Thinking of an ACA?

You're mad. Is what most people said.

Thoughts varied between "you'll never have a social life" and "you just spent four years doing a Bachelor of Engineering, why didn't you do a Finance degree"?

To the second point, I probably should have done. Although, transitioning from Engineering to Financial Services is much easier than the other way around, so at least I'd hedged my bets.

Around half-way through my placement year it struck me that continuing Engineering in the UK was not for me, so as I left to return to the University of Exeter for my final year, the job application grind was on. Exactly 85 applications, innumerable interviews, and several assessment centres later, I was able to secure a graduate position as an Audit Trainee at KPMG London.

So if you are in the same position I was at the end of my undergraduate, this is for you...

How it's going so far

I am on an 'accelerated' ACA program. Meaning all 6 Certificate and 6 Professional level exams are sat in my first 12 months with the company, while client work and the final 3 'Advanced' exams take place later on*. It is important to consider that this type of program is easier, as the need to balance revision and learning with client work is not there - your studies receive your full attention.

A typical ACA programme involves doing your exams alongside client work, meaning you likely become 'time qualified' (hours spent doing technical work) before or around when you become 'exam qualified'. Naturally, this is much more challenging than the condensed programme I am doing above.

I remember when I had first started the ACA, I was coming back from a weekend in Paris on the Eurostar. I sat down on a rear-facing table seat, and began slowly unladening my backpack with my various Accounting notes, my laptop and calculator. I got talking to someone in the adjacent seat, who, as it turned out, had recently become ACA qualified. She was now working at a French Private Equity firm. She asked how far into the qualification I was; "Just about to take Accounting", I replied...

She laughed, smiled, and said "Good luck".

As the above shows, what was made clear upon starting this program was that the ACA was immensely difficult - many spoke of sleepless nights and the need to spend every waking hour doing practice questions. I think it would be fair to say it's not quite that bad. Despite having very little prior knowledge of the technical aspects of Accounting, the course has been relatively straightforward so far, with excellent tutors at BPP making the technical content much easier to understand.

I have now sat all six of the 'Certificate' level exams - Accounting, Assurance, Law, Business, Technology and Finance (BTF), Tax and Management Information (MI).

As far as the 'Professional' level exams, I have completed Tax Compliance (TC), Financial Management (FM), Financial Accounting & Reporting (FAR) and Audit & Assurance (AA). Leaving just Business, Technology & Finance (BTF) and Business Strategy and Taxation (BST) left. ...A lot of acronyms...

Although challenging, they are simply a continuation of the Certificate level content, with FAR often considered the 'mountain' exam that divides those who continue from those who choose a different path.

Getting started

A lot of people see Audit roles as 'admin', which, in part, they are. But this was the most logical 'in' for me. I'd taught myself basic economics and had become fairly familiar with most areas of finance during my undergraduate, but I was in no position to compete with Economics students with 3 internships under their belts. This was exactly how I sold myself in my applications.

I applied to several boutique accountancy firms using the ICAEW jobs website. I also applied to KPMG directly, despite Big4 not being on my radar at the time, I thought I'd be foolish not to. I had marketed myself as an Engineering graduate with strong analytical skills, good commercial awareness from my Year in Industry, and extensive experience in my University Sports Club's Treasury. Following a number of interviews and assessment centres, I received three offers.

The KPMG assessment process was the most vigorous, with two online assessments before one day-long assessment centre comprising group work and an interview. Overall, this was the first assessment centre I actually enjoyed, which is partly why I eventually chose KPMG.

The thick of it

From then on, after a few weeks of onboarding, we were well underway with the taught content for our first Certificate exam, Accounting. Most with no prior accounting experience will describe this as the biggest learning curve. Double entry bookkeeping is not intuitive and definitely caused some doubts early on. But after a few weeks, everything clicked in time for the exam.

While we do get a chance to get familiar with the aesthetic of the exam user interface, going into an ACA sitting for the first time is, as with any, a mixed experience. I was lucky enough to get a desk with an old keyboard and the pen that didn't quite...pen. The countdown timer began and with it my mind, much like my pen, drew a blank.

Questions 1-3 were challenging, and the feeling of 'it was fun while it lasted' crossed my mind. I eventually skipped ahead to Q4 before gaining traction, later returning to the start when I had regained mental clarity. All resulting in eventually escaping with an 80% in Accounting, which I was pleased with. Much like any exam the best bet is to keep calm and be methodical.

The other exams have come and gone, and although the Professionals require much more revision time, I would say none have been as much of a step up as starting Certificate Accounting with no prior knowledge.

What's next?

Having had the luxury of being able to focus solely on exams for the past year, the completion of the BST and BPT will signal our time to return to the business.

The short periods of time between exams have allowed us to return to the Canary Wharf office to do client work. From this, it is clear I couldn't be working with a nicer group of people. KPMG clearly has an amazing culture.

During the next two years, we will complete the final three exams while working toward our required 450 hours of client work to become time qualified. Having now done 10 exams back to back , the sentiment is that people can't wait to get back to doing proper client work.

What about downtime?

One of the main criticisms of an ACA is that you lose the ability to keep up with friends, will struggle to squeeze in weekend plans, and won't get much chance to go for post-work drinks with your team. While this is true during peak pre-exam revision weeks, it's not really an issue otherwise.

I have had plenty of time to spend with friends and usually manage to fit in one date night a week with my girlfriend. Having this time to spend not studying is what keeps you going during the busier revision periods - the sense of shared effort and watching work friends put in the same level of hustle definitely creates an experience that keeps you going.

The biggest challenge

The biggest challenge for me has undoubtedly been sticking to routine - both keeping up regular social plans, and my fitness. My usual 3 8K runs a week mantra has at times been brought down to one during peak FAR/AA/FM/TC revision.

Should you do an ACA?

With slowing growth and low investment in the Engineering space, it's small wonder so many technical graduates are turning to Financial Services. I'd say around 30% of my University Engineering cohort are now in the city, likely to be more as the next round of recruitment kicks off. If you're in this boat, I couldn't recommend the ACA enough. It's the same level of challenge as your undergraduate, with the knowledge you'll have great prospects.

Even if you're not in this position, or you've finished a finance pathway degree but are still questioning where to specialise, the ACA gives you great options. The Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales (ICAEW) gives you some compelling reasons here.

Doing the ACA gives you a high quality, internationally-recognised qualification, and becoming an Auditor gives you exposure to enough clients that even with a non-finance background, you can acquire the requisite connections and knowledge for an exit. The ACA is fairly ubiquitous, so even if you don't know exactly which part of the financial world you plan to end up in, it's a solid start.

In summary...

Hopefully this has given you some insight into the life of an ACA graduate. If you've got any questions or would like to reach out - you can ping me a message here. Finally, a massive thank you to those who've been by my side over the past year of unrelenting exams! What a year it's been.

Thanks for reading, and if you're about to start an ACA, good luck.

*To complete the ACA, you must complete 6 'Certificate' (fundamental) exams, 6 'Professional' level exams, and 3 'Advanced' level exams, in addition to fulfilling 450 days of professional work experience. Those wishing to obtain their license to practice must then complete an additional 2 years of work with a recognized firm, after having qualified as an ACA.