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Maiki Lynch: Hey there, I'm Maiki Lynch and I'm an accountant. And

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Maiki Lynch: in this series from ACCA, I'm sitting down with some

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Maiki Lynch: other accountants and people who work in finance to lift

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Maiki Lynch: the lid on some of the common myths you might

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Maiki Lynch: have fallen for about this awesome career path. This week,

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Maiki Lynch: we are looking at the process of actually getting an

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Maiki Lynch: accountancy qualification. With so many routes into the profession, many

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Maiki Lynch: of which we've heard about on the series, it can

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Maiki Lynch: feel a bit overwhelming. Because the thing is, you can be

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Maiki Lynch: an accountant without having any specific accountancy qualification, but to

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Maiki Lynch: be a chartered accountant, you do need one. And for

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Maiki Lynch: most people, getting an accountancy qualification like ACCA can take

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Maiki Lynch: several years, requires quite a bit of studying, and can cost

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Maiki Lynch: a bit of money too. It's a commitment. So is

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Maiki Lynch: the training really hard? Are they good resources to pass

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Maiki Lynch: the accountancy exams or do you have to go it alone?

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Maiki Lynch: And are there benefits to getting through the tests even

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Maiki Lynch: if you've already started working? Let's find out. This is

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Maiki Lynch: By All Accounts. Now, this is a subject I happen

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Maiki Lynch: to know quite a lot about, and that's because although

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Maiki Lynch: I have an accountancy qualification, I've spent the past 10

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Maiki Lynch: years working in the education of future accountants. I've taught

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Maiki Lynch: many school- leavers, those on apprenticeship schemes, grad schemes, and

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Maiki Lynch: those more experienced hires sponsored by their employer to complete

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Maiki Lynch: their training. Everyone's path is different, and what gaining that

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Maiki Lynch: qualification means is personal to each of us, whether that

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Maiki Lynch: be the letters we can place behind our name, the

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Maiki Lynch: job we can land, the knowledge and skills we've gained,

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Maiki Lynch: or the salary we are now awarded. So I found

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Maiki Lynch: two people who currently work in accounting and finance, alongside

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Maiki Lynch: studying their accountancy exams, to ask, is the training worth it?

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Maiki Lynch: First up, Ravi Tanna. Hello.

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Ravi Tanna: Hi,  nice  to meet you.

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Maiki Lynch: And Xhulja Duka, welcome.

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Xhulja Duka: Nice  to  meet  you.

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Maiki Lynch: Ravi,  I'm  going  to  come  to  you  first  and  ask, 

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Maiki Lynch: how's  the  studying  going?

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Ravi Tanna: It's  very  stressful,  to  be  honest.  I  started  ACCA  about 

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Ravi Tanna: 10  years  ago.  I  actually  did  AAT  before  that so  I 

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Ravi Tanna: had  three  exemptions,  and  then I  did  the  tax  exam  past 

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Ravi Tanna: that  and  then  did  the  financial  reporting  and  I  got 

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Ravi Tanna: 49%.  And  I  decided  to  give  it  up  after  that 

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Ravi Tanna: because  my  confidence  was  really  knocked.  I  just  couldn't  get 

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Ravi Tanna: back  into  it.  Mentally,  I  just  couldn't  do  it.  And 

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Ravi Tanna: then  I  decided  just  to  work  my  way  up.  I 

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Ravi Tanna: qualified  by  experience.  And  that's  what  I've  been  doing  for 

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Ravi Tanna: the  last  10  years.  And  the  latest  role  I'm  in 

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Ravi Tanna: is  for  a  qualified  accountant,  but  everyone  around  me  is 

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Ravi Tanna: qualified  and  I  just  feel  like  it's  a  piece  of 

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Ravi Tanna: me  that's  missing.  So  I've  went  back  into  it  last 

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Ravi Tanna: year  and  started  again,  ACCA.

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Maiki Lynch: Wow,  that's  quite  a  journey.

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Ravi Tanna: Yeah, it's a journey.

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Maiki Lynch: And  when  you're  saying  49,  what's  the  pass  mark?

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Ravi Tanna: It's  50.

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Maiki Lynch: Oh,  so  only one mark to go?

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Ravi Tanna: Yeah. And  I  put  so  many  hours  into it and I  just  felt  like 

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Ravi Tanna: this  is  not  for  me  now. And then, as I say,  my  confidence  was  knocked 

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Ravi Tanna: big  time  and  then  I  decided  to  give  it  up. 

