Is CIMA as prestigious as ACA/ACCA?

pppgreen

On completion of AAT I hope to progress onto CIMA. However after reading through their website I was baffled to see you can begin to study CIMA straight from school. Surely this makes it no more prestigious than AAT let alone ACA/ACCA.

Also can you work as an Accountant in practice with CIMA or does it limit you to Management Accountancy?

Jo Clark

Hello pppgreen

Why do you think being able to study CIMA straight from school makes it less prestigious? Surely, if this is your chosen career the sooner you can start to learn/train in that field the better? or am I missing something (it is early)

I thought you could study either CIMA/ACCA straight from school.

The CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting is CIMA's own entry route to the CIMA professional qualification.

The CIMA website advises that you may be exempt from some or all certificate papers if you have a relevant degree, have completed the AAT technician stage, or have studied another professional accounting qualification. http://www.cimaglobal.com/Study-with-us/Entry-routes/

I think the Certificate in Business Accounting is equivalent to the ACCAs Foundations in Accountancy (see below). So if you do not have AAT I think you can start straight from school but would start on the certificate rather than the professional levels.

To study ACCA the entry requirements (as per the ACCA website http://www.accaglobal.com/en/qualifications/glance.html) is three GCSEs and two A Levels in five separate subjects including maths and English or their equivalent.

So you can study ACCA straight from school.

As an alternative, the ACCA also offer a qualification called Foundations in Accountancy. The ACCA website advises 'If you are a school leaver with no formal qualifications or experience of working in accountancy and finance, then ACCA has the perfect qualifications for you. Our Foundations in Accountancy suite of awards contains four awards which are perfect for entry-level students.' For further information please follow this link http://www.accaglobal.com/en/qualifications/accountancy-career/school-leaver.html

So, to summarise, you can start either CIMA or ACCA straight from school but by having AAT you may receive exemptions from various papers i.e. the Certificate in Business Accounting for CIMA or F1-3 for ACCA (I think). I guess it is down to personal choice where you start on the qualification and if you claim exemptions from prior studies.

When are you hoping to start CIMA and what method of study will you follow?

All the best.


JC

NeilH

Hi

You can in fact do ACA straight from school providing you have appropriate A-Levels, this has certainly been the case for the past several years. However, some firms put their A-Level school leaver trainees through AAT first and/or have a graduate route. A couple of firms local to me do this regardless of if they are doing ACCA or ACA.

The AAT-ACA fast track has been offered for several years now and the ICAEW have also introduced the Certificate in Finance, Accounting and Business as an alternative entry route http://careers.icaew.com/school-students-leavers/Entry-routes

Neil

pppgreen

Jo Clark wrote: »

Hello pppgreen

Why do you think being able to study CIMA straight from school makes it less prestigious? Surely, if this is your chosen career the sooner you can start to learn/train in that field the better? or am I missing something (it is early)

I thought you could study either CIMA/ACCA straight from school.

The CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting is CIMA's own entry route to the CIMA professional qualification.

The CIMA website advises that you may be exempt from some or all certificate papers if you have a relevant degree, have completed the AAT technician stage, or have studied another professional accounting qualification. http://www.cimaglobal.com/Study-with-us/Entry-routes/

I think the Certificate in Business Accounting is equivalent to the ACCAs Foundations in Accountancy (see below). So if you do not have AAT I think you can start straight from school but would start on the certificate rather than the professional levels.

To study ACCA the entry requirements (as per the ACCA website http://www.accaglobal.com/en/qualifications/glance.html) is three GCSEs and two A Levels in five separate subjects including maths and English or their equivalent.

So you can study ACCA straight from school.

As an alternative, the ACCA also offer a qualification called Foundations in Accountancy. The ACCA website advises 'If you are a school leaver with no formal qualifications or experience of working in accountancy and finance, then ACCA has the perfect qualifications for you. Our Foundations in Accountancy suite of awards contains four awards which are perfect for entry-level students.' For further information please follow this link http://www.accaglobal.com/en/qualifications/accountancy-career/school-leaver.html

So, to summarise, you can start either CIMA or ACCA straight from school but by having AAT you may receive exemptions from various papers i.e. the Certificate in Business Accounting for CIMA or F1-3 for ACCA (I think). I guess it is down to personal choice where you start on the qualification and if you claim exemptions from prior studies.

