Member Avatar for Hannah Wallace

Hi all,

I'm totally new to the world of IT. I'm a chartered accountant with some experience in writing Excel based code in VBA to help me work around the limitations of existing software. I've been thinking recently about trying to retrain as a programmer and have a complete career change, as I really enjoy writing code. I'd ideally like to work with financial software as I have quite an extensive understanding of what the end user would be likely to need. (Possibly am just having an early mid life crisis - not sure yet!)

Does anyone have any advice to offer as to how this might be possible and whether it's a crazy thing to try and do...?

Thanks

Hannah

(With apologies if this post is in the wrong place, if so please move or remove it).

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A realistic, practical path exists from finance/Excel automation into paid development work; domain knowledge plus VBA experience are strong advantages when aiming at business or financial software roles. Several concrete, low-risk ways to test the fit and build credibility are useful to consider.

A quick validation exercise (echoing ): spend a full day building a small tool from end-to-end. Pick a repetitive spreadsheet task, write a spec, and implement it as a simple app or script. Key skills to layer on while doing that project: a modern programming language (C# or Python are common choices for financial tooling), source control (Git), basic SQL, and simple automated tests. Keep the project focused and public (a short GitHub repo with README and sample data) so it becomes demonstrable work for recruiters or internal hiring managers.

There are multiple career routes. Enterprise ERP work (including SAP/ABAP) rewards accounting background but tends toward vendor-specific, consultancy-style roles; more general software paths (backend services, data analysis, web apps) offer broader market options and easier transfer between companies. A balanced approach is to pursue one public portfolio project and one targeted certification or course aligned with the chosen route. Practical classroom or bootcamp experience accelerates learning but is not the only route; hiring often values demonstrable projects and problem-solving.

Realistic timelines and cautions: part-time study plus a portfolio can produce entry-level readiness in 3–9 months; full-time dedication shortens that. Expect a different rhythm to full-time development than occasional scripting work—daily debugging, testing, and collaboration are routine. Emphasize transferable business knowledge, automate a real accounting workflow as a portfolio piece, and track progress with small milestones to convert domain expertise into a marketable developer profile.

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Member Avatar for dickersonka

Its a definite plus that you enjoy programming, or at least the lighter side of it. And the end user experience is definitely good as well. Coding full time is much different than just every now again, I love to program, but some days I still need a break.

Find out if you really like programming enough to do it all day, take a course or two and maybe buy a book. There are so many areas to go into, but since you have VBA experience, possibly start with VB.NET or C#.

Take a full weekend day and program the whole day. See if you really could enjoy it the whole day compared to every now and again, check out the learning curve for you. Any other questions feel free.

Member Avatar for Hannah Wallace

Thanks for the advice, sounds a good place to start!

Member Avatar for punjabivirsa3

Hi Hannah my advise for you is you learn SAP to change your career in that you have coding which you enjoying a lot and also it needs some management knowledge which you have already so i think its better for you career

Member Avatar for Rashakil Fol

I have never heard of "SAP," other than as the name of a company whose U.S. headquarters are in Newtown Square, PA, so I would just ignore whatever punjabivirsa3 is trying to say.

Member Avatar for Hannah Wallace

Hi both,

thanks for the comments. SAP is a major financial software package which I have been told uses its own unique language. I've worked with it as a user and it's pretty good, but it's expensive for companies to use as you need a specialist support team. Possibly a good place to start, or possibly a bit niche, I'm not sure...

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