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Ravi Tanna: I  thought  I'd  just focus  on  working  my  way  up  in 

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Ravi Tanna: a  company  and  that's what  I  did,  basically.

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Maiki Lynch: Can  I  ask  what  made  you  come  back?  What  made 

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Maiki Lynch: you  start again?

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Ravi Tanna: I always felt  it  was  like  a  piece  of  me  that  was 

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Ravi Tanna: missing.  I  feel  like  if  I'm  working  in an  accountancy,  a 

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Ravi Tanna: role,  I  just  feel  like  it's  something  I  need  to 

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Ravi Tanna: do.  So  I  thought  I'm  going  to  give  it  one 

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Ravi Tanna: more  shot.  And  I  started  last  year  and  I  found 

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Ravi Tanna: a  provider  that  I  felt  they  were  really  good  and 

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Ravi Tanna: I  started  passing  the  exams  again  and  then  my  confidence 

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Ravi Tanna: built  up.  But  the  first  result  I  was  waiting  for 

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Ravi Tanna: last  year  when  I  went  back  into  it  was  nerve 

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Ravi Tanna: wracking.  Those  three  months,  four  months  were  the  worst.  Even 

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Ravi Tanna: when  I  passed,  I  didn't  open  my  results  up  for 

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Ravi Tanna: two  days.  And  my  tutor  contacted  me  saying, " What  did 

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Ravi Tanna: you  get?"  I  said, " I'm  not  going  to  open  my 

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Ravi Tanna: results  up."  So  I  was  on  holiday  and  I  opened 

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Ravi Tanna: it  up  there and then I passed and I  couldn't  believe  it.  Honestly,  I  couldn't  believe it.

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Maiki Lynch: How did  it  feel?

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Ravi Tanna: I  felt  like  I  won  the lottery.  I  think  you  put 

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Ravi Tanna: so  much  effort  into  it  and  so  many  hours  and 

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Ravi Tanna: you  sacrifice  your  social  life and  it  affects  everything  like  your  day- to-

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Ravi Tanna: day.  So  I  felt  like  it  meant  a  lot  to 

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Ravi Tanna: me.  And  especially  going  back  into  it  after  10  years, 

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Ravi Tanna: I  just  felt...  All  I  keep  saying  to  everyone  is, "

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Ravi Tanna: I'm  studying,  I'm  studying."  So  it  was  worth  the  sacrifice 

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Ravi Tanna: I  made  and  then I  just  slowly  got  back  into  it and 

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Ravi Tanna: started  doing  the  exams  again.

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Maiki Lynch: That's  fantastic.  And  how  many have you got to go?

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Ravi Tanna: I've  got  five  more  now.

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Maiki Lynch: Five more to go.

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Ravi Tanna: Yeah.  I  did  the  financial  management  exam  and  I  failed 

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Ravi Tanna: that  in  the  summer,  because  I  had  year- end,  so 

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Ravi Tanna: it's  a  combination  of  both.  And  then  I  just  stopped 

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Ravi Tanna: it  again.  So  I  went  and  did  it  again  in 

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Ravi Tanna: December,  so  I'm  waiting  for  my  results  next  week.  Yeah.

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Maiki Lynch: It's  only a few  days  out.

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Ravi Tanna: It's  a  few  days  out,  yeah.

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Maiki Lynch: We're just waiting for  results  at  the  moment.

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Ravi Tanna: Yeah,  we are.  Next  Monday.

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Maiki Lynch: A  few  days  until  they come out. And  you  touched  on  that  you 

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Maiki Lynch: were  focusing  on  getting  qualified  by  experience.  Where are  you  working 

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Maiki Lynch: at  the  moment  and  what  do  you  do?

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Ravi Tanna: I  work for ERM  and  they're  based  in  Liverpool  Street  in  London 

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Ravi Tanna: and  they're  an  environmental  consultancy,  so  they're  backed  by  a 

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Ravi Tanna: private  equity.  So  I'm  doing  a  group  accountant  role  there 

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Ravi Tanna: now.  Yeah,  so I actually love the role.  The  team  are  amazing  and they're  very  supportive. 

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Ravi Tanna: And  I  think  where you're  working,  as  well,  is  really  important. 

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Ravi Tanna: If  they  understand  your  studies  and  if  they  give  you 

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Ravi Tanna: that  sort  of  understanding,  I  think  you  can  actually  get 

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Ravi Tanna: your  exams.

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Maiki Lynch: Okay. And Xhulja , if we can come to you, what

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Maiki Lynch: do you do? Where do you work? Can you tell

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Maiki Lynch: us a little bit about your job?

