Mwasima T. There is no major differences between the two qualifications however, in
the UK the recruiters makes a big deal as to whether you have ACCA or ICAEW. This is because all they do is attempt to meet their client's specifications. Therefore it is all the attitude of the recruiting companies (managers) to favour one qualification as compared to the other. It is more likely that if a recruiting manager is ICAEW qualified he will certainly favour candidates of within the ICAEW qualifications vice versa. All I can advise is to bear in mind that the ACCA and ICAEW are both high quality professional qualifications. It will be considered more appropriate for you to get an entry accounting job and develop from within the company from where you can deduce which qualification is favourable. The employer would also be able to assist with your personal and career development by allowing you study leave, possibly fund part or full course fees and assisting with your practical work experience which now is one of the fundamental requirements of all the professional qualifications.
Kelley O. As a Tutor of both ACCA & ICAEW exams I would say the majority of people find the style of the ICAEW more challenging than ACCA. Put it this way I have taught a number of students over the past 7 years who have struggled with ICAEW and failed a number of exams who then switch to ACCA exam instead and manage to go on and pass them. I have yet to come across a student who has struggled with ACCA and then switched to ICAEW.
The content of the 2 is similar, it is the style of the ICAEW exams (questions less structured, longer scenarios to deal with, greater time pressure and no optional questions) that can make ICAEW more challenging for some students.
Jack H. I've been told by an accountant at bpp that icaew is harder but they are very similar. I think the main difference is that acca is more internationally recognised but i think it depends on what your plans on which you should do.
Arunan S. I found an interesting statistic this week. 57% of all ACCA members are based outside the UK and 15% of ICAEW members are based outside the UK. The number of members are similar but the ACCA is far more globally recognised compared to the ICAEW. If you want an accountancy career globally and not just in the UK choose the ACCA. The ACCA seems to be a lot more popular to study compared to the ICAEW at the moment.
Locutus | Fri, 17/08/2012 - 11:09 | Permalink I started my career in the late 1980s with a medium sized Chartered practice. I didn't have a degree so had to do AAT, which I passed with flying colours. At that firm at that time there was a huge snobbery with Chartered - so much so that Chartered was out of the question. You had to be a really "special" person to be considered. I left and qualified as an ACCA a couple of years later. Since 1997 I have worked at many Chartered or Certified practices either as an employee or as a self employed freelancer. Over that period none (and I really mean none!) had been training ICAEW Chartereds whilst I worked there - trainees were either AAT or ACCA. Small practices just don't seem to train Chartereds any more ... and haven't been for a while. When I started my career, ICAEW used to be regarded as the bastion of the elite - and to some extent ACCA was for those who weren't good enough. Now that distinction has largely been eroded, so much so that I couldn't even be bothered to apply for the "Pathways" conversion from ACCA to ICAEW when that came along. In 20 years time I think ACCA and ICAEW would have merged, since ICAEW's membership would have shrunk so much due to members retiring and a dwindling number of new members coming through.
Mr abc I used to work at BDO, and we always promoted ICAEW above ACCA. Besides being more prestigious, BDO also offered full sponsorship for staff who wanted to pursue their ICAEW qualifications. And as mentioned earlier, there's no point getting more than one qualification - just pick one and follow through with it.
As for what to expect working for any of the Big 4...well, don't expect to have any social life. Or any life whatsoever. Be prepared never to have your leave approved, or, if it's approved, to be canceled last minute. Expect to work ridiculously long hours. Expect to have difficult clients, difficult seniors/managers/partners. The burnout rate is quite high.
You might want to consider a career in Advisory. Go for your professional qualification, get sponsored, complete the working experience requirement so you can be fully certified, then apply to transfer to one of the Advisory divisions - Corporate Governance, Risk and IT Advisory, etc. Heck, even the people who transferred to Tax were much happier than the ones who stayed in Audit.
MR ASE This is a century old question. Time has changed everything for the last 15 years. In today's modern world, the gap has gone between ACCA & ICAEW. The final conclusion is both ACCA & ICAEW are equal in quality & standard. Those who're still debating between these 2 qualifications are those who never kept themselves updated of the latest development in the last 15 years.
Miss SUE Just get one will do, either ACCA or ICAEW. After that you can pursue master or CFA if you wish. Miss Dorothy CFA will be a qualification fully focused on finance, very very thorough study of it. ACCA and ICAEW would be audit, tax, finance, costing, management, etc. Mr Chan ICEAW is more prestigious in UK because it is recognised as Chartered Accountant in UK, second is CIMA's strong brand in UK because it is recognised as Chartered Management Accountant, and followng is ACCA's strong network of the world, because it is second largest Accounting Body in the world. (AICPA is the largest accounting body in the world).
As I said, ACCA has strong network around the world, personally recommend you to do ACCA, you can be Chartered Accountant around the world with ACCA holder. Even I am finally qualified as ACMA (CIMA graduate), but ACCA is very flexible than CIMA. However, if talking about business strategy, CIMA is top 1 for business accounting. CIMA specialises on management acc / financial managament / business strategy. ACCA specialises on financial acc / auditing / taxation. You mean ACCA and ICAEW are the same? But ICAEW is more to business and finance while ACCA is more to tax, assurance and auditing right? But many employers are still discriminating ACCA holders when they are with ICAEW holders, that's why there's still a gap between both of them. ICAEW is harder than ACCA, but since both of them are the same, people will be encouraged to take ACCA instead of ICAEW. Both ACCA & ICAEW focus on the same thing ie auditing, tax, financial accounting. They have the same syllabus contents & same level of exam difficulty. You would agree with me if you do a detail research of it. CIMA is different from ACCA & ICAEW because CIMA focus more on business, finance and management accounting. In UK & Msia, employers view all the 3 bodies as the same.
If someone says one is better than the other, most probably that person does not keep himself/herself updated with the latest development or have no idea at all concerning this profession.
Bear in mind, ICAEW exam is open book and have 3 exam sittings per year.
ACCA & CIMA is a closed book exam and candidates must know everything on their fingertips & there're only 2 exam sittings per year. Less chances to graduate fast. But why many people are saying that ICAEW is more prestigious. Their saying makes ACCA less valuable. And ACCA holders are increasing nowadays but ICAEW holders are still less than ACCA holders. I don't know how true it that. One cannot fail ICAEW exams for maximum 5 times right? Under the ICAEW Pathway membership, ACCA/CIMA members of at least 5 years can gain ICAEW membership without having to sit for the ICAEW exam. Whilst ICAEW members must sit for the ACCA/CIMA exam if they wish to become ACCA/CIMA members.