| Product: |
My Experiences and Advice |
| Date: |
15.03.03 (775 review reads) |
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Advantages: Challenging, Rewarding
Disadvantages: Hard work!
Some of you know that I recently completed my qualification as a Chartered Public Finance Accountant. I know from bitter experience that to qualify in this profession is hard blooming work, but I also know that it can be an extremely challenging and rewarding career.
*** So what led you on that path then delawney? ***
I studied philosophy at university - I choice which, to quote Bruce Lee (I believe) qualifies you to "think very deep thoughts about being unemployed". I studied philosophy purely because it interested me - I had absolutely no idea what I actually wanted to do for a career.
So I left uni and had a couple of extremely depressing temporary jobs involving such exciting things as filing things in numerical order. Oh, how challenged I felt! (Not). Whilst engaged in these entirely uninspiring and depressing jobs, I constantly scoured the recruitment sections in search of something ultimately more rewarding. At the risk of sounding somewhat sickly and cliched, all I knew was that I wanted to work doing something ultimately more rewarding than lining fat cats pockets.
About a year or so after graduating, I found myself working for a Housing Association. During my early years there I spent lots of time working with the then Finance Manager, who shared my somewhat sad affection for the construction of complex spreadsheets. This set me on my course of beginning my Chartered Public Finance Accountant qualification.
I had always had an aptitude for numbers, but it had never occurred to me that you could actually have an accountant working for the public good - a bit daft really when you consider that even charitable and campaigning organisations need someone to look after the numbers.
*** So what is a Chartered Public Finance Accountant? ***
When most people think of accountants, they think of someone filling in your tax return, or maybe auditing your companies accounts. Char
tered Public Finance Accountants are conversent in the same basic principles of accounting, but their skills are geared much more to the Public Sector. They tend to be specialists in a particular area, for example local government, central government, the NHS or in my case Housing Associations (or Registered Social Landlords, as they are more commonly termed these days).
*** How do you become a Chartered Public Finance Accountant? ***
To become a fully qualified Chartered Public Finance Accountant you must study the professional CPFA qualification provided by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). A word of warning - this is no easy qualification. If you have no previous accounting qualifications it will take you a minimum of three years and three months to complete the course, and it is no easy task. Having experienced both university and the CIPFA course I can say with no sense of exaggeration that the CIPFA course was considerably harder and involved more work than my university degree, and I had to cope with a full time job at the same time.
*** So, tell us about the course then ***
There are four stages to the CIPFA professional qualification:
1. Foundation
If you have no previous accounting qualifications, the first stage you must undertake is the Foundation course, whcih takes approximately three months. This covers 3 areas:
* Financial Accounting
Including the nature and environment of accounting, double entry book-keeping, preparation of financial statements and using financial statements.
* Cost Accounting and Quantitative Analysis
Covering the nature and environment of cost accounting, cost classification and cost behaviour, recording of costing data, costing methods, planning and controlling costs and quantitative analysis.
* Law and Effective Management Skills
Including law, personal effectiveness, effectiveness within
organisations.
The good news is that the last one, Law and Effective Management Skills, is a non-assessed subject (phew).
2. Professional One
* Accounting Theory and Practice
Covering accounting theory, accounting practice, analysis and interpretation.
* Management Accounting
Which will fill you full of delights such as cost data for decision-making, budgeting, budgetary control, relevant costs for short term decision-making and investment appraisal techniques.
* Audit
Now you're onto the really exciting stuff, such as the audit contribution, innovation and assurance, performing useful and high quality work, audit in practice and auditing in an IT environment.
* Information and Financial Management
Such as information systems, control, financial information management, performance management, project management and treasury management.
3. Professional Two
* Financial Reporting and Accountability
Covering the external financial reporting framework, preparation of external financial statements and accountability. The paper combines generic coverage with a sector specific element.
* Accounting for Decision Making
Including decision making and the organisation, the pricing decision, risk and uncertainty and advanced investment appraisal.
* Public Policy and Taxation
(Oooh, you can just feel the excitement hotting up now can't you?!) Covering the nature of public policy, the policy making process, policy making and implementation, principles of taxation, taxation of individuals and public organisations.
* Business Strategy and Management
Including organisation theory and structure, human resource management, introduction to strategic management, strategic analysis and diagnosis, strategic choice and evaluation and strategic implementation and business planning.
I actually found this section to be one of the most interestin
g on the whole course - I think because it had a bit more of a human element.
4. Professional Three (also known as "The Final Test of Professional Competence" - sounds scary yes? Well it is!)
* Case Study Examination
Objective: to test the application of acquired skills rather than simply factual knowledge - to put candidates in, as near as possible, a practical office situation and test reaction under a time constraint
(What they don't tell you on the website is that this is a six hour exam! Yes, I did say six.)
