icaew training file submission
ACA General

How/When To Submit Your ICAEW Training File To Become ACA Qualified

If only becoming ACA qualified was as ‘simple’ as passing all the requirements and automatically receiving the formal certificate. In order to become officially ACA qualified, you must submit your ICAEW training file yourself. Although I had met all requirements of the Level 7 Apprenticeship early in September, it was only a few weeks after …

skin and diet
Other Experiences Other

Skin and Diet? The Gradual Shocking Deterioration of my Skin – Part 2

Part 1 revealed exactly how disastrous my skin had suddenly become. I was diagnosed with disseminated secondary eczema in late 2016 that had no cure. However, as stated, I began to realise that things did not quite add up. If it was triggered by an allergic reaction, why did my skin allergy patch test come …

studying and working
ACA General

How to Make ACA Studying and Working Full-Time Easy

In all honestly, I have not found balancing studying and working full-time very difficult to manage. To give you some background, I work in audit at a Big 4 firm. I sat the first twelve ACA exams within one year of starting my graduate scheme. This involved sitting three Professional Level exams at a time …

skin patch test
Other Other Experiences

The Gradual Shocking Deterioration of my Skin: Eczema or Psoriasis? – Part 1

Today is the day I have decided to take you along the very difficult journey I have had in somewhat recent years with my skin. Growing up, I fortunately had never suffered with eczema, psoriasis or anything of the sort. I had only really experienced mild acne on my face. This all changed in March …

Big 4 Interview Tips
Corporate Careers

11 Big 4 Interview Tips to Pass with Flying Colours

After interviewing for jobs since the age of sixteen, I would like to think I am actually pretty good at interviews by this point. I have worked my way through many roles: a drinks maker, an events promoter, a business analyst, a secondary school Maths teacher, to finally in September 2018, landing myself an external …

ACA Certificate Level exams study tips
ACA Certificate Level

ACA Certificate Level Exams (ICAEW CFAB) – Successful Study Tips

Next week will be exactly three years since I started my ACA journey with a Big Four employer. Within the first three months of starting my training contract, I completed all six ACA Certificate Level exams. Exams felt very new to me again as after graduating, I did a year of teaching before starting my …

pass BST
ACA Professional Level

How To Successfully Pass BST – ICAEW ACA Business Strategy and Technology

This exam is an ICAEW ACA exam that I would describe to be a lighter exam. BST is much less content heavy than the other Professional Level exams but this does not necessarily mean it is easy. The exam is very applied and answering the questions well takes some level of skill. I found with …

accounting for beginners jags journey book
ACA Certificate Level General

My First Book: “Accounting For Beginners – The Basics: CakeShop Edition”

This is a blog post I cannot believe I am writing but I am so excited to share this news with you… I have written and published my first book!! It is a pinch me moment for sure but honestly, so much time and energy has gone into this book. If you are starting the …

pass FAR
ACA Professional Level

Pass FAR – How to Score an Unbelievable 100% In ICAEW ACA Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR)

Perhaps this blog title is quite unbelievable as I did not score 100% in FAR but I did get a pretty decent 79. That being said, I was very confident I did well following this exam. I believe I have learnt a great revision strategy to do very well in this exam and secure a …

invisalign maintenance and duration
Invisalign Other Experiences

Invisalign Maintenance and the Shocking Actual Duration Revealed

Thank you for staying tuned with my Invisalign journey. So far I have covered details about the initial consultation, the first fitting and the unexpected first weeks of Invisalign. In this blog, I would like to continue with this Invisalign journey but share details that are more unknown at the start of the treatment. This …

Corporate Careers

A Career in External Audit – An Insightful Deep Dive into “What is Audit?”

Do you want to know more about a career in external audit? I am currently an external audit assistant manager at a Big Four firm and wanted to pull this blog together to give you an insight into the role. Before I get into the details, you should know that I started my graduate scheme …

fail corporate reporting (CR)
ACA Advanced Level

How to Almost Fail Corporate Reporting (CR) – ACA Advanced Level

This blog is one that I actually wrote straight after the CR exam in August 2020. The funny thing is, it was initially meant to be called “How to Fail Corporate Reporting (CR)” but the “almost” got added in following my result. Shocked was an understatement and I will talk you exactly through all of …