Would you rather ACCA or CIMA?
University course discussion for Accounting and Finance.
-
- Reputation:
- TSR Group Staff
- PS Helper
- TSR Staff member
I'm not sure it's so much about memorising versus maths. It's more about what you are looking to do for work going forwards.
Both qualifications are excellent and offer great prospects. CIMA is very commercial and focused on management accounting and the wider impact of accountants on business success.
ACCA is common in public practice and is held by many auditors.
There's no right or wrong answer it just about finding your preferred direction.
I personally studied CIMA, best of luck whichever direction you choose
This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App -
- Reputation:
- Thread Starter
- New Member
- Posts: 3
Re: Would you rather ACCA or CIMA?Do you know anything about the undergraduate degree that CIMA offers? It's a BA in Sustainable Performance Mgmt from MMU.
I'm currently a first-year student doing a Bsc in Accounting and Finance at the University of Chester. This university's business dept has the worst faculty imaginable, even high school teachers are far better. -
- Reputation:
- TSR Group Staff
- PS Helper
- TSR Staff member
From what I've heard, CIMA's BA is a distance learning qualification based on a couple of units. This is associated to MMU but not a full time course.
There are many universities that do BA's in Accounting and Finance so plenty of full time alternatives.
Sorry to hear the standard of learning you are experiencing isn't at the level you would expect.
Best of luck finding a suitable alternative
This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App -
- Reputation:
- Full Member
- Posts: 76
Re: Would you rather ACCA or CIMA?Sorry to revive this but I am curious as to how CIMA is perceived by the Big Four as opposed to the ACA or ACCA. Which would be more beneficial if one wishes to pursue employment within one of these firms (or one of their proximate rivals)? I know that they tend to be heavily focused on audit and tax more than anything else (PWC perhaps focusing more broadly than any of the Big Four.) CIMA sounds like the sort of qualification that gives you loads of transferrable commercial skills. So does the ACCA but not the same extent. Any commentary on how the two compare?
-
- Reputation:
- Exalted Member
- Posts: 286
Re: Would you rather ACCA or CIMA?I dont think the Big4 offer CIMA as it is largely an industry qualification and therefore focuses on management accounting techniques. Big4 offer ACA, ACCA and ICAS which are broadly aimed at working in practise.(Original post by TCA2b)
Sorry to revive this but I am curious as to how CIMA is perceived by the Big Four as opposed to the ACA or ACCA. Which would be more beneficial if one wishes to pursue employment within one of these firms (or one of their proximate rivals)? I know that they tend to be heavily focused on audit and tax more than anything else (PWC perhaps focusing more broadly than any of the Big Four.) CIMA sounds like the sort of qualification that gives you loads of transferrable commercial skills. So does the ACCA but not the same extent. Any commentary on how the two compare?
To an extent the Big 4 are even moving away from offering ACCA (to graduates anyway) in favor of putting their people through the more rigorous ACA or ICAS qualification. -
- Reputation:
- Overlord in Training
- Location: London
- Posts: 2,603
Re: Would you rather ACCA or CIMA?(Original post by TCA2b)
Sorry to revive this but I am curious as to how CIMA is perceived by the Big Four as opposed to the ACA or ACCA. Which would be more beneficial if one wishes to pursue employment within one of these firms (or one of their proximate rivals)? I know that they tend to be heavily focused on audit and tax more than anything else (PWC perhaps focusing more broadly than any of the Big Four.) CIMA sounds like the sort of qualification that gives you loads of transferrable commercial skills. So does the ACCA but not the same extent. Any commentary on how the two compare?
Deloitte definitely do offer CIMA, as there were people there joining in consultant roles who were going to be studying CIMA during my welcome talk (they took us through both ACA and CIMA).(Original post by Samtheman1)
I dont think the Big4 offer CIMA as it is largely an industry qualification and therefore focuses on management accounting techniques. Big4 offer ACA, ACCA and ICAS which are broadly aimed at working in practise.
To an extent the Big 4 are even moving away from offering ACCA (to graduates anyway) in favor of putting their people through the more rigorous ACA or ICAS qualification.
In answer to the question, I would say it is entirely dependant on where you want to work. If you want to join in Audit, ACA is clearly a more useful qualification. Likewise if you want to join in a management consulting role then CIMA is better hands down. Not really sure about the ACCA to be honest. -
- Reputation:
- Full Member
- Posts: 76
Re: Would you rather ACCA or CIMA?I can't say audit interests me much. The sort of areas I'd like to go into are tax accountancy or corporate finance. Although I like the analytical aspects of audit the prospect of having to travel to clients' offices doesn't really do much for me. I guess internal audit would be a different question but the Big Four are providers of external auditing services. I also like the ethos behind tax planning, i.e. minimising tax obligations. From what I've seen and heard the ACA seems to be the most desired qualification across the Big Six. I am considering management accountancy as an option, but again there is sufficient overlap with the ACA to specialise later on.
I'm more specifically interested in their accountancy and finance roles as you might gather, rather than management consultancy roles.