* Project
Objective: to test the ability of students to plan a sustained financial review, evaluate information, evaluate problem-solving methods, identify options and communicate effectively
Format: A thesis of between 5,000 and 6,000 words on a financial topic of practical value to the employing organisation. Once submitted, your project is followed up by the "Project Viva", where you are basically interviewd about your project for a tortuous three quarters of an hour about your project. And you have to give a presentation as well).
The good news is that if you have any previous accounting qualifications (such as an accounting degree, or an Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) qualification) you will be exempt some of the modules.
You can undertake the course in two ways:
* Distance Learning
If you are a complete psychopath, you can undertake the course by distance learning alone. I do not recommend this option, especially if your previous accounting experience is limited. Areas of the course are extremely technical, and although with time you become to feel they are more straightforward, to learn them from scratch without any external assistance must be an incredibly daunting task.
* Added Value Courses
These are courses provided by colleges and universities that work alongside the distance learning material (which
you get regardless). This is the route I took, and I found the support and encouragement offered by the college invaluable in helping me ultimately pass the course.
Like most professional qualifications, you will also be expected to undertake your "Initial Professional Development" during the course. This involves keeping a workbook recording the skills and experience you acquire as you work through your course. You will need this to ultimately join the CIPFA and use the letters CPFA after your name.
*** Entry Requirements ***
To begin the CIPFA course you must have the following qualifications:
* A minimum of 3 GCSEs (grades A-C), and 2 A-levels - or the Scottish, Northern or Southern Irish equivalents. Subjects must include Maths and English at either level.
* BTEC and SCOTVEC National Certificates are also accepted.
* The minimum vocational qualification is an NVQ/GNVQ at Level 3, or the Scottish equivalent.
Alternatively, if you have relevant work experience you can qualify to do CIPFA if:
* If you are 21 or over, with a minimum of three years' relevant work experience and the support of your employer. (Mature Entry).
* If you are 25 or older, with at least 5 years' relevant work experience, you can qualify under the Senior Entry Scheme. This also exempts you from the Foundation Stage.
It is important to note at this stage that it is pretty much essential that you have a work placement in order to undertake this course. There are usually a number of vacancies available for CIPFA trainees, and these are listed on the CIPFA website (www.cipfa.org.uk). The bonus here is not only will they pay for your course, but you will get paid in the meantime as well. I imagine it is possible to complete the course without a work placement, but I expect that would present huge practical difficulties.
*** OK, so that's the course
, but what's life like as a Public Finance Accountant like when you get there? ***
Working for a Housing Association (which is a kind of halfway house between a public organisation and a private sector organisation) I can only really give you a viewpoint from that perspective, but I'm sure some of my experiences are relevant to all public finance accountants.
* The Up Side *
Depending on your job (of course), it can be a very challenging and rewarding role. I'm not the sort of person who likes to have an easy job - I like to be stretched and tested. Perhaps I'm just a bit of a masochist. (Please don'y answer that).
It's great to feel that you're actually doing something that contributes to society. Now, I can't say if you get that same feeling working for Local Government or the NHS, but I certainly see the fruits of my organisations work and feel a sense of pride that I helped contribute to that.
It offers reasonable amounts of pay, and really quite good rates of pay in the more senior positions.
* The Down Side *
As a profession generally, accountancy is highly regulated, and so it should be to ensure standards of probity. But in the public sector this regulation is even stricter, and whilst you may appreciate the need for it, it can introduce large amounts of bureaucracy that you may feel detract at times from the work you should be doing.
It's hard work! I know I said I like to be challenged, but hey, hard work is a double-edged sword ;)
It is nowhere near as well paid as accountants in the private sector. Don't say I didn't warn you.
You get the social stigma of being an accountant. People will think you always wear suits and listen to "easy listening" records. You dread the thought of going on the Weakest Link and getting a mental arithmatic question wrong, and you feel like a failure when you can't do the
numbers game on "Countdown".
*** So what's the overall verdict? ***
I am generally happy with my chosen profession. Sure, there are days when I hate my job, but that happens to all of us. There are times when it can be demanding and stressful. But if you're the type of person who likes messing about with numbers and building complex spreadsheets, this may be the job for you. There are plenty of career opportunities, and lets face it - when was the last time you heard of an unemployed accountant?
*** And finally ... ***
For more detailed information check out the CIPFA website at www.cipfa.org.uk
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majorb - 02.05.03 I remember when my husband was studying for and sitting his CA exams. He definitely said they were the most gruelling thing he's ever done. |
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