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Xhulja Duka: Of  course.  So  at  the  moment  I'm  working as  a  financial 

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Xhulja Duka: analyst  associate  at  Nomad  Foods.  It's a  really  great  job.  It 

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Xhulja Duka: gives  you  opportunities  to  grow,  especially  if  you've  got  the 

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Xhulja Duka: ACCA  title,  which  I'm  working  towards  on.  So  it's  a 

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Xhulja Duka: very  nice  environment.  It's  a  big  company  with  many  opportunities 

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Xhulja Duka: to  socialize  but  also  to  grow  and  to  travel,  as 

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Xhulja Duka: well,  because  we  are  currently  collaborating  with  Germany.  Their  finance 

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Xhulja Duka: department  is  moving  to  London.  So  I  found  myself  there 

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Xhulja Duka: in  this  amazing  team  and  I'm  currently  very  happy  with 

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Xhulja Duka: my  job.

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Maiki Lynch: That's  fantastic.  And  can  we  ask,  where are  you  in  your 

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Maiki Lynch: studies  at  the  moment?

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Xhulja Duka: Basically,  I'm  done  with  the  practical  practice  of  ACCA  because 

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Xhulja Duka: since  I  started  uni,  to  be  honest,  I  started  my 

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Xhulja Duka: journey  with  ACCA,  as  well.  At  the  same  time  I 

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Xhulja Duka: was  working,  I  looked  for  an  internship.  And  as  soon 

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Xhulja Duka: as  I  said, " I'm  working  towards  ACCA,"  they  said, " Okay, 

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Xhulja Duka: good.  There's  an  ambitious  girl  who  has  work  ethic,"  of 

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Xhulja Duka: course.  Because  that's  what  ACCA  gives  you,  basically.  It  makes 

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Xhulja Duka: you  more  reliable  and  more  professional  to  people,  which  is 

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Xhulja Duka: very  important  in  the  financial  career.  You  are  dealing  with 

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Xhulja Duka: money,  you  are  dealing  with  different  assets.  So  it's  really 

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Xhulja Duka: important  for  people  to  trust  your  ethics  and  professionalism.  That's when 

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Xhulja Duka: I  started.  Now  I  have  only  two  exams  left  so 

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Xhulja Duka: I  can  reach  to  the  next  stage  of  my  career 

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Xhulja Duka: and  become  a  full  analyst.  And  this  is  what  ACCA 

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Xhulja Duka: does,  basically.  It  helps  you  grow.

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Maiki Lynch: That's a  fantastic  answer.  So  you've  only  got  two  exams  left 

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Maiki Lynch: to  do.

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Xhulja Duka: Yeah.

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Maiki Lynch: So  you've  passed  many  exams  so  far.  What  does  it 

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Maiki Lynch: feel  like  to  pass  when  you've  opened  that  email  or 

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Maiki Lynch: that  text  message  that  gives  you  your  passing  mark?

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Xhulja Duka: It's  the  greatest  satisfaction  to  see  your  achievements  become  true, 

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Xhulja Duka: your  dreams  become  true.  In  a  way,  you  feel  properly 

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Xhulja Duka: that  all  this  investment  that  you've  put  on  all  this 

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Xhulja Duka: time,  everything  that  you  had  to  invest,  it  gives  you 

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Xhulja Duka: a  reward.  It  has  a  light  in  the  end  of 

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Xhulja Duka: the  tunnel.

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Maiki Lynch: And  could  you  go  over  a  little  bit  about  what 

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Maiki Lynch: investment  there  is?  As  in,  are  we  talking  time,  work? 

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Maiki Lynch: What  goes  into  taking  the  exams  and  what  has  that 

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Maiki Lynch: looked  like  for  you?

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Xhulja Duka: Obviously,  it  requires  a  lot  of  time  management.  Basically,  you 

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Xhulja Duka: need  to  sacrifice  a  lot  of  time,  do  a  lot 

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Xhulja Duka: of  reading,  of  course,  and  be  very  well- prepared.  For 

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Xhulja Duka: me,  it  was  a  sacrifice  that  those  hours  I  could 

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Xhulja Duka: be  working,  but  I  was  instead  studying.  And  in  the 

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Xhulja Duka: end  of  the  day,  as  far  as  I  can  see, 

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Xhulja Duka: progressing  through  my  career,  all  these  hours  that  I  invested 

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Xhulja Duka: in  studying  so  that  I  didn't  go  to  work  or 

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Xhulja Duka: do  socializing  or  do  something  else,  take  a  trip  for 

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Xhulja Duka: myself  or  just  be  on  my  own  time,  basically,  it 

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Xhulja Duka: has  its  rewards;  because  it  helps  you  grow  and  in 

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Xhulja Duka: the  future  it  helps  you  earn  more  money  and  be 

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Xhulja Duka: in  another  position  for  yourself,  be  more  independent,  be  more 

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Xhulja Duka: proud  of  yourself,  be  more  professional.

