Accountants - ACA, ACCA, CIMA

Rosbif

Rosbif

Rosbif

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Hi all,

I have a question for the accountants among us. I'm mulling the idea of going into accounting. I personally have no preference at all, I'm only interested in maximising my worth in the work place, commanding the best pay I can and giving myself the most options possible.

I'm trying to make sense of all the bravado, snobbery and bickering about the bodies.

All over the internet I am reading comments such as ACA is 'better' than ACCA, ACCA is 'better' than ACA, ACCA is 'harder' than ACA. I've had one guy tell me that you'll end up doing the books for aunties and their cottage industries with the ACCA and that I should either do ACA or CIMA. Then I've read on the net that CIMA is totally discredited and not worth anything. As far as I can tell I'm just reading a load of hot air and rubbish. I feel like I'm in a school playground surrounded by kids. Something I DIDNT expect of qualified professionals. (Supposedly)

From what I've seen on recruitment websites the difference between ACA and ACCA is negligible. I will say that I have noticed there are SOME jobs that say 'ACA preferable'. However, by and large most jobs say ACA, ACCA or CIMA. The tacit implication being 'We dont care, so long as you're qualified'

Can anybody actually put forth a convincing argument that one is better than the other and whether one body in particular gives you greater chance of commanding a greater salary or getting a job over another candidate?

I feel this is more towards ACA vs ACCA as opposed to CIMA, but I would certainly like to hear opinions on CIMA as a career path.

Thanks in advance. I know that the time of genuinely qualified accountants is extremely valuable and your input is greatly valued.
 
ACA for practice, ACCA for industry.

My wife says either is good enough and better than CIMA.

It depends on the route you are taking, ACA requires a very specific set of criteria and the employer has to be authorised (in practice normally), whereas ACCA is easier to study anywhere.

So if you work for an Accounting Practice then ACA would in all likelihood be available to you, however if you work in an accounting dept of an non-accountancy firm them ACCA would be the only option. (Cima as well)

She is IAECW (ACA) btw.
 
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In all honesty there is little between them. I work with ACCA, ACA and CIMA studiers and we are all capable and good at our jobs. If you intend to audit then ACCA or ACA are your only real options, with CIMA being a bit better for employment in industry. At work we joke about which is better but it is friendly banter tbh. We all accept that each could do any of them successfully.
 
Hi guys,

I work for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) which is (I think) the largest accountancy practise in the UK. I went through the graduate training program which is based on the ACA. PwC also employs school leavers who they put onto the ACCA program, as such the general gossip round the office is that ACCA is easier.

To be honest I think its all very similar, there are partners (earn between £500k and £1.5m) that are ACCA qualified and I very much doubt the qualification has hurt their career progression!

I have always been told that CIMA is for people preparing management accounts within industry, ACA and ACCA are more widely accepted as you can either go into industry or remain in practise. I would however caveat that with the fact that I have been told this by......people who are ACA qualified :D

Ill check up on this thread and answer and more questions that get raised. If you're interested I can get you in contact with PwC HR peeps.

edit - looks like others beat me to it! I think Speedfreak is pretty much spot on.
 
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Aloreth said:
Hi guys,

I work for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) which is (I think) the largest accountancy practise in the UK. I went through the graduate training program which is based on the ACA. PwC also employs school leavers who they put onto the ACCA program, as such the general gossip round the office is that ACCA is easier.

To be honest I think its all very similar, there are partners (earn between £500k and £1.5m) that are ACCA qualified and I very much doubt the qualification has hurt their career progression!

I have always been told that CIMA is for people preparing management accounts within industry, ACA and ACCA are more widely accepted as you can either go into industry or remain in practise. I would however caveat that with the fact that I have been told this by......people who are ACA qualified :D

Ill check up on this thread and answer and more questions that get raised. If you're interested I can get you in contact with PwC HR peeps.
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exactly

to give people an idea of my company structure which is and insurance broker:

FD ACA
FC CIMA
Senior Accountants 2 CIMA, 2 ACCA, 1 ACA
Tax Accountant ACCA
Management Accountants 3 CIMA, 2 ACCA

My role involves preparing management accounts, budgets and stat accounts. (As well as confusing audtiors ;))
 
SpeedFreak said:
In all honesty there is little between them. I work with ACCA, ACA and CIMA studiers and we are all capable and good at our jobs. If you intend to audit then ACCA or ACA are your only real options, with CIMA being a bit better for employment in industry. At work we joke about which is better but it is friendly banter tbh. We all accept that each could do any of them successfully.
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This.

