ACCA vs CIMA

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phunkyphantom22
phunkyphantom22 Registered Posts: 166 Dedicated contributor 🦉
in General discussion
Hi all,

I am hoping to finish AAT this year and sit my first ACCA exams in Dec.

The problem is everyone in my team is CIMA qualified and that is the route they would prefer me to take - I will need to put a case together in order to study ACCA and I really don't know what to say when they ask why I wish to do ACCA instead of CIMA!

Mostly it's for personal reasons i.e. I want to do the BSc degree etc. and I have always wanted to do ACCA.

Can anyone give me any suggestions?

As far as I am concerned, when it comes to my job, I work in the way my job requires not according to the type of qualification I have......

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  • phunkyphantom22
    phunkyphantom22 Registered Posts: 166 Dedicated contributor 🦉
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    Anybody out there? :-)
  • crispy
    crispy Registered Posts: 466 Dedicated contributor 🦉
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    Hello,

    If you have your heart set on acca then I guess you could argue that it is the more versatile of the qualifications as would be just as appropiate for industry work or in a practice, and also mention your personal reasons.

    If its of any help im a cima student and have found the subjects so far a natural follow on from aat, although have to date avoided the management theory style units which I don't really find interesting (there are 2 of them unfortunately :thumbdown:)

    Good luck for completing your aat :001_smile:
  • chrisjessica
    chrisjessica Registered Posts: 1 New contributor 🐸
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    Hi

    I'm new to the forums.

    I am currently doing the Foundation level (NVQ route). I am fully aware I am years away from even considering ACCA / CIMA. What are the fundamentals of each, please?

    I have come to the conclusion that CIMA is for big corporate businesses and ACCA is for, for example the sole traders etc. I am sure there is more to it than the above comments but also I have been advised that CIMA is natural progression from AAT.

    I just want to hear from everyone with views on ACCA/CIMA

    Many thanks
  • phunkyphantom22
    phunkyphantom22 Registered Posts: 166 Dedicated contributor 🦉
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    The main differences are that CIMA is focused on management accounting and ACCA is more focused on financial accounting.

    I work in industry and it is common for people to be studying CIMA and ACCA - it all depends on what role you are doing really i.e. if you role was very management accounts focused then it would make sense for you to study CIMA.

    I'm not sure what you mean by 'ACCA is for sole traders' - I presume you mean it is more common in practice? This would not suprise me as ACCA is financial accounting focused, but you will also find that ACA is the common qualifcation in practice.

    I have never been told that CIMA is more of a natural progression from AAT than ACCA is, but interesting to hear that - although I will still do ACCA.

    ACCA can be more versatile than CIMA i.e. if you wanted to go into audit, but you could easily convert with a few more exams.

    However, I have found that all accounting roles contain aspects of both financial and management accounts.
  • sunny
    sunny Registered Posts: 43 Regular contributor ⭐
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    I think ACCA is more internationally, so you can use this qualification in other countries, is it right?
  • jorja1986
    jorja1986 Registered Posts: 210 Dedicated contributor 🦉
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    CIMA and ACCA both have there merits, but it depends enitirely on the types of accounts you wish to do. ACCA is financial accounts whereas CIMA consentrates on the reporting and Management side of the accounts.

    I hope to look into CIMA once I pass as I work in the public sector and I feel that reporting skills are of more benefit to me in my position than financial.

    phunkyphantom22 I would put together a study for your emplyers explaining why you wish to do CIMA than ACCA, even if you use the old chestnut that you could learn different skills in a way that could enhance your knowledge to benefit the company's growth.

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