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Maiki Lynch: And  have  you  found  other  people  as  part  of  a 

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Maiki Lynch: student  community?  Is  there  a  community  of  those  who  are  studying?

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Xhulja Duka: There  is  a  large  community,  actually.  People  in  finance  or 

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Xhulja Duka: our  people  aim  towards  ACCA  because  it  is a internationally recognized  title,  of 

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Xhulja Duka: course.  But  I  actually  found  my  study  buddy  in  my 

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Xhulja Duka: friend  at  uni.  She  was  an  ambitious  girl,  like  all 

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Xhulja Duka: 70%  plus.  So  we  joined  together  and  we  are  currently 

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Xhulja Duka: studying  towards  ACCA  so  we  can  have  it  in  our 

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Xhulja Duka: pocket,  let's  say.

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Maiki Lynch: That's  lovely.  That's  really  lovely.  What's  been  hard?  Has  there 

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Maiki Lynch: been  any  bumps  in  the  road  in  your  journey  through 

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Maiki Lynch: the  qualification?

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Xhulja Duka: Of  course,  because  life  happens  when  we  are  busy  doing 

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Xhulja Duka: other  things;  like  family  time  that  required  money,  attention,  loss 

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Xhulja Duka: of  travel  because  of  work,  university  studies,  as  well,  at 

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Xhulja Duka: the  same  time.  So  I  was  doing  three  jobs  and 

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Xhulja Duka: ACCA  at  the  same  time.

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Maiki Lynch: Three  jobs?

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Xhulja Duka: Yes.

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Maiki Lynch: Wow.

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Xhulja Duka: So  time  management  is  a  quality  that  was  a  must 

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Xhulja Duka: for  me.  But  still,  even  with  three  jobs  and  life 

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Xhulja Duka: happening  on  the  other  side  in  uni,  I'm  telling  you, 

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Xhulja Duka: you  can  still  do  ACCA  and  still  excel  on  it.

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Maiki Lynch: I  think  that's  a  really  inspiring  message  to  hold  down 

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Maiki Lynch: three  roles  and  still  be  continuing  with  your  studies  with 

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Maiki Lynch: that  goal  of  getting  to  the  end.  That's  really  lovely 

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Maiki Lynch: to  hear.  Ravi,  I  want  to  come  back  to  you. How do you 

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Maiki Lynch: think  your  job  will  change  when  you've  completed  your  exams? 

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Maiki Lynch: You've  got  five  to go.

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Ravi Tanna: I  think  my  job  will  still  stay  the  same,  but 

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Ravi Tanna: there'll  be  opportunity  to  be  promoted  in  the  company,  maybe 

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Ravi Tanna: more  management  positions.  Or  if  I  want  to  leave,  in 

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Ravi Tanna: say  five  or  10  years,  there'll  be  other  opportunities  worldwide. 

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Ravi Tanna: So  I think because  ACCA  is  recognized  worldwide,  so  it's a good  qualification  to 

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Ravi Tanna: have.  You  can  go  and  work  abroad  and  we  have 

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Ravi Tanna: offices  all  around  the  world,  as  well,  so  we  can 

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Ravi Tanna: even  maybe  move  between  those  offices.

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Maiki Lynch: And  what  have  you enjoyed  about  the  process  so  far?  I 

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Maiki Lynch: know  that  your  journey,  you've  started,  you've  stopped,  you've  gone 

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Maiki Lynch: back,  and  now  we're  at  the  point  where  we've  got 

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Maiki Lynch: lots  of  passes  under  our  belts,  we've  got  five  more 

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Maiki Lynch: exams  to  go.  What  have  you  enjoyed  about  the  process 

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Maiki Lynch: so  far?