I'm a CIMA qualified management accountant in a very big IT company and I have ACCA and CIMA qualified / part-qualifiers working for me. Both qualifications give a well rounded finance and business eduction for industry. CIMA's final stage is more MBA like and is well liked by industry for management accountancy but ACCA gives the ability to "sign-off" accounts and is well liked by the central finance functions. But, to be honest quality students of either qualification will do just as good job of each other.

We have ACA guys too and to be honest on a day to day basis, you wouldn't know who was what.

ACA is your "big four" ( or how ever many are left! ) qualification is very well respected. Difficult to get in to but well worth doing if you can. You'll be auditing for a few years, but you'll easily get into "industry"'after a few years experience.

To be honest you'll do great with any of them. Choosing which one, depends if you want a long term specialism.
 
Can just echo the above, not much between ACA and ACCA but the rumours I've heard have indicated that ACA is slightly more difficult. But then you can convert from ACCA to ACA with one case study exam IIRC?

I'm currently studying towards my ACA with Deloitte. Not many exams to go!
 
I'm about to start studying ACA with an SME so I can't really make an accurate judgement on which is better.

I think ACA was previously held in a higher regard than ACCA, especially with the top 4. The exams are meant to be more strenuous and testing compared to ACCA. With my degree, i'm exempt from around 8 exams in ACCA but only 6 in ACA.

From what i've seen, they pretty much go hand in hand nowadays and most roles with accept either.
 
I'm currently studying CIMA but work with ACA, ACCA, CIMA and CIPFA qualified accountants and from what I've seen (bearing in mind that I'm not yet qualified) the end qualification matters less than the aptitude and attitude of the person ultimately. While each of the bodies differentiate themselves slightly (and with CIMA it's more difficult to go into practice since you're not doing audit as such) after a few years it's likely to be what you can demonstrate in the way of relevant experience and achievements that matters rather than what you did as a qualification - much like any of your previous studies a few years down the line, it mattered to get you there but after that...

For the little it is worth ACA is supposed to be a bit more difficult but some people will naturally find a particular style of exams suits them more than others. There's often a bit of friendly rivalry between students of the various bodies who'll each claim theirs is best but I wouldn't put too much weight on it.
 
I feel left out :( Chartered Accountant (CA) - ICAS

The only body of accountants able to call themselves Chartered Accountants ;) /snob

(I still need to do the last few exams first!)
 
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Kemik said:
I feel left out :( Chartered Accountant (CA) - ICAS

The only body of accountants able to call themselves Chartered Accountants ;) /snob

(I still need to do the last few exams first!)
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If ICAS are the only body entitled to be called Chartered, how come my wife is a Chartered Accountant with ICAEW?
 
Castiel said:
If ICAS are the only body entitled to be called Chartered, how come my wife is a Chartered Accountant with ICAEW?
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While members of ICAEW can hold themselves out as Chartered Accountants (unlike ACCA), technically they are Associate Chartered Accountants as ICAS was the world's first professional accounting body.

I've been told ICAEW have tried repeatedly to merge with ICAS but ICAS refuse as they wish to keep the CA accreditation for themselves.

To be honest, it's just a name and makes little difference, but it is a technicality.
 
Most people who have an accountancy qualification will refer to themselves as a chartered accountant, however Kemik has given the detailed reason why technically it's not true! It's all in the minor details...
 
Castiel said:
She has FCA after her name on her business card. I would wake her up to ask her, but I'm sure she refers to herself as a Chartered Accountant.
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I apologise, it's Fellow Chartered Accountant in that case instead of Associate. Basically means she's done 10 years of experience and CPD without getting in to trouble.
 
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