Post grad in accounting

Hi,

I am thinking about doing the following post grad in accounting to begin my accountihng career (coming from an IT background);

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Has anyone here done the course or any accountants have any advice for me?

Thanks

Should stand to you-I know quite a few people who took the same route.

Hi,

I did similar course in DCU - called Professional Diploma in Accounting. I think that the only difference is the DCU course has a pass rate of 50% whereas for DIT you only need 40% to pass.......however in order to get exemptions from ICAI you have to get 50%..........

I found the course excellent - tough enough as I had no accounting experience - not even Junior Cert Business Studies! But well worth doing if you are planning on doing ACA exams as you get the same exemptions as if you had done a full commerce degree (& in the case of some Commerce degress you actually get more exemptions with this).

CCOVICH, Winnie, thanks for the info, it's what I wanted to hear.

Winnie, when you finished the diploma, did you join a firm and complete your exams that way? did you have to sign a contract for 3 years? As I hear other people do?

Also was your course very intense? did you have much free time in the holidays/weekends/evenings or does the course take up a lot of time?

Thanks again

strong1 said:

did you have to sign a contract for 3 years? As I hear other people do?

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If you want to qualify as an ACA you need to sign a training contract for a period of at least 3 years. It is possible to move within the 3 year period, but it's rare enough. This is the situation when training in practice, I'm not sure what the position is within industry.

I had a contract with a firm prior to doing the course - so they paid for it. & yes then I had a 3 year contract with the firm. That is in order to do the ACA exams & I had 2 sets of exams left to complete.............if you were to go to one of the Big 4 then you get plenty of exam leave to do the exams (I had 3 months off for my finals!)

With regards to the course - although it was hard work the hours werent too bad - every tuesday off which was nice! Exams were semesterised (sp!) with exams after xmas (bit of a pain but then have time off in Jan). You wouldnt really want to be working too much in part time job though.....I think only a couple of people on the course worked.

If you are thinking of doing ACA exams & have limited accounting experience I would highly recommend it

Can anyone comment on this course in NUI Galway :
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(HDip in Business Studies)

It appears to me to be general and well rounded but lacks
perhaps enough accountancy modules to merit exemptions
from ACCA exam modules.

It is just a 1yr course. I'm laying idle and have a lot of IT
experience (just not the right stuff to get employed ...in a rut
basically). I felt this course might at least give me some
business grounding which wouldn't go amiss should I ever
have to call upon it. Can anyone who knows enough about
business studies comment on how you'd perceive this course
and more specifically how marketable the skills it provides
are to the workplace ?

~ipxl

The HDip in Business Studies is a a more wide ranging course, and I would not recommend it over the HDip in Accounting if you want to go on to qualify as an accountant.


The HDip in Business Studies should only be seen as a means to an end-on it's own it is likely to be of little use re. skills etc.

Thanks CCOVICH

Unfortunately NUIG has no HDip in Accounting.. they have a masters
in Accounting but entrance minimum is for B.Comms,etc.

I wonder what the HDip Business Studies really prepares a
student for in reality. Would I be right to assume it would be
your opinion that it is just a "dip your foot in the water" type
of course where really it would need to be supplemented by
some other 1-2 yr course at a later stage.

Could it prepare a student for a career other than say
full time accountancy ?

Slightly OT, but, yes, a HDip in Business Studies could be used to gain entry to other courses in Marketing etc.

thanks for all the info guys..

hope to start the course this autumn so fingers crossed