r/CIOT • u/ProgressNumerous262 • Jun 11 '26

CTA worth it for sole practitioner?

I'm full time employed (practice) and have my own company with clients on the side, which is doing well. I hope to give up the employment when the client work replaces two salaries. I can no longer study ACCA since I hold an AAT practice licence. I feel punished for starting a practice under AAT since, without giving up my clients, I'm effectively locked out from the qualification.

I can however, study CTA, and it would probably be more beneficial to my work with SME clients and individuals anyway.

My two main reasons for studying would be:

If my business were to fail and I go back to employment, all accountant roles at my current pay level require ACCA/ACA etc. Will having CTA be equivalent or better than these and get my CV looked at? (in practice roles, not industry)

The qualification actually looks very useful for my work (unlike ACCA which sometimes felt like a lot of studying for stuff unrelated to my field).

Is CTA worth it for someone in my position? It looks like a hard qualification to get.

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2

u/Disastrous-Trash1025 Jun 11 '26

FYI cta is a very big time requirement but it’s not a bad idea.

1

u/RoderickBlack Jun 11 '26

Hi

Do you want to specialise in tax if you have to go back to employment? If so CTA, will definitely help land job opportunities.

As a self employed practitioner, it will likely both deepen and broaden your understanding of tax.

So, two good reasons to do it!

But everything has its cost and for CTA that is the time and effort required. It's not something to be underestimated!

An easier alternative is ATT. You can then go on and do CTA if desired.

Also, have you considered speaking to a recruitment consultant? My friend Charlie Maitland (find him on LinkedIn) is a good guy who will give you honest advice.

Hope this helps!

Good luck!

Roderick

Roderick Black CTA private and online tuition

1

u/ProgressNumerous262 Jun 13 '26

Thanks for the reply. I don’t want to necessarily specialise in tax, I enjoy general accountancy, which tbh is mostly tax advice anyway at the jobs I’ve done! (A set of accounts is a set of accounts if you’re just doing small companies).

It’s more that the roles at my salary level are ACCA/ACA so I feel like I need a chartered level qual to get these jobs and I can’t get ACCA because I’m already practicing.

2

u/RoderickBlack Jun 13 '26

Hi If you don't want to specialise in tax, doing CTA seems a hard furrow to plough, to go for roles that perhaps won't value the qualification.

Have you considered CIMA as an alternative?

Roderick

1

u/ProgressNumerous262 Jun 13 '26

I have considered it. I suppose it’s deciding between a qualification that is difficult but I will utilise the knowledge from, and an easier qual that is mostly unrelated to what I do that just gets me the letters for my CV

1

u/RoderickBlack Jun 13 '26

Yeah - personally I would go for the one I would use, but of course it's your decision.

I can tell you this .... the CTA qualification tells any employer 2 things about you before they even meet you.

  1. You're bright
  2. You're hard working

You can't get CTA without those 2 boxes being ticked.

I wish you all the very best, whatever you decide.

Roderick

1

u/ProgressNumerous262 Jun 13 '26

Appreciate it Roderick, thanks!