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ICAEW VS ACCA

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.

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