Has the value of ACCA qualification diminished in recent years?

ZeroThreat · 11-08-2015 12:36am #1

Just want people's opinions on this - I came across this comment on another forum :

"Since ACCA changed the final exam format and allowing students to take their finals one at a time has completely ruined the prestige of the qualification.
I knew people who said they wouldn't even consider doing ACCA because of the reputation the final exams had i.e having to take and pass all 3 final papers together.
Now however that "scare" factor is gone and all the masses who have not got the capability of passing all 3 final papers one day after the other eventually become a chartered accountant. Quite frankly you're better of doing ICAEW or ICAS which are perhaps as tough as ACCA used to be."

frankythefish · 11-08-2015 10:28am

i dont agree. still a great qualification by all means. yes a small step behind aca, but a small step ahead of cpa.

ZeroThreat · 11-08-2015 3:59pm

frankythefish wrote: »

i dont agree. still a great qualification by all means. yes a small step behind aca, but a small step ahead of cpa.

Another account related forum I seen a post by someone (claiming to be an employer) that he always checks to see if applicants passed the 3 core papers in one sitting before hiring. Hopefully this isn't standard practice.

mooreman09 · 11-08-2015 4:34pm

I'm near in my last few ACCA papers. The studies and what I've learned has opened up a great career for me thats going to get better. Its not so much what you learn, but what it represents. Commitment, Intelligence and hardwork - because you will not get the qualification without that.

I'd say if you are coming out of college ACA is the best way to a fast track career and you will be very successful, however if you're mid 20's as I was ACCA is the way to go. I'd also say that ACCA is more geared towards Industry, its quite a commercial course.

All accountancy qualifications are a very very good thing on your CV and employers crave them. Only the odd person has a strong preference, there are tonnes of jobs out there!

KlausFlouride · 20-08-2015 4:28pm

One quirk I've noticed is people tend to hire people with same qualification as themselves, ACA qualified will favour ACA qualification. Probably just similar backgrounds rather than any real bias.

mooreman09 · 21-08-2015 10:14am

KlausFlouride wrote: »

One quirk I've noticed is people tend to hire people with same qualification as themselves, ACA qualified will favour ACA qualification. Probably just similar backgrounds rather than any real bias.

Well people tend to hire people that they can associate with and understand.

I'm ACCA and was recently hired by an ACA though.... I think it depends on each ondividual. Its something you simply cannot worry about.

AuditAgain · 21-08-2015 11:22am

ZeroThreat wrote: »

Another account related forum I seen a post by someone (claiming to be an employer) that he always checks to see if applicants passed the 3 core papers in one sitting before hiring. Hopefully this isn't standard practice.

Unless they're hiring for a 'full-time exam do-er' this sounds like a very silly preference/ policy.

KlausFlouride · 21-08-2015 11:51am

mooreman09 wrote: »

Well people tend to hire people that they can associate with and understand.

I'm ACCA and was recently hired by an ACA though.... I think it depends on each ondividual. Its something you simply cannot worry about.

For sure, it's more of an observation, in the long run I don't think which qualification matters, it's about the experience you build up.

Pol O Muineachan · 24-08-2015 5:51pm

KlausFlouride wrote: »

For sure, it's more of an observation, in the long run I don't think which qualification matters, it's about the experience you build up.

Agree with experience in long run, but ACA do seem to have the upper hand currently IMO

gonko · 30-08-2015 6:33pm

ZeroThreat wrote: »

Just want people's opinions on this - I came across this comment on another forum :

"Since ACCA changed the final exam format and allowing students to take their finals one at a time has completely ruined the prestige of the qualification.
I knew people who said they wouldn't even consider doing ACCA because of the reputation the final exams had i.e having to take and pass all 3 final papers together.
Now however that "scare" factor is gone and all the masses who have not got the capability of passing all 3 final papers one day after the other eventually become a chartered accountant. Quite frankly you're better of doing ICAEW or ICAS which are perhaps as tough as ACCA used to be."

That comment is absolute horse****. ACCA is known to be more in depth within each topic. And all 14 modules are tested in their entirety. I am on paper F5, and F9 to do before my P levels, and lets say with the F5 paper exam.....there is nothing that is left off it. 25 questions in total. Everything is hit on it. Forget about trying to guess the examiners paper here. I think because of this ACCA will be soon seen as more thorough. Lets not forget the fines that were dished out to chartered ireland a few years back for poor oversight etc. So the prestige thing is debunked right away.

