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ACCA - A good career option?

Navin Ninan Ajith (Process and Controls Specialist) (38 Points)

02 September 2011

Hi,

Is ACCA a good career option in India.

It Has 14 Papers and there is 4 paper exemption for B.Com graduates...

Unlike CPA, you could write the exam in India itself ( Exam centres in almost all major cities)...

It is the body which has been practising IFRS before any other too.....

My apprehensive is to find a good institute for Training and in Bangalore... and the total time taken to complete the course would be very long....

Can Someone advise me ?

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5 Replies

RiSHi... (CA-Student) (202 Points)
Replied 21 December 2011

same question i asked bro but no one answered me...

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Annie (Trainer) (21 Points)
Replied 05 January 2012

Hi Definitely ACCA is a good qualification to pursue due to its global coverage and recognition. You may not be able to practice in india but definitely lucrative job opportunities at MNCs and banks in India.

JTM1988 (student) (57 Points)
Replied 02 August 2012

This thread seems to be a bit old, nevertheless, I intend to give an answer. Is ACCA a good career option in india?

Well that would certainly depend on where u intend to work?

Considering Auditing, its better to do CA(ICAI) as its got statutory recognition here. Opting ACCA would give u a choice to study IFRS as it is, or its several varients( uk, singpor, etc). But u cannot have a career out of it in Auditing here, as its not recognised. Technically, ACCA covers IFRS extensively and exams are hard core practically oriented. I do have come across Indian CAs saying their papers are practical too, but do search in ACCAGLOBAL & CIMAGLOBAL website, to have a glimpse of what actually a practical paper looks like. Technically u can audit but whats the use of having a career out of it as ur work has to be signed by the ICAI CAs. But considering the reach of ACCA qualification abroad, its advisable to do ACCA as all the Big 4 offices know about ACCA and there are a huge number of them there. Indian CAs are respected for their hardwork, but its not prestigious. Its said so in india, but not outside. Some offices consider Pakistan CAs to be better than Indian CAs ( considering members are around 4000 in no:s). But cant say ACCA too is prestigious, but its more visible and desirable when applying abroad.

Now lets generalise and say Finance.

Its a vast area with huge careeer oppertunities. But none of the ACCOUNTING QUALIFICATIONS be it ACA, CA, ACCA, CIMA, CPA does go deep into areas of Finance. But when u compare to INdian CA, both ACCA and CIMA has a huge edge over INDIAN QUALIFICATIONS, as they test their students really hard in Finance related subjects. The major difference would be that both these international qualifications gives weightage, over the financial consequence or the decisions that u need to make from the numbers u solve in Exams, unlike CA, that just stops with the solved numbers. Indian CA MAFA paper has similar areas, but in an exam point of view, most areas, especially derivatives, its never tested as much it should have been. One might choose to compare Indian CAs Final Level Paper- MAFA with ACCA's F9, at most. Exams are mostly the same, but ACCA test it better,considering number crunching comes part of working notes and not much weightage is given for it than the decisions u arrive out of those numbers. ACCA does have an advanced version of Fiancial Mangt, P4, Its waaay another league. The Job market is slowly realising the benefit of having ACCA and CIMA qualified people in the areas of Finance just because of this. No wonder the number of ACCAs passing CFA & FRM is way more than Indian CAs passing it. One could, as part of interest, choose to search in Linkedin on qualified ACCAs and look over their work profile. Majority of them have worked for Big names in the Finance Industry, like JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs etc.

Advisory.

Here the market gives more weightage on experience of candidates, than qualification. What u actually are and ur potential cannot supplement the qualification u have, as qualifications are just complimentary in nature. But to start of, at the lower levels, in India for some reason Indian qualifications are given preference in most part of India, barring Mumbai & Delhi. Mumbai & Delhi is wher the finance world is, in India, as the HR departments are more aware of International qualification and less biased, they prefer people with these qualifications. But this is a fast changing situation. More parts of India , especially Bangalore & chennai are seeking ACCA and CIMA part qualified for their advisory sections. Mainly in M&A due deligence, Valuation, Fundamental Analyst positions etc.

Conclusion.

Qualifications are just complimentary to ur real quality. When the market is down and selective, conservatism takes over and recruiters go for Indian qualifiications but when the job market is upbeat, they test their grounds with people with other qualification but abroad they prefer people with international qualification among their workforce. Its advisable to get an international work experience in core Finance and Advisory areas with ACCA or CIMA and come back to india to explore opportunities. Quality of subjects and its relevance in toda'ys job, Both ACCA and CIMA scores way higher than Indian Qualifications and mind u, ACCA and CIMA students cannot afford to be lacking good communicativ skills. This is very very IMPORTANT. That alone would make the difference were u start off. Sky is not the Limit.

Good luck.