What A-levels do you need to be an accountant? Accounting experts are employed by almost all businesses to help them ensure the accuracy of their financial records.
Accountants may assist with tax preparation, fraud investigation, and the creation of financial statements, budget reports, company strategies, and financial aids.
If you’re interested in becoming an accountant, you’ll need to meet some requirements. In this article, we discuss what A-levels you need to be an accountant, what an accounting degree consists of, how much an accountant earns in the UK, and answer some frequently asked questions.
Table of Contents
- What Does An Accountant Do?
- What A-levels Do You Need To Become An Accountant?
- Can I Apply For An Accounting Degree With Unrelated A-levels?
- What To Expect From An Accounting Degree
- How Much Does An Accountant Make?
- Best A Levels for Accounting and Finance
- Accounting Degree Entry Requirements UK
- FAQs On What A-Levels Do You Need To Become An Accountant
- In Conclusion : What a Levels do You Need to be an Accountant
- References
- We Also Recommend
What Does An Accountant Do?
What a levels do you need to be an accountant? An accounting career can vary greatly, from completing tax returns to tracking company expenditures.
While strong numeracy skills are essential for an accountant, you’ll also need an analytical mind, an ability to solve problems methodically, and an eye for detail.
Being a good communicator is equally important, as you’ll have to gain your clients’ trust, explain complex financial concepts, and write recommendations and analyses.
Accountancy roles tend to be relatively secure in a world that no longer promises a job for life. But this doesn’t mean that they’re not challenging.
As financial deadlines approach, accountants often have to cope with working in a dynamic, pressured environment, knowing that the smallest error could harm their client’s business.
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What A-levels Do You Need To Become An Accountant?
To know the required A-levels to be an accountant, you must check the entry requirements for any universities or training bodies you’re considering. These will have entry requirements, so considering multiple options can be a good idea.
For instance, if you want to study accounting at university, you can expect to need two or three A-levels with good grades.
Maths and accounting are good options; English is also a common requirement. You might also be required to have around five GCSEs.
These GCSEs may also be in closely related fields like maths and accounting. Five GCSEs and potentially some A-levels may also be required if you wish to pursue an apprenticeship to become an accountant.
Additionally, you might be able to locate accounting-related jobs where you can gain experience and advance in your career.
Professional bodies can also train you to become a qualified accountant. If you want several options, A-levels with good grades in accounting, maths, and other subjects like business studies will give you the best chances.
Here’s a list of A-levels we would recommend for pursuing a career in Accountancy:
- A-Level Accountancy
- A-Level Maths
- A-Level Business Studies
- A-Level Economics
- A-Level Further Maths
- An A-Level Science
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What a levels do you need to be an accountant? Some universities offer foundation courses that can bridge the gap between your existing A-levels and the requirements for an accounting degree. This option can be viable if your A-levels aren’t directly related to accounting.
What To Expect From An Accounting Degree
If you pursue a bachelor’s degree in accounting, the course modules will vary somewhat from one university to another.
Several professional organizations, including the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland (ICAS), and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), among others, may additionally accredit certain institutions.
What a levels do you need to be an accountant? An accounting degree, which might also be called ‘accounting and finance’, typically takes three years to complete. Some standard modules that you can expect to study include the following:
Business Maths
A course in business maths or a similar module is often included in the first year of an accounting degree. It teaches basic numeracy, data collection, probability, linear and multiple regression, correlation, probability distributions, financial mathematics, sampling techniques, and more.
Financial Accounting
This module introduces you to the concepts and methods for financial accounting, such as double-entry bookkeeping, preparing financial statements, bank reconciliation, control and suspense accounts, ledger accounts, depreciation and debt, prepayments, and accruals.
You also learn the differences between revenue and capital expenditure, income and expenditure, liabilities and assets, and profit and turnover.
Management Accounting
This module is essential if you want to become a management accountant. They are professionals who maintain the accounts for a business and help with financial decisions for improving profitability.
A management accounting module can include learning about activity-based costing, inventory valuations, cost classifications, cost object identification, costs and revenues for short-term decision-making, and CVP (cost-volume-profit) analysis and how to interpret it.
Management accounting is closer to business and finance decision-making and uses accounting practices to inform these decisions.