As for doing the ACCA one at a time.....bottom line is, every subject is now tested in its entirety. Either you know it or you don't. One thing that the change has helped with, is flexibility. ACA guys take 4 exams at a time......if I had a month or more off, I could do that too. As ACCA students are typically based in industry, where the time off is not so generous (I can't even get theday before my exam off !!!) flexibility was a major selling point.

exuberance1511 · 05-09-2015 11:59am

gonko wrote: »

That comment is absolute horse****. ACCA is known to be more in depth within each topic. And all 14 modules are tested in their entirety. I am on paper F5, and F9 to do before my P levels, and lets say with the F5 paper exam.....there is nothing that is left off it. 25 questions in total. Everything is hit on it. Forget about trying to guess the examiners paper here. I think because of this ACCA will be soon seen as more thorough. Lets not forget the fines that were dished out to chartered ireland a few years back for poor oversight etc. So the prestige thing is debunked right away.

As for doing the ACCA one at a time.....bottom line is, every subject is now tested in its entirety. Either you know it or you don't. One thing that the change has helped with, is flexibility. ACA guys take 4 exams at a time......if I had a month or more off, I could do that too. As ACCA students are typically based in industry, where the time off is not so generous (I can't even get theday before my exam off !!!) flexibility was a major selling point.

Well I never knew the difference much before I finished college. All I knew was that I had 9 of 14 exemptions for ACCA from a 3yr acc degree in an IT. I was only exempt from first set of ACA exams.

Also the fact that people who fail FAE more than once and switch to ACCA as backup plan as it's easier doesn't serve it's reputation very well.

I'm sure it's a decent qualification if you simply want to be accountant. I think chartered however can demand a higher salary and is seen as more prestigious for owning your own practice.

I believe ACA also gives you the knowledge and springboard to run a company and work your way to the top in the corporate world. ACCA would seem to be very limited in where it can take you.

Audit4Lyf · 05-09-2015 12:33pm

exuberance1511 wrote: »

ACA is more prestigious. You an command a higher salart and there is higher demand amongst industry. You can become CEO and the like though ACA route but are limited in this regard by acca. Exemptions from ACA exams are much harder to get.

ACCA is a decent backup plan for anyone who fails ACA exams. Big drop down tho.

True, I don't know anyone who has switched from ACCA to ACA but I know around 20 people who have gone from ACA to ACCA as it was easier and they could take an exam whenever they felt like it and then forget all they learnt immediately after, essentially an exam which encourages cramming and short term memory.

ACA is more testing, you have to build up cumulative knowledge and take that into a final exam where over 3 days you are tested and if you are in any way weak in one area you fail.

Although having worked with ACA, ACCA & CPA in practice the quality of their work is more influenced by where they trained rather than their qualification.

ZeroThreat · 05-09-2015 12:48pm

exuberance1511 wrote: »

Well I never knew the difference much before I finished college. All I knew was that I had 9 of 14 exemptions for ACCA from a 3yr acc degree in an IT. I was only exempt from first set of ACA exams.

Also the fact that people who fail FAE more than once and switch to ACCA as backup plan as it's easier doesn't serve it's reputation very well.

I'm sure it's a decent qualification if you simply want to be accountant. I think chartered however can demand a higher salary and is seen as more prestigious for owning your own practice.

I believe ACA also gives you the knowledge and springboard to run a company and work your way to the top in the corporate world. ACCA would seem to be very limited in where it can take you.

That's odd. I knew someone with a degree in IT doing the old ACCA syllabus a number of years ago and they were only exempted from the old 2.1 paper (Information systems). I'd have thought you'd need a 1.1 or 1.2 in a Business/Finance type degree to get that many exemptions?

Ice Storm · 05-09-2015 1:07pm

ZeroThreat wrote: »

That's odd. I knew someone with a degree in IT doing the old ACCA syllabus a number of years ago and they were only exempted from the old 2.1 paper (Information systems). I'd have thought you'd need a 1.1 or 1.2 in a Business/Finance type degree to get that many exemptions?

Degree in accounting from an IT as in Institute of Technology as opposed to a degree in IT I think!

