Murdoch University - Master in Professional Accounting

[MaiTuLiow]

point taken.. but you can't deny that passing actuarial exams pay really well. better than any CFA, CPA, CA, CMA, CIA, ICPAS etc etc

I say the skillset market is deliberately kept small due to protectionism.

Guess the number crunching skill is a few notches up compared with most of the qualifications you have listed.

Having said that, I can only say ONE type job that really pays exceedingly well in Singapore i.e. be the Singapore President or a PAP minister. Not only they received 7 digit pay every year, they also received pension there after if they met the necessary criteria. They get paid while sleeping in the parliament or even skipping parliamentary sessions altogether.

Oppositions MP are very pai tarn. They have to fight against all odds and in be on their toes all the time.

 

[myfoot123]

In life, the more paper qualification the more stress boss will give you. Before you take more papers, you need to ask if you could take stress and pressure too.
Life is short, do what you love and love what you do. No point going to office with a sad face like visiting a wake. In pursue of higher income, we must also look at the kind of employer who feed you. Do you want those Chee Bye attitude employer who pay you high salary or those treated you like friends but pay you reasonably based on experience?

In Singapore, there are many CHEE BYE ATTITUDE SMEs who want cheap and good. You study all your lives until MBA they will also treat you like shit. If you asked for more they will want triple effort from you. Thus, while pursuing qualifications, you must not forget the ultimate aim of being happy in your work place.

When I was in HR many years ago, I saw people with very fanciful qualitifcation as if they life depended on it. They collected many different kind of qualifications diploma, degree, MBA from private schools, including the short courses they attended. All look very impressive, but their job exposures weren't there, they job hop every years for the past 10 years, some within months. End of the day, you wonder all those impressive papers they may have, yet they do not know what they wanted in life after joining a company.

 

[batman1]

<In Singapore, there are many CHEE BYE ATTITUDE SMEs who want cheap and good. You study all your lives until MBA they will also treat you like shit. If you asked for more they will want triple effort from you. Thus, while pursuing qualifications, you must not forget the ultimate aim of being happy in your work place>

Most Singapore Employers are nasty bastards.

 

[tanwahtiu]

in this age of over qualified paper generals accountants there is just too many competition and too few jobs.

Accounting job will hit the pay ceiling quickly and you are stuck with 1% pay rise per year. My friend work in Coca Cola and 1% per year pay rise is what he gets.

There is one job that pay you more than $150,000 a year also doing crunching numbers.

Some are paid more than $250,000 a year and they do simple mathematics and the accuracy of their figures are highly regarded and even the boss dare not even dispute them.

What is it is my trade sercret? Cant get too many people in it to spoil the market.

The problem with accounting is you rarely go anywhere fast in a company. The best way to move is to change companies and most probably will be cleaning up shit the last accounts guy can't solve.

Unless you are in professional services, accountants are generally considered back office staff and your bonus is pegged on company/industry performance. It sucks when you work harder than any of the HR/IT/procurement/logistics guys but still get the same miserable bonus.

 

[Unrepented]

But by passing the papers, more opportunities will be opened. Just like ACCA, most don't go for CPA. Even the checklist for qualification to be certified as member is subjective in real life. Just say one is from the big four and the chances are already a notch up compared to one in a SME, eventhough the former may not be as exposed or know crap.:o Most important is who you know in the organization to endorse your claims in experience check list.

Sorry man, the relevant experience are quite specific. I know of some folks who passed all three papers and yet failed to receive the charter.

http://www.cfainstitute.org/about/membership/process/Pages/work_experience.aspx

 

[Rogue Trader]

There is one job that pay you more than $150,000 a year also doing crunching numbers.

Some are paid more than $250,000 a year and they do simple mathematics and the accuracy of their figures are highly regarded and even the boss dare not even dispute them.

What is it is my trade sercret? Cant get too many people in it to spoil the market.

Bank/finance related?

 

[moolightaffairs]

take a private accounting degree and make your way up to accountant for a few years in financial sector. then can go into analyst, those who analyst companies financial reports and share prices. got friends doing this, at least 6k per month. my friend only got local O levels only, not even diploma or A levels. sometime can see his name when remisier forward those reports.

 

[moolightaffairs]

in this age of over qualified paper generals accountants there is just too many competition and too few jobs.

Accounting job will hit the pay ceiling quickly and you are stuck with 1% pay rise per year. My friend work in Coca Cola and 1% per year pay rise is what he gets.

There is one job that pay you more than $150,000 a year also doing crunching numbers.

Some are paid more than $250,000 a year and they do simple mathematics and the accuracy of their figures are highly regarded and even the boss dare not even dispute them.

What is it is my trade sercret? Cant get too many people in it to spoil the market.

this post created after the financial crisis right? check on those fraudulent tradings and tally of the numbers correct? i got friends doing it, so u in this line?

