Suzanna Cummins was working in the Bank of Scotland when she decided to get a professional qualification with ACCA. The Bank of Scotland part-funded her studies and gave her study leave when she needed to do exams. Sponsorship, financial assistance and study leave are becoming more and more widespread from companies who believe that your professional qualification will be of benefit to them. The certificate Suzanna gained rendered her a professional accountant and also gave her the internationally recognised designation of ACCA after her name. ACCA enabled her to work on a professional basis using her professional experience.
She decided to get the qualification with ACCA because of the flexibility offered by the study programme as she was still able to work during the day. She explains that there was a great deal of flexibility with the course structure and the exams you choose to take, describing the night classes as “almost modular in structure”. It was also an advantage that with ACCA you don’t have to be in an accounting job to be able to do the exams. She explains that the qualification “opened opportunities” to her and found that ACCA was ”so flexible you can work in industry, banking, the public sector and many other fields”.
Suzanna was also greatly impressed by the worldwide recognition of the ACCA qualification but she says the extent to which ACCA was recognised and valued overseas did not really hit her until she went to work in Slovakia and got a job in KPMG largely due to her ACCA qualification. “The main reason I got the job was because I was ACCA-qualified, together with the experience in banking that I already had”, she explains, emphasising that the two components acted as “a springboard into a professional organisation” for her. She explains that KPMG in Central Europe took on new trainees who were ACCA-qualified rather than chartered accountants so her ACCA qualification proved invaluable in securing her job with KPMG. Having worked in Central Europe, Asia, Africa and the USA Suzanna has seen first-hand how her ACCA qualification has provided her with professional recognition all over the world.
Suzanna completed her studies and gained the ACCA qualification as a professional accountant within 4 years and found the course rewarding and of huge benefit in her professional career. She says: “the ACCA qualification has given me an awful lot of skills that I continue to use in my professional career, especially the persistence to continue to study and remain focused”. Though the studying can test your persistence, the qualification gives you a great deal of flexibility in your career, allowing you to go into a wide range of different sectors in places all over the world. For this reason alone she would recommend others do it too. She is also enthusiastic about ACCA’s continuous efforts to change the syllabus in accordance with the changing demands and focuses within the accounting industry.
She is currently working as a Consultant Manager in Grant Thornton and says that “the ACCA certificate, together with her experience, went hand-in-hand to lead her into this career”.