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Ravi Tanna: I  like  how  when  you  are  practicing  the  studying  and 

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Ravi Tanna: revising  and  you  feel  that  you're  getting  the  answers  right, 

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Ravi Tanna: I  just  feel that you feel  that  you're  achieving  something.  I  think  it is 

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Ravi Tanna: a  self- confidence  thing.  So  I  definitely  feel  that  after 

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Ravi Tanna: passing  these  exams  and  studying  for  the  exams,  it  definitely 

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Ravi Tanna: helps  the  self- confidence.  And  then  that  mirrors  into  your 

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Ravi Tanna: work,  as  well,  because  you  can  apply  a  lot  of 

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Ravi Tanna: the  skills,  the  discipline  and  the  learning  that  you learn through  ACCA 

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Ravi Tanna: into  your  day- to- day  work.  You  don't  realize  it, 

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Ravi Tanna: but  subconsciously  it  does  improve  your  work  standards,  self- confidence.

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Maiki Lynch: Have  you  found  a  student  community?  Is  there  someone  that 

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Maiki Lynch: you are studying with or  a  group  that  you've  worked  with?

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Ravi Tanna: I use  FME  Learning.  They're  a  learning  provider.  And  each  time 

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Ravi Tanna: we  do  a  subject,  the  tutor  creates  a  WhatsApp  group. 

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Ravi Tanna: For  three  months  you  are  in  contact  with  everyone  that's 

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Ravi Tanna: studying  in  that  period.  So  there'll  be  a  lot  of 

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Ravi Tanna: questions  going  back  and  forth  about  any  queries  they  have on 

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Ravi Tanna: an  exam  question  to  the  tutor  and  they've  always  answered 

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Ravi Tanna: it  straight  away.  So there is  a  community  every  three  months  whenever 

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Ravi Tanna: you  do  the  exams  with  this  learning  provider.

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Maiki Lynch: That's  fantastic.

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Ravi Tanna: Yeah.  It's  really good.

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Maiki Lynch: What's  been  difficult  about  progressing  through  your  studies?

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Ravi Tanna: To  be  honest,  I  feel  like  it's  making  time  for 

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Ravi Tanna: yourself,  as  well,  and  your  friends  and  your  partner,  family. 

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Ravi Tanna: And  that's what  I  find  the  most  hard;  because  sometimes  when 

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Ravi Tanna: you  work  in  a  job  Monday  to  Friday,  you  might 

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Ravi Tanna: work  till  say  8: 00  sometimes  or  7: 00,  and 

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Ravi Tanna: then  the  weekend  is  the  only  time  you  get  to 

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Ravi Tanna: relax  and  wind  down.  And  if  you  have  to  go 

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Ravi Tanna: straight  into  your  studies  on  a  Saturday  morning  or  a 

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Ravi Tanna: Friday  evening  and  you  have  to  sacrifice  saying  no  to 

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Ravi Tanna: people,  not  going  on  holidays,  missing  out  on  having  great 

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Ravi Tanna: times  with  your  friends  or  your  partner,  I  feel  that's 

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Ravi Tanna: what's  been  the  most  difficult.  So  just  balancing  everything  in 

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Ravi Tanna: terms  of  saying  no  to  people  and  just  keeping  your 

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Ravi Tanna: head  on  the  studying  game.

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Maiki Lynch: On  the  prize.

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Ravi Tanna: On  the  prize,  yeah.  And  I  took  the  time  out 

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Ravi Tanna: and  I  managed  to  go  and  see  a lot  of  places 

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Ravi Tanna: around  the  world  and  do  scuba  diving,  practice  my  hobbies. 

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Ravi Tanna: But  I  can't  do  that  right  now.  Now  I  have 

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Ravi Tanna: to  say,  look,  you  know  what, I can't  go  away  right  now. I need to 

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Ravi Tanna: just  focus  and  that's  why  I  have  to  sacrifice.  That's 

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Ravi Tanna: the  hardest  thing.

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Maiki Lynch: Is  there  something  that  you'll  reward  yourself  with  when  you 

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Maiki Lynch: do  qualify?

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Ravi Tanna: I would like to travel, maybe just go away for

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Ravi Tanna: three months. I don't know if my employer will allow me, but

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Ravi Tanna: I'd love to just go to the Philippines, Bali or Southeast

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Ravi Tanna: Asia and I just want to go away. I just want to travel. I think that's the

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Ravi Tanna: best thing, honestly.

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Maiki Lynch: Disappear.

