Leap of faith sure adds up!

A leap of faith has resulted in a Galway man jumping from life as a sheet metal worker to securing one of the top marks in the country in the Diploma for Accounting Technicians programme this year.

Damien Tierney is now armed with a qualification that is recognised as the fastest pathway to a professional accounting career.

The 30-year old from Moycullen has been working as a general operative but took the course as he was keen to work in the accountancy sector.

“I found the course to be challenging, especially as I was studying part-time,” he said.

“However it gave me a great deal of knowledge on business entities and how they account for financial transactions.

“The practical element of the course in year two on SAGE and Excel is particularly relevant to the workplace as you learn about the packages used when preparing accounts.

“I hope the course can help me secure employment with an accountancy practice and I can definitely say it has given me a very solid foundation for any future studies that I may pursue.”

Accounting Technicians Ireland is the leading professional accounting technicians’ body, with more than 10,000 members and students across the island of Ireland.

Founded in 1983, ATI provides a nationally and internationally recognised accounting qualification.

Graduates are employed in industry, commerce, private practice and the public sector.

ATI’s qualifications, offered full or part-time in over 70 colleges throughout the island, are open to school and college leavers, mature students and the countless number of people who have been working in industry or small practice firms for years but have no formal training.

The accounting qualification provides access to employment opportunities for a broad range of accounting and finance roles and will enable students to further progress to senior financial management posts.

Accounting Technicians are qualified accounting professionals that work at all levels of finance throughout the private and public sector, industry and commerce and in accountancy practices.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.