, project, advisory and consulting are all very interesting types of accounting. One thing's for sure, you'll never be out of a job, there will always be a demand for accounting.
Accountant or tax adviser ?? They arent the same.
The heirachy is as follows:
Unqualified bookkeeper etc
Bookkeeper - Maybe with TAFE cert etc
Accountant varies between a junior role through to CFO. Commerical v's public practice and then there are specialised skill such as forensic, audit, smsf, property, tax accounting, etc
Public pratcice also has specialisations and incldues GST, indiretc taxes, income tax, company tax, etc....
To become a tax agent you need qualifications and experince which comply with Tax Practitioner Board requirements. Employment in industry generally seeks the qualfied members of CPA, CA and IPA with IPA being a distanct cousin. To become a member you need a degree qualification.
Best tip I was given in your same position was to do the Bachelor of Accounting course at Uni of SA (there are some others too but check they meet CPA / CA requirements). Its distance education and fees through Help etc and will get you membership etc. Its not hard but will get you the right qualification. Three years you can smash it...Two if you are into s&m. (I did it in 2 with three young kids and FT work) Tip : Choose a refresher course on how to do uni grade work as first elective. Open Learning doesnt have ANY prerequisites and no ATAR etc. Its geared to deliver simple learning in 13 week blocks four terms a year. With HELP you pay a small upfront fee per subject and some books. Most notes are mailed to you. You repay through tax system as you earn over the thresholds for HELP. Exams can be done in all sorts of places close to home. Online tools etc. No lectures to attend. You set your own timetable !!
Let me quote my friend who introduced same course to me - Register today you wont regret it.
The heirachy is as follows:
Unqualified bookkeeper etc
Bookkeeper - Maybe with TAFE cert etc
Accountant varies between a junior role through to CFO. Commerical v's public practice and then there are specialised skill such as forensic, audit, smsf, property, tax accounting, etc
Public pratcice also has specialisations and incldues GST, indiretc taxes, income tax, company tax, etc....
To become a tax agent you need qualifications and experince which comply with Tax Practitioner Board requirements. Employment in industry generally seeks the qualfied members of CPA, CA and IPA with IPA being a distanct cousin. To become a member you need a degree qualification.
Best tip I was given in your same position was to do the Bachelor of Accounting course at Uni of SA (there are some others too but check they meet CPA / CA requirements). Its distance education and fees through Help etc and will get you membership etc. Its not hard but will get you the right qualification. Three years you can smash it...Two if you are into s&m. (I did it in 2 with three young kids and FT work) Tip : Choose a refresher course on how to do uni grade work as first elective. Open Learning doesnt have ANY prerequisites and no ATAR etc. Its geared to deliver simple learning in 13 week blocks four terms a year. With HELP you pay a small upfront fee per subject and some books. Most notes are mailed to you. You repay through tax system as you earn over the thresholds for HELP. Exams can be done in all sorts of places close to home. Online tools etc. No lectures to attend. You set your own timetable !!
Let me quote my friend who introduced same course to me - Register today you wont regret it.
Exactly the same course as I did, run via Open Universities. Very well run, really enjoyed it.
Last edited:
I think you are asking a few different questions here Adam. Firstly, a Uni degree, cert 4 and a diploma will not make you an accountant. You need to do a CPA/CA to become an accountant, all up will take 5-10+ years depending on how quickly you get through it.
To answer your second question, I wouldn't be doing any study in accounting to help with investing or 'tax evasion'. If you're interested in investing you need to study in that field eg project management. Accounting wont help you with investing.
I've seen the uni sa one but was leaning to Tafe first, cert 4 so I can get a qaul to have the option of book keeping etc, plus I can't see myself mixing well with uni. Then going to diploma and jumping across to open universities to finish. The Tafe portion will be cheaper than uni and hopefully suit me better.
Sounds like I need to get online and sign up. If you can Emil me the assignments that would be great
If you want to work in tax also consider doing a law degree. Take 2 subjects in tax law and an additional accounting course and you qualify for the Tax agent board requirements. With 1 year experience you can get your tax agent licence. You also get to become a lawyer as well! Best of 2 careers to choose from.
I've seen the uni sa one but was leaning to Tafe first, cert 4 so I can get a qaul to have the option of book keeping etc, plus I can't see myself mixing well with uni. Then going to diploma and jumping across to open universities to finish. The Tafe portion will be cheaper than uni and hopefully suit me better.
Sounds like I need to get online and sign up. If you can Emil me the assignments that would be great
Personally a total waste of time doing TAFE unless you want to be an inhouse bookkeeper and max earnings at $70k with years of experience (which you probably will never get). Its not recognised by anyone except a desperate employer who wants a cheap solution. If I did an ad in seek for a CA / CPA qualified inhouse accountant at $70K I would be swamped....How can you compete ? You can also do a MYOB course and that will give similiar skills and be just as poorly recognised. In same time for a fraction higher spend the Uni SA Degree will give a qualification that is recognised. Paid through HELP your out of pocket wont be different until you actually earn more $$. With degree underway employers in industry will value your existing skills and maturity. You should not look at education as a cost but an investment in an future income stream.
OL isnt hard. More flexible than TAFE. Doing TAFE will give no credits (maybe one or two max) later to degree. They are very different. One arms you with basic "bookeeping" and some simple accounting. The other is management, management accounting, tax etc. One person solves probloems and makes decisions as a key maprt of management team. The other processes payments.
Go Sigma six black belt and get back into construction. The money is much better and you wouldn't be back at the bottom of the ladder.
Conveyancing and lodging tax returns, double the daily excitement!!!
When you put it that way it does sound exciting doesn't it!
An accountant paul and I both used to work for just purchased a 5.5m house at macmahons point on the water with harbour bridge and opera house views. Id say he is pretty happy being an accountant.
