hi,i'm currently an analyst with accenture and considering a move to big 4 to train as an accountant. Interested to hear people's thoughts on such a move as there's a lot of ex accountants in consulting firms. Would you recommend it?

I trained as an accountant and later moved into consulting - I could be further ahead than I am career wise, as I don't think that all of the time spent doing CA training is necessarily recognised, but it's a different skill set, so fair enough. I think that getting a CA qualification gives you a broader set of opportunities than simply consulting, and in times like this, when the market is really competitive, I think it helps give your cv something a little bit different - it's a solid skill set (not always the most interesting!) but firms will always need people who can push the buttons on calculators at the speed of light.What I'm trying to say, in a roundabout way, is that whilst accountancy can be a bit boring, it's a useful qualification and adds that little bit more than simply being a consultant with problem solving skills.It's hard doing the exams when you're used to having free time, but they're not impossible if you put your head down and study for them.Good luck with whatever you decide.

There is no question it's a valuable business qualification, but unless you are facing redundancy why even consider such a prolonged and involved change of direction at this point in your career? If you want to add value and differentiation to your cv look to get yourself staffed on interesting or niche projects, take a part time masters in finance or something relevant to your area and projects experience, or do something interesting extra curricular which will reflect well on you such as a language, a challenging sport, or even some social service like mentoring through a charity for underachieving kids. We are in a downturn, but like in all things that which goes down fast comes up fast: all the signs and commentators look to be pointing to green shoots and there are signs of confidence returning. Don't base your career on one recession - you'll get to experience more of these yet.

Typical consulting answer: it depends what you want to do long term.If you want to be in audit or in industry as an accountant, then, yes, recommended. With your background you should have good chances of getting a training position.If you still want to do consulting / change but want to have more content or credibility, then it would not payback. You be better off doing a finance master or something specific as recommended by trinny. If it is definitely an accounting qualification what you want, you can do CIMA or ACCA while still working for Accenture. You should get support from your counsel. This has many advantages, as you can set the pace and you keep accumulating consulting experience.Good luck

As above it really does depend on what you want to do. But looking at your experience wholistically, having a background in both IT and acountancy would open doors and enable you to operate in a niche, yet high demand market.As a basic example you would be well placed to implement/design finance IT systems. Which, if they work well can be extremley lucrative.I know of an accountant that went the other way and got into IT. Witht he combined skill set he set up his own niche consultancy firm and now is a market leader in implementing Point of sale equipment (i.e. cash registers), as his POS machines can deliver the required managemet information straight from the till.Another example is designing software that facilittes tax calculations/retruns etc.These are just examples, but it dpends if this is the sort of field you want to get into.

Hi,Question on this topic. Currently at ACN, but in solutions. Want to move in another direction so I have started and completed my CIMA quals. Can I get into another service line at ACN?, thought I would have to move to progress?

F&PM would be most likely. Maybe the broader FS group but certainly there are people in F&PM doing that qual. presumably because it's the kind of work they do.

BR, apart of F&PM as anon said, you may want to explore AIMS, or ERP areas (SAP, Oracle) of SI&T.