 

[winnipegjets]

Be a quitter and your life improve many folds.

 

[blackmondy]

Why not get a Masters in Creative Accounting ? Sure in great demand especially in our civil service.

 

[LeMans2011]

Ladies and gentlemen,
Sorry i am late. Here is the right person to advise you

 

[LeMans2011]

1) If you are determined to make a career switch, 25 years old is still ok. Your career really develope and crystallise after 30.

2) Is accounting boring to study? This really depends on individual. It is not about mathematics. You need to find out yourself if you can bear with the subjects. Broadly the course includes financial accounting, cost accounting, management accounting, statistics, organizational behavior, business laws, a few other crappy laws (like succession law), financial management (like those stuff that CFA people study). I would say technically the toughest is a subject call FRE (which involves advance consolidation stuff, but this makes you understand listed company reporting very well)

3) For accounting, it is not about bachelor or masters degree. You need a qualification that makes you a qualified accountant (CPA). The cheapest route to do is in Singapore is ACCA. The beauty of it is you can work and study at the same time. You can quicken your qualification by studying full time. I think it still requires at least 2 years... i do not know these days what are the available exemptions.

4) Job search - quite easy to find a job since every company needs accountants. However, i suspect these days you have a lot more competition from migrant Indians. You see, every field has its competition, it is not a good reason to give up your existing field.

5) Career path - if you are timid you might remain an accountant forever... with little annual increments. The right way is to work towards either "financial controlling" or "business finance/analysis". The highest in the field is becoming a CFO in an MNC or partners in the big4 firms. The "business finance" field offers you
greater chance to becoming a CFO. Therefore the opportunity to go high up is there, but it depends on your individual personality. A point to note is there is huge competition from Indians.

6) Yes, ACCA is not a breeze. Assess whether you will complete the course, otherwise you be better off go screwing PRCs like Raiders.

Lastlee, the entire accounting profession in Singapore is headed by Juthika Ramanathan (you know who)

 

[Leongsam]

No job is perfect. There is always something you need to get over, be it the monotonous nature of the job or the hectic process it may involve. Chose a field, degree you will enjoy I say. Have fun in it, and it will keep going for longer time.

One of the easiest ways of making money is to start a website, work to make it popular and then introduce a membership scheme with special benefits.

You don't need any qualifications. Anyone can do it.

 

[johnny333]

in this age of over qualified paper generals accountants there is just too many competition and too few jobs.

Accounting job will hit the pay ceiling quickly and you are stuck with 1% pay rise per year. My friend work in Coca Cola and 1% per year pay rise is what he gets.

There is one job that pay you more than $150,000 a year also doing crunching numbers.

Some are paid more than $250,000 a year and they do simple mathematics and the accuracy of their figures are highly regarded and even the boss dare not even dispute them.

What is it is my trade sercret? Cant get too many people in it to spoil the market.

I just remembered my accounts friend told telling about a friend setting up a business providing accounting services. This guy just hired some low paid accounts people & voila he was making $500,000+ in profit. This was many years ago & today you might face more competition from FT.

However being a Sporean must hold some value. Maybe some business may trust a Sporean owned business rather than some foreigner to do their accounts

 

[tgb888]

thank bros for the advice.

 

[tgb888]

I am thinking of Murdoch University - Master in Professional Accounting because it offers the followings:
1.CPA Australia (associate membership & enrolment in the CPA Program)
2.Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)(entry into final stages of ACCA)

So I think this will probably give me a good accounting foundation. Also this will allow me to enter into the final stages of ACCA?

 

[tgb888]

Its great to be able to get an insight into accounting's life from u guys n hope bros like me can benefits from these too

 

[ZombieFart]

I do not intent to join the life science field due to the strong competition from those chinaman....

You haven't heard about pinoys replacing locals in accounting?
I am talking about middle management jobs.. qualified accountants with 20 years of experience.

 

[blackmondy]

Most Singapore Employers are nasty bastards.

True to the bone.

 

[LeMans2011]

I am thinking of Murdoch University - Master in Professional Accounting because it offers the followings:
1.CPA Australia (associate membership & enrolment in the CPA Program)
2.Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)(entry into final stages of ACCA)

So I think this will probably give me a good accounting foundation. Also this will allow me to enter into the final stages of ACCA?

If you take an Australian qualification there is no need to get ACCA. But if you want to be a CPA in Singapore you need to go through the usual process of attending the one week provisional course, work 3 years in a CPA firm in Singapore, and apply for CPA membership. (That applies even if you have ACCA)

I repeat - there is no need to get both your accounting degree/post grad + ACCA... this could save you the unnecessary agony of taking the ACCA final level (having an accounting degree/post grad would probably entitle you to exemption from quite a lot of modules in ACCA, but it is the final module that is tough and you have to pass them all within the year)