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ACCA vs CIMA?
Louise89
Trusted RegularEngland, UKMAAT Posts: 296
I really cannot decide which route to go down next year 
I have two bosses and one is ACCA and the other is CIMA and from what I've heard I still cannot make up my mind.
If you have gone on from AAT to either ACCA or CIMA could you please tell me what influenced your choice?
I have two bosses and one is ACCA and the other is CIMA and from what I've heard I still cannot make up my mind.
If you have gone on from AAT to either ACCA or CIMA could you please tell me what influenced your choice?
0
Comments
ACCA more of an all rounder, although some say its more for practice.
Need to do ACCA if you want to audit.
Less strict rules with CIMA.
It just means they show that they focus more on management accounts then on auditing, as that's what the CCAB was dealing with mostly lately.
Hi
It can be "six of one and half a dozen of another"!
I work in industry/commerce, in my area of the country industry jobs tend to ask for ACCA/CIMA or CIMA. Where I was working at the beginning of my CIMA studies I worked with two ACA's (ICAEW) who qualified in practice and advised me against doing ACCA in industry/commerce. However, at our "sister" company the trainees were doing ACCA!
Following on from "sampsons" comments, I've worked for a total of seven companies - a mix of private and PLC's, small, medium and large. Five (private and PLC) of those companies had at least one management accountant, only two had a financial accountant. Conversely, some of the management accountants were ACCA whilst at least one of the financial accountants was a CIMA student.
In short, once you're qualified with the necessary experience, either qual (in industry/commerce) will serve you well.
Neil
I started doing ACCA as I worked in Practice, but I've now moved to Industry.
ACCA is fine for industry.
I want both though :rasp:
Although personally I don't see the benefits of having both?
How can you put yourself through more exams
Will look tomorrow :P
Is there an answer on their website about exemptions etc? can't get on on my iPhone
CIMA offer exemptions on a "paper by paper" basis.
Have a look:
http://www.cimaglobal.com/Study-with-us/Exemptions/Exemption-search/Association-of-Chartered-Certified-Accountants-ACCA/?qualification=1-5DDITL
Unless you completed some of the ACCA professional level, you dont get many exemptions.
Neil
It is hard to choose, I like what both of these qualifications have to offer.. just got to decide what kind of accountant do I want to be further down the line.
How much of an issue is this? And why have they changed?
By leaving the CCAB, CIMA seem to be giving up any connection with financial accounting and auditing. We need to wait and see if they can impact on standard setting outside the CCAB. The significance in local government world is that if you any ambition to become a section 151 Officer, you need to be a member of a CCAB body. The two main players in local government finance, CIPFA and ACCA, are very pro CCAB. So into the future we may see the differences growing as CCAB continues its IFRS path and CIMA becomes influenced by its much, much bigger American partner.
But - who knows?
CCAB has a focus on financial reporting and auditing standards, this is less than a major interest for CIMA. As a result, CIMA wanted to have a more representative financial contribution to CCAB. CCAB wouldn’t agree to this so CIMA "threw the baby out with the bath water" and withdrew from the CCAB. CIMA is still a member of/regulated by the FRC.
Neil
I'd be a bit worried if I was a CIMA member. Its hard to know how it'll affect its long term possition alongside ACCA & ACA etc
For the time being I'm not too concerned, CIMA (at least in industry and commerce) is known in its own right and I doubt that the majority of employers are even aware of the CCAB split - even the communication to CIMA members was only about a quarter column of a four column page. However, there may be an affect if CCAB is a specific requirement in some areas. This may be inadvertent as CCAB may have just been used as a "blanket" for simplicity instead of referring to individual bodies. It will also depend on understanding the exact requirements of any legislation etc. For example, when referring to qualifications for Company Secretaries, the Companies Act refers to specific accounting bodies, but in a casual manner people might just refer to the act as requiring CCAB.
Neil
Does anyone know someone whos done ACA?