Russell Brennan Keane – Maria Gunning, ACCA affiliate, Athlone IT graduate
From the early stages of secondary school I always had a great interest in the areas of accountancy and finance, so it felt natural for me to pursue a career in accountancy.
In 2007, I graduated from Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) with a BA (Hons) in Accounting. I chose to study ACCA as it is an internationally recognised and celebrated qualification, which sharpens critical thinking and provides a strong business and accounting background. The facility to sit exams twice a year provides students with ample opportunity to complete the exams successfully.
I achieved exemptions from nine papers, leaving me with five remaining. My preference was to have as many exams under my belt before I started my training contract, so I enrolled in a one year full time ACCA course in AIT.
In July 2008, I joined the Roscommon office of Russell Brennan Keane, one of Ireland's leading business advisory and accountancy firms. Training is highly valued in Russell Brennan Keane and we are continuously encouraged to improve our personal and academic skills. Working in a multi disciplinary firm such as Russell Brennan Keane offers great opportunities for trainees to obtain practical experience in a variety of areas, to include accounts preparation, audit and taxation across a wide ranging portfolio of clients. The graduate training programme in the firm is very well structured offering excellent support to all trainees in terms of personal and financial support. With the assistance of the graduate training programme in Russell Brennan Keane I successfully completed my ACCA exams in June 2009.
Since completing my three year training contract, I was promoted to Client Service Senior in the Athlone office. I am gaining more experience in an ever expanding, robust firm, with the confidence that my training in Russell Brennan Keane and my ACCA qualification will benefit me in my future endeavours.
"the ACCA qualification sharpens critical thinking and provides a strong business and accounting background"
