ACCA or CIMA

kilns

Hey,

I am currently working in Treasury (where my job is very secure). I currently have a degree in Finance but in a few years when the recession has past I will want to move on to progress my career.

In order to do this I want to increase my job prospects by qualifying as an accountant. My question is which is better suited to Treasury, CIMA or ACCA?

Thanks

seven-iron

Possibly CIMA but its hard to say, it really depends on what exactly you want to do to further your career (i.e. do you want to change roles/function or just naturally progress) and to what your firm would like from you in say the next five years or post credit crunch.

Another consideration is how much experience you have in Treasury. If you had a lot (say 6/7 years plus) then CIMA would probably suit well to the best of my knowledge.

You should talk to your mangement too and let them know your ambitions and I'm sure they would have better advice then I could ever give.

Best of Luck

swanvill

Hi,
Both are good qualifications I selected ACCA as it allowed me to work in both practice & industry, seeing that you work in industry at the moment CIMA maybe the best route for you. I would recommend that you do the following:
1) Check what exemptions from ACCA/CIMA exams you would get on the basis of your degree / experience .... the less professional exams you have to sit the easier it will, the exam standards are high and the failure rate enormous.
2) Does your employer take on accounting graduates and if so which body do they support / or accredited trainer?
3) Picture what type of role you would like in 3,5 & 10 years and pick which syllabus would give you the best technical knowledge for your future roles?


All I can say best of luck and talk to your manager about study support (ie fees & exam leave), secondment to accounts dept for experience and you may want to consider if you can afford a career break (3 - 6 months) so that you can study full time and get the exams out of the way. I studied and worked all I can say it was no fun lectures 2 nights (3 hours each) & every Sat (8 hours) and in between lectures you had to do the real work of learning, studying and sitting every past exam paper you could lay your hands on. So make sure this is something you REALLY REALLY want as it takes a lot of commitment, college was a cake walk in comparison.

Oh yea enjoy the study & training ha ha

kluivert

Of the two you mentioned above I would choose ACCA.

I myself am ACCA qualified, and choose their qualification because I believed it to be a better all round qualification.

While focusing on financial reporting and auditing and it also phases emphasis on accountant as being the top tier of many of the large businesses and organisation around the world.

I work in industry for the past two years and found ACCA provided me with the correct training for the job.

I can not comment on CIMA, however I am sure they re just as good as any other qualification, however I believe CIMA deal with more industry related topics than accounting and auditing.

I also though that ACCA was the middleman, while ICAI dealt with auditing and practice and CIMA dealt with industry.

Thats why I went for ACCA, has it dealt with both.

aassddff

I would agree that ACCA seems to let more options open. With things being the way they are at the moment flexability could be very important over the next few years