Corporate Finance
A corporate finance module introduces you to finance, investment, and capital budgeting matters. This can include the methods for making capital investment decisions, equity financing, business valuations, capital structure policies and financial leverage, capital costs, capital investment decision-making, and project evaluation and analysis.
You might also learn about the security market line, risks, and returns. Completing this module allows you to understand capital investment decisions, sourcing capital decisions, business valuations, and appraising a firm’s use of equity financing, among many other functions.
To successfully understand and learn to use these methods, you will simultaneously apply soft skills, analysis, practical accounting skills, and subject knowledge. You can also expect to be asked to demonstrate what you’ve learned through case studies and ongoing evaluations.
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Auditing
Auditing involves examining or investigating an organization’s accounts, physically checking its inventories, and taking other measures. This can confirm the accuracy of the organization’s financial statements and is often done by a professional outside of the organization itself.
This ensures that there’s minimal opportunity for bias or conflicts of interest. Many accounting and finance degrees contain an auditing module. This introduces you to the purpose of auditing, the roles that auditors perform, the legal implications of this function, and how auditing is done.
This can involve learning about internal and external audits, how audit planning works, risk assessments, reviews and representations, audit finalization, fraud, analytical procedures and substantive testing, internal control systems, and auditing ethics.
Tax Accountants
Companies receive tax statement assistance from tax accountants. They must guarantee that companies pay the appropriate tax on their profits and investments. They also offer legal tax reduction advice to businesses.
Tax accountants must be knowledgeable about the always-evolving tax rules and possess the ability to accurately understand them in order to perform their jobs to the best of their abilities.
You can become a tax accountant by earning an Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) qualification. Alternatively, you can become a chartered status holder by earning a coveted Chartered Institute of Taxations (CTA) qualification.
A Forensic Accountant
To analyze, understand, and summarize complex financial situations, forensic accountants combine investigation and accounting methods. Their investigations usually seek to identify instances of embezzlement and fraud, and the results are frequently applied in court.
Identifying assets, recovering assets, tracking down finances, and doing due diligence assessments are all common tasks. In civil cases like contract violations or disagreements over company valuation, forensic accountants are involved.
They further look into trademark infringements, insurance claims, and nondisclosure agreements. A qualification from ACA, ACCA, or CIMA qualifies you to work as a forensic accountant.
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How Much Does An Accountant Make?
The national average salary for an accountant is £35,208 per year. You might also start with a position like a bookkeeper, with a national average salary of £23,538 per year. You could pursue a specialization like management accountant, whose national average salary is £35,893 annually.
There are also more senior positions that you can work towards, like accounting manager, with a national average salary of £49,401 per year. Another specialization is that of an auditor, whose national average salary is £31,933 per year.
If you’re interested in investigating fraud and misconduct, you might also work towards becoming a forensic accountant. The national average salary for this position is £56,902 per year.
Best A Levels for Accounting and Finance
A-Levels. Some universities have certain subject requirements, such as math or business studies, and others that don’t. A minimum of an A or B in mathematics is required by prestigious universities. Generally speaking, general studies and critical thinking do not count toward your final score.
Accounting Degree Entry Requirements UK
Candidates must exhibit a comprehensive general education, including appropriate levels of literacy and numeracy. These levels should be at least GCSE/iGCSE English Language Grade B or 6 and Mathematics Grade A or 7. Substituting GCSE/iGCSE English Language for GCSE/IGCSE English Literature is not acceptable.
FAQs On What A-Levels Do You Need To Become An Accountant
There isn’t a strict set of A-levels required to become an accountant, but subjects related to business, finance, economics, and mathematics are generally beneficial. Common A-level choices include Mathematics, Economics, Business Studies, Accounting, and further maths.
Many universities offer accounting or finance programs that accept students from various A-level backgrounds.
To become a chartered accountant in the UK, you must complete a professional qualification from a recognized body such as ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) or ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales). These bodies may have their own specific educational and entry requirements.
In Conclusion: What a Levels do You Need to be an Accountant
What A-levels are required to become an accountant? There isn’t a strict set of A-levels required, but subjects related to business, finance, economics, and mathematics are generally beneficial.
Common A-level choices include Mathematics, Economics, Business Studies, Accounting, and further maths.
References
- babington.co.uk – What qualifications do I need to become an accountant?
- uk.indeed.com – What A levels do you need to be an accountant? (With FAQs)
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