ACCA vs CIMA

ACCA is marketable in practice, commerce, charity/non-profit and public sector jobs. The only downside in my view is that ACCA has very restrictive policies if you want to start your own accounting practice. Students are only allowed to bookkeeping work, no financial accounts or tax work (and that includes payroll). Even when you qualify I understand that your practising certificate would be limited to the areas in which you have experience. So, for example, if you had no experience of tax work you would not be given authorisation to provide tax services.

CIMA by comparison with ACCA is very light on tax and audit but is otherwise a comparable with ACCA. The qualification is widely marketable in commerce, charity/non-profit and public sector jobs, but not in practice. The syllabus has a bit more emphasis on management accounting related topics. CIMA students can start a full service accountancy practice as long as they make sure they are competent. I believe there are more restrictions on CIMA qualifieds who want to start a practice but as long as CIMA is satisfied that proper steps have been taken to resolve knowledge gaps they will grant a practice certificate.

You should double check my comments with CIMA & ACCA before making a decision.

ACA and ACCA are auditors in practice and CIMA are management accountants in industry

The difference in the experience is that the ACA trainee will be a lot better at reconciliations than the cima accountant but the cima accountant will have set up a software system but the auditor will probably have not

The ACA will train in practice surrounded by accountants and the CIMA can be a bit on their own - so I have tended to see CIMA part qualifieds lacking in the skills to get through the exams because they do not get the same help from their colleagues because there are less of them

there has been a very key change in training in the past couple of months in that you will now all do the same apprenticeship standard (look it up on the apprenticeship standard website) so I think unlike previously you will all be doing the same exams

With that in mind really your institute is going to be down to your job as the trainee.

Also I am going to just be honest and say there is a snob value to ACA over ACCA that has the ACA being worth more (ACCA can argue all they want to but it just is what it is) Given that it would be the students choice now of institute for the same exam (you would no longer be able to do what has been perceived as an easier ACCA route) I don't know why someone would choose to be ACCA rather than ACA in future

The value in the ACA is that there is a rule over the percentage of partners who have to be ACA before the firm can call itself a firm of chartered accountants and that reduces the value of ACCA. Plus to be brutal ACAs are gods little gift to the world (sorry had to put that in there)

Does that help - look up the accounting standard if you are going for a job because it would show a real desire to be an accoutant and useful for the interview. You will all do it now as the government now pays for your training (£21000) rather than your firm