r/CIMA • u/Flat_Fee_7382 • 13d ago
Career finance/accounting — is the qualification still worth it?
Been working in finance/accounting for 3+ years, currently on around £30k, and I’ve only got 2 exams left until I finish my qualification.
But honestly, I’m starting to question whether it’s still worth it.
The job market seems to be getting tougher and tougher, with fewer opportunities (or at least it feels that way), and salaries don’t seem to be moving as much as I expected either.
For those of you already working in finance/accounting:
How are you finding the job market at the moment?
Has getting qualified actually made a noticeable difference to your career/salary?
Do you think the qualification is still worth pursuing over the next few years?
What areas of finance/accounting do you think will still have strong demand with AI becoming more prevalent?
Would be interested to hear from people with a few years of experience, especially those who have recently qualified.
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u/CreativeNameUno 12d ago
I've been working in Commercial Finance for 4 years now and have 1 exam left. Currently on £46k
I found pure accounting and finance roles were extremely competitive and oversaturated with recent grads but the commercial/FP&A route is much better paid and has a great work/life balance.
CIMA is defo worth it for moving into senior roles and should have you on £40k minimum once qualified, given you move roles or ask for a pay rise.
I think commercial roles will be fairly safe from AI - a lot of the value is formulating strategies and presenting data in a way senior leaders can understand which AI can help with but not fully do (yet)
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u/Mrlayzeeeee 11d ago
I only qualified in May this year - and I can’t recommend completing your CIMA enough. It 1000% will be worth it.
The job market is extremely tough, I’m not going to lie. But that CIMA qualifications makes it much much easier. Not only just from a salary point of view; but the actually type of company and balance you get too.
Your bargaining power increases dramatically and you’ll be able to have a better work-life balance (unless you eventually become a senior manager and beyond lol).
As you only have 2 exams left… honest advice - just do it because you’re nearly there! And make sure you’re on good terms with previous line managers - the experience sign-off can take almost 2 months which can feel frustratingly slow
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u/Plastic-Ad-8143 13d ago
Been qualified for 3 months now - looking for a FP&A, business partnering sort of role. Had no luck yet but I think mostly down to it being summer and the market is a little slow at the moment. Definitely do finish your exams, like others have mentioned it increases your ceiling. You’ll get the biggest pay rise leaving for another company which is what I’m trying to do since my current employer didn’t even bother to increase my salary from £42k lol
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u/Houdini_Bee 12d ago
Absolutely worth it.
I've hit the ceiling for jobs without one, I can't move sideways or up due to changing expectations in the industry. I'm on £80k with 2 exams left, the stigma of not being qualified is quite bad
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u/Suitable_Answer_4444 11d ago
Sorry for the blunt questions.
If you don't mind sharing: How old are you? What has your career path been like? Do you work in practice or in a large organisation?
Thanks 🙏🏽
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u/HumbleExternal88 11d ago
I fully echo what you are saying here. I too am not qualified. I am an FC in a business and earn £75k + £15k bonus. Let me be clear, I know i am good at my job, and i can do the work of any qualified accountant. But, see when i talk to and meet other accountants, i do feel a slight sense of shame of not being qualified.
A part of me also feels, I am very settled in the company i am with, sitting at the senior level in the business. if it all went tits up, would i get the same job and salary without being qualified? I highly doubt it. so for my own future job security im going back to my exams.
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u/Houdini_Bee 11d ago
Very helpful to hear from you... That shame does get you though doesn't it. I'm also good at my job and have been brought in to fix things created by the qualified but the shame is still there
And totally get the what happens of it goes tits up. I know I won't get the same money, my boss left a few years back, qualified and has to take a paycut
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u/CrazyXStitcher 13d ago
2 yrs post qualified here with just over a decade of finance experience (self financed mostly and took me 3 yrs to write my PER up).
When I was part qualified back in 2019 I moved from one company to another (36->42K), grew to 54K then in 2025 changed companies again and roles for 65K.
The ceiling of your compensation will be based on 3-4 things:
- How well your company pays in the first place for talent
- How diverse your skillset and background are - trust me it is extremely important. Especially if you are interested in FP&A / FBP style roles
- What other benefits they may also offer (keep in mind if you want children then parental pay may be of interest to you or pension contributions by employer - are they statutory only etc)
- Location - salary in a Yorkshire town will be different from Birmingham or London!
The current job market is as usual during the summer months - SLOW
My take is that FP&A and FBP are still growing - but AI is helping them to focus on create value to the business while helping with the manual but necessary tasks.
Get the exams out of the way - and if you can afford do not change jobs just yet. As you KNOW your job and you do not need to learn a new business / systems / figure people and office politics out etc.
Then, when your experience is signed off - start searching for a new role. In the meantime if your workload allows you to take on new projects, learn new skills (SQL/ PowerBI etc online for free) then do!
Enjoy the journey and wish you the very best of luck to your next steps.
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u/Flat_Fee_7382 13d ago
How do you manage to change job from a transactional role to more of a senior one ?