ZeroThreat · 05-09-2015 7:24pm

Ice Storm wrote: »

Degree in accounting from an IT as in Institute of Technology as opposed to a degree in IT I think!

oops my bad

lukayl · 10-09-2015 4:47pm

Audit4Lyf wrote: »

True, I don't know anyone who has switched from ACCA to ACA but I know around 20 people who have gone from ACA to ACCA as it was easier and they could take an exam whenever they felt like it and then forget all they learnt immediately after, essentially an exam which encourages cramming and short term memory.

ACA is more testing, you have to build up cumulative knowledge and take that into a final exam where over 3 days you are tested and if you are in any way weak in one area you fail.

Although having worked with ACA, ACCA & CPA in practice the quality of their work is more influenced by where they trained rather than their qualification.

Now now, it's a bit harsh, ACCA allows students to sit whenever they are comfortable not just to rush things. As for the knowledge cramming part, the statement is a bit shady. If ACCA students will forget their knowledge after examinations, what about ACA students who can take their books to the exam hall?

KlausFlouride · 11-09-2015 9:23am

ACA is, on balance, a more employable qualification as it gives you wider opportunities, in practice etc.. ACCA qual's do not necessarily take the practice trainee route. Having said that, after 2-3 jobs, I'd suggest it doesn't matter, except for specific areas like audit, employers are much more interested in experience and how you would fit in. As for retaining information from exams, seriously?

Avatar MIA · 11-09-2015 11:13pm

exuberance1511 wrote: »

Well I never knew the difference much before I finished college. All I knew was that I had 9 of 14 exemptions for ACCA from a 3yr acc degree in an IT. I was only exempt from first set of ACA exams.

Also the fact that people who fail FAE more than once and switch to ACCA as backup plan as it's easier doesn't serve it's reputation very well.

I'm sure it's a decent qualification if you simply want to be accountant. I think chartered however can demand a higher salary and is seen as more prestigious for owning your own practice.

I believe ACA also gives you the knowledge and springboard to run a company and work your way to the top in the corporate world. ACCA would seem to be very limited in where it can take you.

Laughable. Keyboards don't refuse keystrokes.

gonko · 12-09-2015 1:18am

Audit4Lyf wrote: »

True, I don't know anyone who has switched from ACCA to ACA but I know around 20 people who have gone from ACA to ACCA as it was easier and they could take an exam whenever they felt like it and then forget all they learnt immediately after, essentially an exam which encourages cramming and short term memory.

ACA is more testing, you have to build up cumulative knowledge and take that into a final exam where over 3 days you are tested and if you are in any way weak in one area you fail.

Although having worked with ACA, ACCA & CPA in practice the quality of their work is more influenced by where they trained rather than their qualification.

Easier to pass ACCA?. You have got to be joking . Look at pass rates of ACCA......as low as 28% on some papers. ACCA is undoubtedly tougher to pass,although more flexible. At circa 25 questions per exam.....believe me....if you don't know what your about, your caught. ACA is seen as more prestigious by some.....and I cannot put a reason to it yet.
As for cramming and short term memory....that's a reflector of the student, not he exam. However most aca firm give a couple months off before exams. My employer didn't even give me the day prior. Believe me.....ACCA students have no option but to learn, given the breadth of the questioning and detail of the Syllabus.

Your 20 pals who thought ACCA was easier, I'd love to know how they got on. Your opinion that ACCA is quite limiting is hilarious. You do know ACCA membership has overtaken ICAEW AND CAI since 2010 or so. Firms have CAI in their pocket , cheap labour with trainees and training contracts where your pretty much stuck auditing for 3.5 years. Contrast this to "most" ACCA students, who will be not just be in firms, but in finance departments in small business, large multinationals etc....a much more diverse exposure, to some extent. The vast majority of accountants end up in industry,where ACCA learning is more suitable.

But when out in the real world, both qualifications say your an accountant and competent in that role. One certainly does not limit your options over the other. However, the depth of material on parts of each, should act as a guide as to which to choose based on ones future career. That being said, the majority of firms push students toward ACA, thus the misguided consensus is, that ACA is more prestigious, which certainly is not the case, although it may have once been in truth.

But to each his own and all that.

gonko · 12-09-2015 10:14am

exuberance1511 wrote: »

Also the fact that people who fail FAE more than once and switch to ACCA as backup plan as it's easier doesn't serve it's reputation very well.

