Not entirely a consulting related question but I’ve followed the forum for a while and would appreciate some good advice.Started to work in London 2 years ago in a transaction services advisory role for one of the big four. I thought it would be a more business and client facing role that brought together financial and commercial elements of M&A rather than the accounting/financial due diligence that it has revealed itself to be. I’ve learnt a lot yet after 2 years I’ve found it very rigorous and challenging for the wrong reasons. I’ve found the ACA element and study a real pain and time consuming. I don’t mind putting the effort and hours in but I think I’ve always thought of the ACA as a way to gain some skills and leverage once qualified for a a more business development/advisory role in a commercial background. The bottom line is, I’m not too keen on being an accountant and I think I may have diverted too much from my skills and interests. My strengths lie more in working on business issues and in a commercial environment, I do like the financial side but on its own it feels a bit hollow and dry. So, I’m faced with the prospect: battle it out for another 1 or 2 years, gain some credibility and then move on into a more commercial environment, or re-start from a grad position? If so, doing what?Not really sure what my present job could lead onto I don’t want to end up working in a finance department of a company, and if I’m wasting my time I prefer to accept the error and start afresh. Any advice welcome, thanks!

Mike,I'd definitely stay and qualify as a chartered accountant. I'm a qualified ACA that has never worked as an accountant. I like Accounting but I simply dislike the job itself. However, an ACA qualification signals quality and commitment and it is always an asset, no matter where you work post-qualification. Besides, your Big Four experience will help you in the future. You will gain nothing from leaving now. George

Mike, George is absolutely right.The ACA - and the Big 4 experience - will both be real assets later in your career; just because you have the ACA there is no reason why you have to become an accountant, instead look at it as an addition to your skills/tools. In some environments it is more useful and applicable than an MBA too. Stick with it for a year or two and try to balance things out with some interests out of work, and look around internally to see if you can get involved in some more commercial projects to spice things up a little.

I think many transactions juniors feel the same way. Have a moment of sympathy for the audit juniors though...As above, gut it through, & I would suggest you get ahead of the game with respect to your next move - a year or so before you qualify start beating a path towards the advisory/consultancy side of the business.A lot of people from the ACA side are now looking to move to the revamped consultancy arms in the Big4, so internal competition can be high.Leverage your network to get introduced to some of the partners, try to get involved in a project or two, & scratch it all down on whatever career development process your company runs.

Another vote for seeing out your ACA. You will be very grateful you did further on down the line.

There's a recession coming. Do you do an ACA or learn PowerPoint. Discuss.How about getting into the Business Recovery department? How more commercial are you going to get? Some wishy washy project management ain't going to do that.

Thanks for all the replies. It confirmed my feeling that I should stick it out. I have felt more positive about the job although the current climate means that demand is even more erratic than usual.Regarding post-qualification options, what sort of fields (consulting or not) could I try and get into with this sort of background? I don't want to move too much into hardcore finance/quant roles (possibly industry would be better?)Any advice - as always - very much appreciated! Mike

Mike,It seems like you've made up your mind but just to add some thoughts. I presume you have just finished, or are near completing the professional stage of the ACA? This can be very technical, and sometimes less interesting for the more commercialy minded ACA student. I have just completed the advances stage, and can tell you that it is more commercially focused, and more interesting (for me anyway) than the professional stage.I'm sure you have numerate geeks in your class as I did; who'd get near 100% on all the exams. When it came to the professional stage they were firmly in the middle of the quartile table. This is becasue they didn't have the commercial acumen to excell.Finally, the case study exam, has an appriximate 75% commercial focus. I'm sure you're aware of this; where you have to digest 60 odd pages of material before hand, along with carying out your own industry analysis. Then in the case study itself you have 4 hours to digest another 15 odd pages of materials, and essentially put together a complete bussiness plan from scratch, including financial and commercial analysis of the bussiness in question and the sector (all including executive summary, title and contents pages). Its these sort of things at the advnaced stage that will prepare you for a role in consulting.

Just to add my bit in here...I had very similar feelings as I went through the ACA qualification process but stuck to it. After qualifying, I shifted internally to M&A advisory and found it much more interesting. After doing my MBA in the US, I have now made the transition to consulting at the MBBB level. All this to say that the ACA does not confine you to being an accountant all your life but instead provides a strong foundation in business and credibility in the commercial world.Good luck