r/AccountantsEire

Honestly a bit more of a rant about the unprofessionalism of some companies here in Ireland.

For context, I am a fully qualified accountant with 2 years PQE who went travelling for 6 months in October 2025. I left my audit role and knew that when I came back to Ireland I’d be on the search for a role as a financial accountant within industry.

I have applied for several suitable roles, and went through multiple rounds of calls / interviews for two roles in particular. I made it to the final round in both of these roles and was told that I was the successful candidate in both, I even received the formal offer of a role with one of the companies. BOTH of these roles have been rescinded literally within 24 hours of being told I was successful/offered the role for “operational” purposes, such as budget not being available for the role, and a vague reasoning of “emails from the top” in the role that I had been offered.

I don’t know if I’ve just been incredibly unlucky but I’ve literally never experienced anything like it. It seems really unprofessional to go through an entire interview process with individuals, offer them roles, and then rescind the role/offer at the very last minute.

Thankfully I’m in a few other processes at the moment, and I’m not in a desperate situation where I urgently need a job, but it’s just incredibly frustrating and I wanted to know if anyone else had been through this before?

Hi everyone
Just looking for some genuine advice/opinions from people already working in accounting or tax.
I recently accepted a Tax Trainee role with a firm starting in June. The company will support whichever qualification route, but I’m really torn between ACA and CTA.

My degree is quite broad with Economics rather than pure accounting, so I don’t come from a strong accounting background. I’ve done a decent amount of economics and business throughout both my degree and Leaving Cert, but I’m definitely not someone who studied accounting for years beforehand.

I’m interested in learning more about accounting and tax, but I don’t know anyone personally in either field, so it’s hard to get real opinions outside of company websites.

A few things I’m wondering…..
- Which route did you choose and why?
- Is ACA better long term for flexibility/career progression?
- Is CTA too specialised early on?
- How difficult is ACA for someone without a heavy accounting background?
- Did anyone start in tax and regret not doing ACA instead?
- Is ACA manageable while working full time if you’re not naturally an accounting person?

I also know I should have at least one exemption for CTA from my degree, but I’m still waiting on my final college results in June so I’m unsure yet what ACA exemptions I’d qualify for.

Would really appreciate honest opinions from people actually working in the industry because it’s surprisingly hard to find genuine experiences online.
Thanks :)

#ACA #CTA #ACCA #Accounting #Tax #Accountancy #TraineeAccountant #TaxTrainee #CharteredAccountant #Ireland #IrishAccounting #Big4 #FinanceCareers #AccountingStudent #CareerAdvice

Found the paper mixed. Not sure how I did to be honest. Completely botched the Cahir/FSL question. How did everyone else find it?

Hi all, let’s get some transparency going. Use the template below to share your current package and workload:

Role/Level: (e.g., Audit Senior, Financial Controller)

Qualification: (e.g., Trainee, NQ, 5+ YOE)

Sector: (e.g., Big 4, Industry - Tech, SME)

Location: (Dublin, Cork, Regional, etc.)

Base Salary:

Bonus/Benefits:

Weekly Hours: (Normal vs. Busy Season)

Hybrid Split: ---

Example:

Role: Fund Accountant

Qualification: ACCA (3 YOE)

Sector: FS

Salary: €58,000 + 10% Bonus

Hours: 40 (consistent)

Hybrid: 2 days office / 3 days home

Anyone do the mock yet? If so, how did you find it?

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to hear some real experiences from people who left a training contract before qualifying.
I’m about 8 months into a Big 4 ACA training contract in Ireland and lately I’ve been thinking that the traditional ACA route might not actually be for me long term. I’m considering moving into another role, possibly outside practice.

My contract mentions repayment of study/training costs if I leave early, but I wanted to know what actually happened for people in real life.
Did your firm ask you to repay anything?
If yes, roughly how much was it and at what stage were you at (CAP1/CAP2/FAE)?

Also curious about:
- whether it was taken from final salary
- if the amount was negotiable
- how the resignation process went
- any challenges afterwards
- whether you felt leaving early was the right decision in the end

If you don’t want to share numbers publicly, feel free to DM me instead.
Would genuinely appreciate hearing honest experiences because I’m feeling a bit stuck trying to figure out my next step.

I’ve been slacking with revision and only properly starting CAP2 revision today. What is the best way to do it?? I’m stressing I’ve left it too late

Doing all 4 exams and still have most of the learnings to do online

Hi fellow number crunchers,

I have a question, I am working in corporate finance.

Should I pursue ACCA or ACA. I have 9 exemptions from ACCA need to check the story with ACA.

Does it really matter which one I do?

Any help would be beneficial.

Thanks

Good luck to anyone sitting Part 3 exams this week!! How are you feeling about them? I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen with domestic tomorrow.

Totally unrelated, but how are employers generally if you fail a CTA attempt?

Hi - I am trying to start my studies for FAE and have (some) notes made up for each of Core subjects. However, at present, I have nothing for Tax NI, in fact I have done no work so far for it which is worrying me.

If there is anyone on here who has PDF notes (even if from previous years) that they wouldn't mind sharing I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

Anyone else sitting the exams next week? How are we feeling?

GL

https://limewire.com/d/rDRMv#2VTP3SzIcP

which program is generally considered better? i know a majority of people on this sub do/did aca but ive heard that the acca training route is a bit easier and more flexible, and also globally recognized. just wondering which one would ye recommend more, what are the major differences, etc

Hi everyone,
I’m currently studying for CAP1 and I’m starting to panic a bit. I wasn’t able to fully finish the Adaptive Learning modules or completely cover the syllabus before exam prep started.
Right now, I’m mainly focusing on:
Practising the sample paper exam
Doing the practice questions at the end of each Adaptive Learning session
Working through the mock exam
For anyone who has already sat CAP1 exams, do you think this is enough preparation to pass if I focus heavily on understanding these questions and practising exam technique?
Also, how similar are the sample paper, mock, and Adaptive Learning questions compared to the actual exam paper? Are the real exam questions usually in the same style/difficulty, or are they noticeably harder/different?
Just trying to figure out whether I should keep drilling practice questions or if I’m in trouble by not fully finishing the syllabus. Any advice or honest experiences would really help. Thanks!