When are you hoping to start CIMA and what method of study will you follow?

All the best.


JC

I think its great you can start to study CIMA straight from school I was just baffled. I always thought you either had to have a degree or AAT to study towards CIMA (hence why I'm currently studying AAT).

If I knew I would have started to study CIMA instead of AAT, by now I would have completed the Certificate in Business Accounting and would be at least a year into the professional qualification. However with my lack of accounting experience AAT is probably the right choice at the moment as I don't see many jobs being advertised for CIMA trainees without a degree or finance/ accounting experience whereas there are plenty of entry level jobs for AAT trainees. All in good time I suppose..

To answer your last question I'm not sure how I will study CIMA, I've still got a year left of AAT so I haven't really looked into it thoroughly as of yet. However given the choice I would definitely prefer to study in a classroom with a tutor/ teacher over studying from home (I get distracted very easily and sometimes lack motivation).

Are you currently studying CIMA or hoping to in the future?

Jo Clark

Indeed... all in good time

And I'm sure you will better placed and have a secure foundation in accounting having studied the AAT qualification... again just another of my views and how I see my career developing with help from the AAT!

How much do you have left to do on AAT?

pppgreen

Jo Clark wrote: »

Indeed... all in good time

And I'm sure you will better placed and have a secure foundation in accounting having studied the AAT qualification... again just another of my views and how I see my career developing with help from the AAT!

How much do you have left to do on AAT?

A year.. i've edited my last post with the answer to your question from your first post.

Are you currently studying towards AAT or are you a member or neither?

Jo Clark

I'm currently studying AAT Technician/Level 4 and hope to continue on to study CIMA. I will discuss my future options with my employer and tutors when the time comes to making the decision.

Do you currently attend college for AAT?

pppgreen

Yes i do, i think i would struggle otherwise.

What has made you choose CIMA over ACA/ACCA?

Jo Clark

I haven't made my final choice yet... however I do like the look of the syllabus for CIMA and having discussed the qualification with a colleague who has studied it I am very interested to learn more. I will of course look at ACCA and speak to another colleague who is currently studying ACCA. I expect my college will also provide guidance on both courses and all the options available when the time comes. What about you?

pppgreen

I'm much more interested in the business and finance side of accounting and can't see myself being an accountant in practice, not that ACA/ ACCA limits you to that but i feel there more geared towards that than CIMA.

Jo Clark

Well I wish you well with your AAT studies and it would be nice to stay in touch during our studies, AAT and beyond. Are you on level 4 now? When would you be looking to stat CIMA?

pppgreen

Jo Clark wrote: »

Well I wish you well with your AAT studies and it would be nice to stay in touch during our studies, AAT and beyond. Are you on level 4 now? When would you be looking to stat CIMA?

I start level 4 four in September so saying i have a year left was a bit of a fib, i have a year and half left. I would like to take a year off from studying then jump straight into CIMA but who knows what will happen.. only time will tell.

When do you plan on starting CIMA and how will you study?

Jo Clark

I'm actually looking at the CIMA website for dates regarding registration and exemptions etc.

I think I would start next year as I am not due to finish AAT until mid September this year all being well. That said, there are many factors to consider such as where I will be working, if my employer will support me and when the college timetables the courses. I would like to start later this year but think I may miss the important registration dates. I would also like to attend a college as although I think I am motivated enough to self study, I think the interaction with a tutor and other students is important.. for me anyway, and I would be at a loss without my current tutors and study buddies!

Are you studying with a FE College or do you attend a training provider like BPP or Kaplan etc?

p.s. I've sent you a private message here

Jo Clark

I would like to start later this year but think I may miss the important registration dates.

Yes - It will be next year!

Take from the CIMA website - Our registration deadlines of 31 January and 31 July (for the May and November exam sittings respectively) apply to the online registration process.
It is important you that you ensure copies of your educational documents reach us by these deadlines if you plan to sit Professional level papers at the next sitting.

I will also need to allow 28 days for the application of exemptions for the certificate papers C01-C05.