Concerns about ACCA

AdiDassler

First post

Just had some concerns about ACCA that i hope people on here can shed some light on. I've been offered the choice to do either ACA or ACCA with a firm. I would be on their audit team so I presumed i'd have to do ACA but they informed me that they like to have a mix and its entirely my decision.

I've been told about the ACA in depth and there seems to be a lot of support for people re: mock exams, CAs etc. My only concern would be sitting all 4 exams in one sitting (as required by my firm).

Would I have a disadvantage by studying ACCA but working in practice? Is there good support for students re:lectures/online lectures?


Side note: I missed out on one CAP1 (Law) exemption, would it be too late to apply to sit it in September, as I would not be able to do it in May?


Thanks

marizpan

There are both trainees (ca & acca) in the audit department of the top ten firm I work for.
The firm now encourage a mix of both streams as it is easier manage audit jobs when trainees are taking leave through out the year. Instead of all taking leave at the same time.
CA was better recognised within practice a few years back, but that has changed with them both getting equal recognition, in my opinion.
Some trainees in the firm have changed from ca to acca. Only due to the pressure of sitting the fae. They are much the same up to cap2, but acca allows the papers to be sat one at a time while the fae require you to sit all and the marking structure is much more complex.

AdiDassler

I guess im just ****ting myself at the thought of the FAE's which in turn is making me indecisive.

marizpan

There is good support, leave, lectures etc for both streams.
Both are good for practice. The major differences are:
1. That with ca you are tied into a 3.5yr contract. Which isn't a problem if you like your firm, can be hassle if you want to leave while in contract. With acca you have to put in 3 yrs experience which can be achieved in one or many work places.
2. The finals for both streams are tough. But with ca you have to sit them all at one time which can be very stressful. With acca you can sit them between one to four papers at a time.

AdiDassler

Thanks.

The modules on offer by ACCA don't really interest me also. Goverance, Ethics & also Business Analysis. Seems too much theory for me. Would I be right?

marizpan

They are not option papers. They are compulsory and ca have similar papers.
Both streams cover very similar/the same material.

The option papers are if I remember correctly: tax, audit, 2x industry based papers that I can't think of

ianuss

The two other option papers are Advanced Financial Management & Advanced Financial Performance.

viztopia

I did acca about 10 years ago. If I had the option to aca in hindsight I would have done it as acca doesn't seem to have the on the ground presence of aca. The support and administration of acca 10 years ago was brutal and I don't know if much has changed.

AdiDassler

viztopia wrote: »

I did acca about 10 years ago. If I had the option to aca in hindsight I would have done it as acca doesn't seem to have the on the ground presence of aca. The support and administration of acca 10 years ago was brutal and I don't know if much has changed.

This is what i've heard about it now tbh

gerard 180

its an opinions game. aca is always going to be viewed higher i do believe. considerably harder i am always told. then your looking at acca and others(cpa etc). you 'll get varying argument s on which of these are harder. cpa final tax exams are tougher than acca for eg, but then cpa is open book for final exam and acca is not.
aca all the way me thinks

Chartered Accountants Ireland: Careers Team

AdiDassler wrote: »

Side note: I missed out on one CAP1 (Law) exemption, would it be too late to apply to sit it in September, as I would not be able to do it in May?

Hi, thought I'd answer this one for you - yes you can apply to sit the exam in September. Please PM for more details.

Biloxi Blues

viztopia wrote: »

I did acca about 10 years ago. If I had the option to aca in hindsight I would have done it as acca doesn't seem to have the on the ground presence of aca. The support and administration of acca 10 years ago was brutal and I don't know if much has changed.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "on the ground presence" but if you mean by support re finding employment or relevant training etc. you certainly would not have got it in ACA either. I have been an ACA (now an FCA) since the 1990's and I'm struggling to remember what they have ever done for me. I must have handed over at least €10,000 that I will never get back to them at this stage over the years for subscriptions and crappy CPD courses which are nigh on useless. Oh, I forgot, they send a glossy magazine every 2 months (which goes into the bin after a flick through).

Listen, ACA is a self-serving organisation in existence only to serve the interests of the Big 4 and larger accountancy firms as a badge of 'prestige' and keep people employed there (what they all do there, I am not sure, but with 20,000+ members and €550 p.a. subscription fees, that's a guaranteed revenue stream of €11m + before even getting to their other rackets). I'm not wasting anymore money with them next year and , trust me, you did not lose anything by going with ACCA but saved yourself a lot of money with their much more reasonable annual subscriptions.

Biloxi Blues

viztopia wrote: »

I did acca about 10 years ago. If I had the option to aca in hindsight I would have done it as acca doesn't seem to have the on the ground presence of aca. The support and administration of acca 10 years ago was brutal and I don't know if much has changed.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "on the ground presence" but if you mean by support re finding employment or relevant training etc. you certainly would not have got it in ACA either. I have been an ACA (now an FCA) since the 1990's and I'm struggling to remember what they have ever done for me. I must have handed over at least €10,000 to them at this stage over the years for subscriptions and crappy CPD courses which they make compulsory are nigh on useless. Oh, I forgot, they send a glossy magazine every 2 months (which goes into the bin after a flick through).

Listen, ACA is a self-serving organisation in existence only to serve the interests of the Big 4 and larger accountancy firms as a badge of 'prestige' and keep people employed there (what they all do there, I am not sure, but with 20,000+ members and €550 p.a. subscription fees, that's a guaranteed revenue stream of €11m + before even getting to their other rackets). I'm not wasting anymore money with them next year as I don't care if I am on their register or not.Trust me, you did not lose anything by going with ACCA but instead saved yourself a lot of money with their much more reasonable annual subscriptions.

Jim2007

Biloxi Blues wrote: »

I'm not wasting anymore money with them next year as I don't care if I am on their register or not.

And out of interest what are you going to do as an alternative?

Jim2007

Biloxi Blues wrote: »

I have been an ACA (now an FCA) since the 1990's and I'm struggling to remember what they have ever done for me.

- Maintain the reputation of your qualification
- Ensure international recognition of your qualification
- Participation in accounting and auditing standards
- Public submissions on law, taxation etc...
- Education and quality standards

Now if none of those things are relevant to you then I guess the only question is why have you stayed this long.

Biloxi Blues

Jim2007 wrote: »

And out of interest what are you going to do as an alternative?

Keep the money that I have wasted with that shower, what else?

Biloxi Blues

Jim2007 wrote: »

- Maintain the reputation of your qualification
- Ensure international recognition of your qualification
- Participation in accounting and auditing standards
- Public submissions on law, taxation etc...
- Education and quality standards

Now if none of those things are relevant to you then I guess the only question is why have you stayed this long.

And the other accountancy organsiations don't do all of the above and at a fraction of the cost? Yeah, the 'leading lights' such as KPMG and the former Arthur Andersen have done a lot for the reputation and I don't see why I should be paying for the PR firefighting to counter their dodgy dealings. As I said, Chartered Accountants Ireland serve the interests of the Big 4 firms first of all and anyone else is of importance only in terms of extracting money in forms of subscription and compulsory, crappy and extortionately priced CPD courses. Most members do not work for the Big 4 or even in practice so why should the majority be primarily subsidising the interests of the minority?

You might say that I have had an epiphany. I'm not wasting anymore money on that shower. If the subscription fess were reasonable, as they are for the ACCA, I might consider renewing. But I am not paying 3 times the subscription level of other accountancy organisations to pay for a bloated self-serving bureaucracy on Pearse Street or wherever they are now.

tv3tg4

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