Being ACCA Top 30 Graduate in Singapore has provided me with an abundance of career opportunities. It has also played a key role in my journey towards achieving financial independence. In the accounting world, technical competency is crucial. All employers and freelancing clients I have worked with recognise the knowledge that comes with the ACCA Top 30 Graduate award. If you are considering further study in accountancy, ACCA may be one of the best options.
In this article, I will share what it takes to excel in an accountancy course. I hope this will be beneficial to those pursuing a Diploma or Degree in Accounting. In addition, this article should be handy for students who are studying business courses. It is because, in any business courses, there will at least be one accounting module.
Congratulations! Studying accountancy may be the best decision of your life.
For those new to my finance blog, ACCA is not my first degree. I did Electrical & Electronic Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Having discovered my passion for accounting and finance, I decided to pursue a second degree in ACCA. It turns out to be one of the best decisions I ever made in my life.
To do well in an accountancy course, you will first need to know you are investing in a piece of life-changing knowledge. These are some of the reasons why.
1. Accounting is the language of business.
Most companies will hold a meeting to review their financial performance monthly. As an accountant, presenting financial results to the management is part of my life. When you graduate, that shall form the bread and butter of your career too.
Such a meeting is not just for the accounting department. Managers from other departments such as marketing, operation, human resource and IT will also have to attend. The core discussion will always revolve around the financial statements. There will be many accounting jargons brought up during the meeting. It is not surprising because the financial statements that I present monthly contain a tremendous amount of information about the company.
However, the level of comprehension varies significantly between managers. In general, their ability to understand the content of the financial statements increases higher up in their corporate ranking.
As this meeting occurs monthly and involves personnel from various departments, you may realise how important it is to have a good grasp of accounting knowledge. Therefore, accounting knowledge is crucial whether or not you pursue a career as an accountant.
2. Plethora of accounting jobs after graduation.
I started my career in the banking industry. As the banking industry was at the core of the 2008 subprime crisis, the working experience had been less than what I had hoped. I was not accounting trained back then. Therefore, I did not have many transferrable skills. There were only a few companies to choose to move to should I leave my current employer. Hence, I decided to depart from the industry altogether.
I told myself that the same situation should not repeat. My primary consideration was to learn skills that could allow me to work in any industry. At the same time, the job must be available in all companies. That was how I arrived at accountancy. Accounting is probably the only job that allows us to move from one industry to another. On top of that, every company needs to prepare financial statements. To do that, they need to engage an accountant.
So, yes! Regardless of your reasons to pursue an accountancy course, you have selected the right one!
3. Accounting is a pre-requisite knowledge for wealth accumulation.
Work hard, save and retire well is no longer a working mantra in the twenty-first century. To be successful, you need to learn to manage your personal finance early. I will not elaborate too much in this article on how you can manage your finances well. I have written a separate article on personal finance. If you wish, you may check it out here.
In summary, the ability to read financial statements is not negotiable. Pursuing an accountancy course allows you to have one of MUST-have knowledge in the era we are living in now.
Study techniques I used to emerge as ACCA Top 30 Graduate.
The last reason why I emerged as ACCA Top 30 Graduate is due to my level of intelligence. I was fully aware that ACCA is one of the most demanding accounting exams in the world. In addition, I didn’t have much time to study due to my full-time job commitment. Therefore, I have no other option but to adopt extreme study techniques and exam strategies. They help to bring out the results. At the same time, it reduces the time I need to study. These are the study techniques and exam strategies I adopted.
1. Forget about memorising – it just doesn’t work!
Memory work may get you through O-Level or A-Level. However, things don’t work the same way in Polytechnics and Universities. At the higher level of learning, the primary focus should be understanding. I had a rule that I strictly adhere to when I was pursuing ACCA. I would not memorise any concepts that I don’t understand. This rule has forced me to seek further information on accounting concepts that I did not completely understand. It has a multiplier effect. When you search for specific information, you are also learning related knowledge around the topic.
2. Study to perfection – leave no stone unturned.
I’m not a perfectionist. Also, I knew very well that I would never score 100% in any ACCA exam. Our mind works in this manner. When you allow yourself to study less than 100%, it has a spiral effect causing you to aim lower and lower. Furthermore, the psychological impact can be significant when you realise that you can’t answer a question with many marks during the exam. Studying to perfection may take more time, but it is all worth it.
3. Get your hand dirty – find a job while studying.
You may think that doing a part-time job while studying will harm your academic results. On the contrary, real-life experience helps you to put the theoretical concepts into perspective. Being in the accounting department allows you to see the complete processes. In addition, you will be able to observe the application of the concepts in real-life scenarios. It will, in turn, help you to remember the ideas better.
4. Refresh the knowledge learnt in the earlier years regularly.
This technique may not be an easy one to follow. However, this is not an option if you wish to do well in the accountancy course. Accounting and taxation exams at a higher level always require lower-level study as a pre-requisite. It is impossible to do a consolidation of group account without knowing how to prepare individual financial statements. Learning advanced tax will require knowledge on basic taxation that you learn in your early years. Many students learn higher-level accounting and taxation modules without considering the lower-level modules. I believe this is the primary reason why students find accounting exams rather challenging.
5. Practise, practise, practise!
Think of yourself as an athlete. What would you do if you are preparing for the Olympic Games? The answer is clear. Practise. The more questions you have done, the more familiar questions you will see in the exams. When practising, it is beneficial to simulate the exam condition as far as possible.
For ACCA exams, it generally starts at 3 pm and ends at 6.15 pm. I would therefore align my practising of past year paper during the same period. I had my clock ready and began as soon as the time strikes 3 pm. Whenever possible, I even went as far as having the simulated exam near the allocated exam centre!
How does the accounting industry reward me as ACCA Top 30 Graduate?
ACCA qualification is well-recognised globally. At each of my job search, I would receive at least 12 to 15 invites for interviews. The invites range from large multi-national companies to fast-growing companies. I have been fortunate that I received the offers from most of the interviews I attended. While other factors play a part, I believe being ACCA Top 30 Graduate demonstrates a certain level of technical competency.
As a freelance accountant, I work with non-accounting trained business owners. Having a freelance accountant who is also an ACCA Top 30 Graduate provides them with the comfort that their book is at the right hand.
Due to the nature of the industry, technical competency is key to progress in the accounting world. It holds regardless of whether you intend to climb corporate ladders or to run your accounting practice. Therefore, you should begin putting in all the effort to perform well in your accounting exams!
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