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Ravi Tanna: Disappear  and  switch  off.  And  honestly,  I  would  like  to 

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Ravi Tanna: do  it  by  myself,  as  well,  now,  because  I  just 

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Ravi Tanna: imagine  myself  just  sitting  on  a  beach.  Because  even  when you go 

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Ravi Tanna: on  holiday  and  you  know  have  to  come  back  to 

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Ravi Tanna: studying...  Work  is  work,  but  when  you  have  to  come 

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Ravi Tanna: back  studying,  it's  a  big  shock  to  system  to  get 

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Ravi Tanna: back  into  it.  I  think  it  takes  me  about  two 

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Ravi Tanna: to  three  weeks  to  actually  sit  there  on  a  desk 

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Ravi Tanna: on  a  Saturday  and  say, " Look,  just focus  on  that  one 

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Ravi Tanna: thing,"  and  not  look  at  my  phone,  not  watch  TV 

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Ravi Tanna: or  not  go  out  or  anything  like  that.  So  it'd 

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Ravi Tanna: be  nice  just  to  go  away  and  just  completely  switch 

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Ravi Tanna: off  and  not  have  to  think  about  sitting  on  a 

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Ravi Tanna: desk  for  three  months  or  something  like  that  on  the  weekends.

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Maiki Lynch: You're not going to take some ACCA  notes  or  some  light  reading to the  beach?

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Ravi Tanna: Whenever  I've  done  that, I always say I would do that. And then when I take it there,  I  never  look  at  them.  So 

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Ravi Tanna: I  always  feel  just  maybe  just  leave  the  notes  back  home.

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Maiki Lynch: Would  you  do  anything  differently  if  you could go back?

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Ravi Tanna: Yeah, I think  if  I  could  go  back  now,  say  10  years, 

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Ravi Tanna: I  think  I  would've  finished  my...  If  you  can  do that, 

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Ravi Tanna: I  would  feel  that  just  don't  even  work  if  you 

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Ravi Tanna: can  and  maybe  just  do  the  exams  for  a  year 

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Ravi Tanna: or  two  years  and  just  focus  on  your  exams.  Because 

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Ravi Tanna: if  you have the  opportunity  not  to  have  to,  living  at  home 

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Ravi Tanna: or  whatever,  I  say  just  do  your  exams  for  two 

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Ravi Tanna: years,  like  a  university  degree,  and  just  treat  it  like 

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Ravi Tanna: that  and  then  go  into  the  work  world.  Because  I 

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Ravi Tanna: think  work's  always  there  for  you  if  you're  studying  or 

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Ravi Tanna: something  like  that;  but  in  terms  of  exams,  you  need 

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Ravi Tanna: to  give  your  time  to  that.  So  I  would  say 

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Ravi Tanna: I  would've  completed  it  say  10  years  ago  and  just 

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Ravi Tanna: focused  on  my  studies  and  not  focused  on  looking  for 

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Ravi Tanna: a  job  or  working.

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Maiki Lynch: I think there are many different ways of gaining your qualification.

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Maiki Lynch: And obviously, studying full- time is definitely one of them.

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Maiki Lynch: But then I guess you're missing out on the experience

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Maiki Lynch: that you are gaining in the workplace that solidifies what you are learning

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Maiki Lynch: in the classroom, whether that's in person or online. Xhulja ,

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Maiki Lynch: would you change anything? Would you do anything differently if

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Maiki Lynch: you could go back to the start of your studies?

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Xhulja Duka: To  be  honest,  I  was  fully  invested  since  I  started 

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Xhulja Duka: the  journey  with  ACCA  and  I  wouldn't  have  done  anything 

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Xhulja Duka: differently,  even  though  it  cost  me  a  lot,  like  social 

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Xhulja Duka: life  and  everything.  But  I  can  say  with  full  voice, 

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Xhulja Duka: let's  say,  it  was  worth  it  in  the  end.  So 

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Xhulja Duka: everything  was  worth  it  all  the  time.

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Maiki Lynch: That's  lovely.  What  resources  have  you  found  helpful  to  you? You're 

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Maiki Lynch: so  far  through  your  studies,  you  are  almost  at  the 

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Maiki Lynch: end  and  I  hope  you'll  stay  in  touch  and  you'll 

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Maiki Lynch: let  us  know  when  the  end  has  arrived  and  you've 

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Maiki Lynch: got  no  more  studies  left  to  do.  But  what  resources 

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Maiki Lynch: have  you  found  helpful?

