Chartered Accountants Ireland Boot Camp

What is Boot Camp?

Boot Camp is an online programme for Transition Year and Senior Cycle students who want to develop their accounting and business skills. Developed by Chartered Accountants Ireland, the leading professional accountancy body in Ireland, Boot Camp enables students to master the fundamentals of accounting and to develop their problem solving, business and leadership skills.

• For Transition Year students, it is an ideal introduction to the world of accounting and business.
• For 5th and 6th Year Leaving Certificate Accounting students, the programme is an invaluable revision course in the basics of double entry bookkeeping and accounts preparation.

Boot Camp is open to schools and to individual students. If you are a Teacher, TY Coordinator or Guidance Counsellor and would like to run Boot Camp in your school, please contact Veronica Byrne, our Schools Programme Coordinator:

[email protected]

What will you learn in Boot Camp?

Boot Camp comprises two key elements:

• A foundation course which helps students master the basics of financial accounting.
• An interactive business game which helps students to develop their problem solving and leadership skills.

The Foundation Course

The foundation course will help you build a rock solid foundation in the fundamentals of accounting. If you are interested in accounting, or are thinking about studying accounting for Leaving Certificate, then we highly recommend Boot Camp Foundation. The curriculum is organised in 5 "Days" but, as it is a self-paced course, it can be completed in whatever time frame you wish. It is a stand-alone course, complete with a Workbook, expert video tutorials, online quizzes, recap summaries and practical exercises. In short, everything you need to get a head-start in accounting.

By the end of Boot Camp Foundation, you should be able to prepare a basic set of final accounts for a business. On completion of the Foundation, you can take our Boot Camp Graduation exam to test your newly acquired financial accounting skills!

The Boot Camp Challenge

"Be The Boss" is a highly engaging, interactive business simulation in which students play the role of Chief Executive Officer of a company faced with a major business decision.

Students who complete the Challenge will develop their problem solving skills and gain valuable experience about real-life business leadership. The Challenge is not just for students who are interested in business subjects. It is suitable for any student who has an interest in problem solving and creative thinking.

Students can enter the Challenge individually or as part of a team (maximum 4 per team). Students are invited to submit their entries and be eligible to win our top prize which is a voucher for €1,000! Closing date for entries is Friday 22 March 2024. The overall Challenge winner will be announced in May 2024.

Stand-alone courses

The Boot Camp Foundation and the "Be the Boss" Boot Camp Challenge are stand-alone courses within the Boot Camp programme. Although they focus on the fortunes of the same business ("Wild Ride"), each element can be completed independently from the other. It is not necessary to complete the Foundation before attempting the Boot Camp Challenge.

No previous business or accounting knowledge required

Boot Camp is open to all students. No previous knowledge of business or accounting is required for either the Boot Camp Foundation or The Boot Camp Challenge. It is not necessary to have taken Business Studies in Junior Cycle to enrol in Boot Camp.

Further Boot Camp Resources

Boot Camp also includes valuable career guidance resources for students considering a career in accounting and finance, interviews with Chartered Accountants who share their career story, plus, a "taster menu" of some of the key topics on the Leaving Certificate Accounting syllabus. You will find links to these resources in the online Boot Camp curriculum.