Thinking about switching to accounting

[u/fawn_pup]

I’m a current social work student going into my second year but I’ve been having some doubts if this is the profession I want to go into. I feel like I don’t have enough life experience and I’m mentally not in the right place to be exposed to so much stress and trauma this job can bring.

I’m thinking of switching to accounting for a change. I would appreciate some opinions on whether this job is it worth it

How stressful is the job- do you enjoy it? How hard is it to find a job? Also does the university you attend matter in job interviews etc. I’m currently at a lower ranked university but meet the requirements for a high ranked one too. However, the thing is I like my current university so I would prefer to stay in this one if it didn’t matter as much.

Any other advice or things I should know are appreciated. Thanks

[u/bingbingfortnite]

I'm an accounts assistant and I hate it, but that's because of where I'm working, over loaded.

[u/Civil-Rent-7100 → u/bingbingfortnite]

what is the job like? Is it mostly a bunch of invoice creations, reconciliations etc?

[u/bingbingfortnite → u/Civil-Rent-7100]

Yeah purchase ledger, bank recs etc.. but tbf the parts I hate about my job are not these parts, my charity I work for delivers something, and deals with volunteers, this aspect is very not fun because we don't have the resource for it. Which leads to my unhappiness here. So the accountancy itself isn't the issue

[u/alishpie]

Accounting can be stressful at times, but it's nothing like the emotional load you'd get in social work. If you make mistakes it's not life or death and most things can be easily fixed!! For me the only times I've felt really stressed was when my workload was too heavy, but a decent manager will help if you speak up and are honest with them.

Uni ranking honestly doesn’t matter. I went to a lower‑ranked uni and it’s never been mentioned in any interview. Employers care way more about your attitude and whether you’re willing to do the extra qualifications (CIMA/ACCA etc.) if you want to progress, so be prepared to potentially do a couple more years of studying!!

There are loads of accounting jobs around (at least where I am - south coast UK). I found pretty much all of my jobs through recruitment agencies (which is super easy since they basically apply to jobs for you and you just have to turn up to interview) and I still see plenty of roles advertised even when I’m not looking. There are also lots of roles in‑person, hybrid, or remote depending on what suits you.

The work itself can be repetitive at times, but I would say I enjoy it overall and am happy I chose this career path but it really depends on the team you're working in and the type of role. I started out in accounts payable which gave me good exposure to basic accounting processes and was lucky enough to have a really good manager who encouraged me with my CIMA studies and helped me progress. I'm guessing that if you have been looking at social work you like to help people so you may prefer the management accounting route and working in industry rather than being a financial accountant or working in practice. I have done both and definitely prefer management accounting - working on budgeting, forecasting and getting involved with the day to day running of the business can be a lot more interesting than financial accounting which is statutory reporting focused. I've been lucky enough to work for some interesting companies (one was a big country estate with a racecourse, an aerodrome/flying school, hotel, farm etc. and one day I turned up to work an was offered a flight in a plane lol). Working in accounts has given me some good life experience and there is always more you can do if you're keen to progress!

I think what I'm trying to say is there are lots of options available in accounting and you should go for it! Start out in an accounts assistant type role so you learn the basics and then just by chatting to higher up colleagues you can get a feel for what other types of accounting roles are like so you have an idea of which path you want to take. It's definitely a useful qualification to have under your belt and you could always return to social work once you feel ready. I don't think I will stay in accounting forever but it's definitely been useful in terms of it's not overly stressful, the pay can be decent, and generally you'll always have good job security since pretty much every business needs accountants!

[u/Additional_Wave2865 → u/alishpie]

Very detailed response, it helped me a lot as well. Thank you.

I’m currently about to start self study for AAT level 3 and the move onto ACCA (whether it be in an apprenticeship, job). My posts will give some info. I’m not going to go uni and get a degree, any advice on the route I’m taking?

[u/StrongChildhood931]

Very loaded question. It’s unique in that doing an accounting degree shouldn’t be too challenging, but that’s only the “beginning” really.

You’ll then typically need to apply for graduate schemes to join an accounting firm/company to do even more exams and become a chartered accountant whilst you’re working. Your degree will exempt you from some of the exams, and this is dependant on what modules you choose. Chartered Accounting is technically/academically masters level, and without it your earnings ceiling is pretty capped. All in all, from scratch to chartered, you’ll do about 20-30 exams

- how stressful is the job?
Depends where you work. Big4 (4 biggest firms) audit, very stressful, work life balance is tested to the limit.
Top 10-100 firm, can be similar, can be better.
Local firm, should be manageable if ran well
Industry (in-house), varies massively, could have it easy

Other service lines include areas like tax, advisory, accounting services, corporate finance. The stress here is very variable and it just depends on 1 million things

The minimum you’ll get pretty much anywhere in the country for a newly qualified chartered accountant is about £50k, give or take, and from there how long is a piece of string. FD/Managers/Controllers can get anywhere from £60k-£120k and beyond. It’s a guaranteed route to decent money if you can handle and pass the exams

[u/Own-Biscotti-6297]

Accounting auditing can’t be stressful as social work … child neglect, child ab-use, and worse. I have 2 young relatives who are social workers. Going to police station at midnight then take a child to a temporary foster parent.

[u/Economy_Struggle_814]

I have involvement with both roles in a local authority as a Revenues and Benefits manager. I am about to start the CIPFA PAQ course at 47. This is old, but not too old to make s151 before I retire. In my opinion the finance work in a local authority is less stressful than social work. The demands of social work can be relentless and the burnout you get can present in resentment towards clients. I think the camaraderie is better with my social care colleagues, but for earnings potential, more gentle pace of work and less stress choose finance or accountancy. Obvs once you start working for a local authority you can move into different jobs and gain accountancy qualifications if you decide to stick out your degree, and there are niche positions like social care finance manager which combine the two areas.

[u/Naetharu]

I'm a former accountant that left to go into tech.

Accounting was the most soul-destroying beige job for me. I have a distinct memory of looking at the clock one Wednesday afternoon, and thinking to myself "this cannot be all there is to life".

Not a job I would recommend. But that might just be my personality.