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Xhulja Duka: There  are  all  sorts  of  resources  online.  You  have  everything 

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Xhulja Duka: you  need.  But  what  I  use  actually  is  the  Kaplan 

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Xhulja Duka: books  and the  ACCA  resources  to  do  different  mock  tests,  which 

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Xhulja Duka: are  very,  very  helpful.  You  test  yourself  before  you're  going 

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Xhulja Duka: to  the  actual  exam,  so  you  have  the  opportunity  to 

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Xhulja Duka: see  where  you  stand  and  how  far  you  need  to 

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Xhulja Duka: go.  It's  a  clear  mirror.  I  would  suggest  to  all 

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Xhulja Duka: of  the  students,  actually,  firstly  to  start  with  the  mock 

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Xhulja Duka: test,  see  where  you  are,  then  study  through  the  ACCA 

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Xhulja Duka: materials,  Kaplan  books.  Everything  you  need  is  there.  And  if 

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Xhulja Duka: you  find  boring,  like  reading  a  book,  you  are  not 

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Xhulja Duka: the  bookish  type,  there  are  so  many  videos  on  YouTube 

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Xhulja Duka: which  are  very  helpful.

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Maiki Lynch: Thank  you. I  think  that's  great  advice  and  that's  something  that 

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Maiki Lynch: we  also  advise  at  ACCA.  Practice  is  key.  Practice,  practice, 

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Maiki Lynch: practice,  in  terms  of  question  practice  for  your  exam.  Have 

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Maiki Lynch: any  of  the  exams  or  study  helped  specifically  in  your 

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Maiki Lynch: work  so  far?

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Xhulja Duka: Absolutely.  In  the  beginning  when  I  started the  ACCA,  it  was 

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Xhulja Duka: taxation  actually  helped  me  a  lot  because  I  was  working 

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Xhulja Duka: before  in  an  accountancy  office.  So  obviously,  it  helped  me 

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Xhulja Duka: through  the  self- assessment,  different  taxes  for  different  business.  And 

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Xhulja Duka: then  it  was  strategic  business  leader,  which  I  actually  just 

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Xhulja Duka: did  in  December.  Still  waiting  for  the  results  next  week.

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Maiki Lynch: Keep my fingers crossed.

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Xhulja Duka: Yes,  please.  And  it  helped  me  through  the  financial  journey 

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Xhulja Duka: to  understand  better  the  corporation  world  and  how  it  works. 

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Xhulja Duka: So  definitely,  as  you  previously  said, it is  very  important  to  get 

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Xhulja Duka: in  touch  with  the  reality.  From  studying  ACCA,  you  are 

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Xhulja Duka: in  touch  with  the  reality,  as  well,  so  it  helps.

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Maiki Lynch: And  as  you're  so  close  to  the  end  of  your 

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Maiki Lynch: studies,  what  are  your  hopes  when  you  finish?

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Xhulja Duka: When  I  finish,  I'll  start  another  title  with ACCA.  That's  the 

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Xhulja Duka: beauty  of  the  ACCA  title.  It  gives  you  basically  the 

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Xhulja Duka: basis  to  reach  for  the  stars,  in  a  way.  Because 

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Xhulja Duka: there  are  titles  which  I've  been  researching  on;  actually,  international 

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Xhulja Duka: audit.  Because  it's  not  just  finance  and  accounting,  it's  the 

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Xhulja Duka: auditing,  as  well.  And  there  are  so  many  career  opportunities 

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Xhulja Duka: out  there,  like  international  opportunities.  So  just  put  a  finger 

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Xhulja Duka: on  the  globe  and  you  can  be  there  with  ACCA.

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Maiki Lynch: What an inspirational message there. But I do understand where

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Maiki Lynch: you are coming from. It is an internationally- recognized qualification in

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Maiki Lynch: accounting and finance. There's so many career paths open to you,

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Maiki Lynch: specifically once you have qualified. Xhulja, can you tell me

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Maiki Lynch: if there have been any rewarding aspects about studying for the qualification?

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Xhulja Duka: Of  course.  My  teacher  obviously  knew  that  I  was  studying 

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Xhulja Duka: towards  ACCA,  so  she  selected  me  as  one  of  the 

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Xhulja Duka: students  to  make  it  to  this  international  competition  for  the 

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Xhulja Duka: UK.  And  basically,  we  submitted  our  application  and  I  was 

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Xhulja Duka: selected  Accountancy  Graduate  of  the  Year  by  the  PQ  magazine.

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Maiki Lynch: That's  amazing.  That's  really  amazing.  You  got  your  trophy.  Did 

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Maiki Lynch: you  get  to  keep  it?

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Xhulja Duka: Yes,  I got to keep it. I  have  it  at  home.

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Maiki Lynch: That's  really  fantastic.  I'm  very  impressed.