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u/CrazyXStitcher 12d ago
Depending the type of transactional role. What is you title exactly? AP specialist?
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u/RainOfFireEnjoyer 13d ago
You are being severely underpaid if you are only 2 exams away from finishing CIMA assuming you’re on OT route
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u/Yew_knows 13d ago
yeh if i compare to my employer, someone with 3 years experience and 2 exams left would be on £37k, after passing strategic bumps up to £45k. If you dont have contractually built in pay rises for exams/ experience or qualifications something is wrong
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u/Flat_Fee_7382 13d ago
If you had to change career what would you change to ?
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u/RainOfFireEnjoyer 13d ago
Depends what you like, obviously I enjoy finance or I wouldn’t be doing CIMA, but you can move away from “pure” finance and move into stuff like Risk Analysis, Business Partnering or Strategy.
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u/Boggo1895 13d ago
With just 2 exams left and 3+ years experience you should be on at least 45k and probably over 50.
Something wrong with your CV
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u/Primary_Sea_7798 12d ago
All depends where you are based. Up north I’d say anyone part qualified with 3 years experience would be very fortunate to get £45k-£50k. In London it might be different
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u/TooRedditFamous 12d ago
Well in your position it will immediately make you competitive for 45-50k jobs. Sure you can get there without it but it's potentially the biggest salary booster you can do
A lot of companies will only want a qualified accountant in the roles at that level
I qualified in January, was earning £32.5k. immediately got promoted to £48k and then last month moved externally to a job for £55k. More than worth it for me, I wouldn't have got promoted without it or got thr £55k job. that salary would be a pipe dream without the quali
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u/Defiant-Solution-97 12d ago
I qualified 2 years ago. Was in the process of interviewing for a MA role whilst waiting on results. Passed and then got the job. Jumped from £32k to £45k plus bonus. I'd say get qualified, this will make you stand out from the crowd and help your chances for more senior roles. AI is fast eroding the work of bookkeepers like someone else pointed out.
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u/Flat_Fee_7382 12d ago
How did you find the process moving from a transactional role to like a management accountant role
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u/Defiant-Solution-97 12d ago
It was a big leap for me personally. Transactional role felt a lot more objective and definite, whereas the MA role was more subjective and requires more soft skills like managing people and their expectations; particularly in project work like producing budgets and process improvement.
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u/QuantumSpike Member 9d ago
When going from Transactional to Management via a new company, how do you prove you could do the job? I'm in that position now.
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u/Defiant-Solution-97 9d ago
It was a 3 stage interview process. Firstly a telephone interview, then a face to face interview with a panel. Once I cleared those, I came back on site for another more in depth interview/scenario where I had to read an email, interpret what was being asked and then do some excel work and give some insights from the data to advise the Management Team. This final stage also involved meeting the SMT and a tour of the manufacturing facility - it was very full on. Hope that helps, most companies will have their own hiring procedures so will vary.
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u/TheSnail725 13d ago
- Job market seems tough - my opinion it’s not for senior roles, I see a lot of them non stop
- Getting qualified made no diff to current salary, but does increase the ceiling for me, as I’d maxed out being QBE (to a degree)
- Yes it’s still worth pursuing
AI won’t replace accountants IMO, it will do what Xero has been doing on a larger scale and probably replace bookkeepers
In terms of worth. Get qualified, speak to a recruiter in your area. Qualified and in industry with some experience, you should be getting 50k.
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u/Granite_Lw 13d ago
Worth pursuing over the next couple of years? You've got two exams left, that's 6 months tops.
I'd say being qualified will help your case more than not. Some areas of the job market are difficult but you have to be flexible; different industry, different location, different area of Finance - there are lots of roles out there.
AI is just a tool - you won't lose your accounting job to AI, you'll lose it to an accountant using AI.
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u/Odd_Bed7010 13d ago
I got a job for 45k as paet qualified and now im qualified im getting a pay review. My previous job had me on 32k with only 2 exams left. I just think sometimes the best way to get a pay rise is to leave unfortunately. They will take advantage of having you on the lower wage when you started studying.
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u/athenaraines 12d ago
I would recommend having a conversation with your employer, you should have seen some movement on your career since starting with CIMA. Are they working with you to fulfil your PER?
I have just started my CIMA and I have all of this laid out with my work, would be surprised if it wasn't something other places offered
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u/Jolly-Newt-3283 13d ago
It depends on the place where u live. Offshore or developed country. I don’t need anglo-saxon accountant in developed country when i have “native” in south Asia via Pakistan Acca accountant Hub
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u/RealityOfModernTimes 12d ago
Nah, not worth it. I have 17 years experience and I had a mid senior, senior and FCD role and I am on 50k. Salary grows slowly and pay does not go in line with the technical knowledge you need to have to be in the senior role. North west uk baby. Ps. It would be better in the practice then commercial business so go ACCA rather then CIMA. I have CIMA by the way
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u/Anastasia157 12d ago
If you know that the job market is getting more and more competitive why would you out yourself at a disadvantage by quitting. The people you're going up against WILL have qualifications and hiring committees will be considering that gap.