I'm sure it's a decent qualification if you simply want to be accountant. I think chartered however can demand a higher salary and is seen as more prestigious for owning your own practice.

I believe ACA also gives you the knowledge and springboard to run a company and work your way to the top in the corporate world. ACCA would seem to be very limited in where it can take you.

Firstly - if people fail the FAE, let them go and roll the dice with any of ACCA P level papers. See how much better they get on. Bear in mind the pass rates with ACCA on each individual P paper is sub 40-50%. P5 for example is in the mid twenties. So FAE guys having it as a backup thinking its easy, well perhaps that belief is misguided.

Both are a "decent" qualification for being an accountant. Unless one gives you superpowers. I don't see ACA as more prestigious. Especially given the fines it was nailed with a few years ago for.....erm......overlooking certain practices carried out by its member firms. Made it look like a circus house to be honest.

If you are looking into running a company and in the corporate world (industry I assume), ACCA is the choice of the two. Firms prefer CAI (as they are all members :rolleyes:) and people like yourself is led to believe that the ACA qualification is more prestigious. ACCA would open more doors overall due to its established global presence.

In reality, if I was hiring, I would take either. I would not hold one higher over the other. Even the CIMA qualification has its place and as such, a CIMA qualified individual will bring something to the table that ACA and ACCA may not. A good and intelligent person succeeds in the business world. The letters after your name, are all the same (unless snobbery or misguided opinion is involved).

12-09-2015 2:31pm

exuberance1511 wrote: »

I believe ACA also gives you the knowledge and springboard to run a company and work your way to the top in the corporate world. ACCA would seem to be very limited in where it can take you.

Training to be an accountant qualifies you to be an accountant.
What you do after that is up to yourself.

Audit4Lyf · 13-09-2015 3:10pm

Can we all agree though we're better than CPA?

Avatar MIA · 13-09-2015 3:38pm

Audit4Lyf wrote: »

Can we all agree though we're better than CPA?

I dunno, looking at exuberance1511's comment you'd seriously have to question the quality of those the CAI are leaving in these days.

KlausFlouride · 14-09-2015 9:54am

Avatar MIA wrote: »

I dunno, looking at exuberance1511's comment you'd seriously have to question the quality of those the CAI are leaving in these days.

Not like the salad days of Seanie Fitz and Fingers? I kid, I kid.

lukayl · 14-09-2015 3:16pm

In fairness, the pecking order is largely due to legacy and alumni-networking. The other day I checked the CPA's qualification syllabus, seems very well rounded and just as stringent as the Chartereds, but seems because it is the youngest and not likely to ever have the charter due to its establishment post independence, it is to be regarded as less grandeur; and in the eyes of some CAI members, you'd imagine queen's charters are deemed equal, but noooo, Lizy's not good enough, one needs Queen Victoria's, no less!

lightspeed · 22-09-2015 3:32pm

I think there is far too much hype placed on this topic. Also that there is a huge amount of arrogance of people who pursue ACA in thinking that it is harder to achieve than ACCA when most with that opinion have not even looked at any ACCA exams let alone sat them.

Im about to begin a training contract with a big 4 company so I will be pursuing ACA. As my brother did ACCA, I have all the books and in recent weeks I have been looking at the P papers considering pursuing ACCA as I have exemptions from 9 fundamental papers.

ACCA officially is not well recognised in USA or Canada. However, shortly after qualifying, my brother emigrated to USA and within a few months he walked into job with a large listed company as an asset manager. Many larger company's recognise it and regard it highly.

He reguarlly meets with directors and is on very good money.

Also on ACCA website, I noticed one testimonial wass from a partner at KPMG. I have also seen jobs for positions in some big 4 firms which require ACCA or equivalent as a requirement.

The below is for one advertised for PWC.

http://www.irishjobs.ie/Jobs/Strategy-Manager-7572982.aspx

In other countries, some of the big 4 firms seem to train people in ACCA or ACA, particularly Asian countries from what ive seen.

http://www.accaglobal.com/ie/en/employer/employer-story/pwc-china.html/employer.html

Also if you look at the middle east, ive seen accountant jobs in Dubai which ask for people from different bodies such as CPA, CMA or ACCA and it sometimes says "ACCA preferred".

So in conclusion, the argument that ACCA is losing its repution or poorly regarded amongst employers is not at all well supported.

Has the value of ACCA qualification diminished in recent years?

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