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Xhulja Duka: Thank  you.

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Maiki Lynch: I'd  like  to  return to you, Ravi.  Is  the  training  worth  it?

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Ravi Tanna: I think it is, yeah. I think it definitely is. Like Xhulja was saying, there's a module financial reporting,

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Ravi Tanna: and I find that really helpful in my work because

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Ravi Tanna: of looking at balance sheets, financial statements, cashflow statements. So that

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Ravi Tanna: worked hand- in- hand. What you're studying, the study actually

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Ravi Tanna: is very detailed, but overall what you're learning can be

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Ravi Tanna: applied in your day- to- day work. So I think

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Ravi Tanna: it is worth it 100 percent. Yeah.

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Maiki Lynch: Have  you  done  strategic  business  reporting  just  yet?

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Ravi Tanna: Not  yet.  No.

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Maiki Lynch: You're going to love it. It's going to be great. Xhulja

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Maiki Lynch: , I want to come to you. Is the training worth it in your opinion?

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Xhulja Duka: It  is  definitely  worth  it.  As  Ravi  previously  said,  it's  day- to-

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Xhulja Duka: day  life.  It  applies  to  day- to- day  life  because 

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Xhulja Duka: in  the  end  that's  what  you  need,  something  that's  going 

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Xhulja Duka: to  be  applied  in  reality.  We  are  more  and  more 

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Xhulja Duka: going  into  a  practical  world  who  teaches  exactly  what  you 

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Xhulja Duka: need  to  do  and  that's  what ACCA  does.

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Maiki Lynch: And  lastly,  if  you  were  to  give  some  advice  to 

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Maiki Lynch: someone  listening  at  home  who's  considering  accounting  and  finance  as 

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Maiki Lynch: their  career  path,  what  advice  would  you  give  them?

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Xhulja Duka: Please  do,  first  of  all.  But  what  amazes  me  about 

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Xhulja Duka: the  world  of  finance is  you  don't  get  just  stuck  there. 

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Xhulja Duka: It  just  opens  the  door  to  so  many  other  opportunities. 

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Xhulja Duka: So  basically,  if  you've  chosen  finance,  you  just  chose  to 

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Xhulja Duka: open  the  door  to  many  opportunities  for  yourself.  So  please  do.

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Maiki Lynch: And  Ravi,  same  to  you.  If  you  could  give  some 

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Maiki Lynch: advice  to  someone  at  home  who's  considering  this  career  path, 

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Maiki Lynch: what  would  you  say  to them?

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Xhulja Duka: Yeah, like Xhulja said, finance and accounting has so many different areas.

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Xhulja Duka: You've got FP& A, you've got audit, you've got tax.

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Xhulja Duka: There's so many areas you can look into. And ACCA does

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Xhulja Duka: actually cover every single area, as well, which is great.

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Xhulja Duka: So you might pick something up when you're studying and

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Xhulja Duka: you will enjoy that area, say tax, and you can

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Xhulja Duka: actually apply for that job in the future when you're qualified.

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Xhulja Duka: But if you are looking to do ACCA, I would

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Xhulja Duka: say exam practice. If you're doing these exams, ACCA provides

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Xhulja Duka: a website that provides you with many examples of exam questions.

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Xhulja Duka: So I would say just be prepared to just practice

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Xhulja Duka: as many questions as you can so when you walk

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Xhulja Duka: into the exam, you feel more confident and ready. It's

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Xhulja Duka: not just about the knowledge; it's all about the confidence.

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Xhulja Duka: I think 50% of the exams is confidence, as well. And if

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Xhulja Duka: you practice those exams that ACCA provide on their website,

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Xhulja Duka: I think it really helps you to build on that

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Xhulja Duka: confidence and walk into the exam to be able to get the pass.

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Maiki Lynch: Thank you so much. So that's it from this episode of By

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Maiki Lynch: All Accounts. Thank you Xhulja and Ravi for joining me today.

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Maiki Lynch: For a link to watch the video version of this podcast,

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Maiki Lynch: check out the show notes. With skills in accountancy and finance,

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Maiki Lynch: you can work in any business anywhere and turn your

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Maiki Lynch: passion into an exciting and rewarding career with an ACCA qualification.

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Maiki Lynch: You can sign up to find out more by heading

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Maiki Lynch: to accaglobal. com forward slash BU anywhere. That link is

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Maiki Lynch: also in the show notes. See you next time. I'm

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Maiki Lynch: Maiki Lynch, and this is By All Accounts.