Is the acca qualification more important than the degree?

However personally I'd do a degree and follow it up with the ACA instead, better plan IMO

Thats what i intend to do. Thanx

Have you had any ACCA exam?
Difficulty level 5(nuts)-1(a breeze)

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Just to be clear, the ACCA and the ACA are two different qualifications

ACCA after the degree is what i meant! :-)

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Out of interest why ACCA over ACA?

I'm not sure but i think ACCA is more prestigious... no?

There are many differences between ACCA and ACA. Ultimately, one of the main things you need to consider is what you want to do in your future career. Research shows that ACAs can usually command higher salaries and as Mervin stated above - there are far more ACAs in senior positions in UK FTSE companies and major organisations than other qualifications. You may also want to look at some of the senior job vacancies that are advertised in publications such as the Financial Times (or similar) as some of the key vacancies ask specifically for ACA qualified.

Here are just some of the other differences between ACA and ACCA:

Optional vs compulsory: With ACA there are no optional exam papers (which is the case with ACCA). Every ACA exam module is compulsory (unless you qualify for exemption on a particular module). Students cannot opt out of areas in which they feel less confident. Employers love this as it means they get individuals who have consistent levels of academic and professional achievement across multiple areas. It's good for you as you get a broad, in-depth level of expertise in many disciplines, so you can add value to any number of areas of that business.

Time taken to qualify: 80% of ACA students qualify in three years or less, while for ACCA this figure drops to 59%. For you, this could mean you gain an internationally recognised professional qualification more quickly which may then impact on your salary and job prospects.

Four compulsory elements: The ACA is more than just exams. It requires ongoing study and development of ethics training, professional skills development and technical work experience. While the ACCA requires some development in these areas too, there is less regulation/monitoring around the way in which some of this exeperience can be gained. This is not the case with ACA where you would need to gain these skills with an employer that is authorised by ICAEW to train ACA students. This benefits you as it helps ensures that all students receive high levels of support from their organisations.

Training agreement: This is a two-way formal agreement between employer and students relating to your ACA studies. Employers outline the support they will offer you, while you agree to study hard, pass your exams and complete all te components of the qualification. ACCA does not require anything similar to this. Research shows that students taking qualifications with accountancy bodies that require some form of formal agreement have higher pass marks.

Exam sittings: ACA offers more exam sittings. This is better for you and your employer as it means exams schedules can be tailored to suit your work commitments and the business needs of your organisation.

Ethics training: Given recent events in the world economy, it is more crucial than ever that future business leaders act with integrity and good judgement. The ACA therefore requires ongoing ethics learning throughout training. This is not the case with ACCA.

Quality learning materials: ACA produces its own learning materials. These are reviewed yearly and approved by the examiners. ACCA has no such control processes in place for their materials, so multiple versions of varying quality may exist.

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I would say the ACA is the better of the two. Both are good of course, but the ACA does have some worthwhile advantages. It's worth noting that all the big firms (PWC, Deloitte, E&Y and KPMG) trains graduates towards the ACA (ICAEW) as opposed to the ACCA. Here is a good post from a few days ago by someone that sums up some of the differences quite well IMO;



Like I mentioned before, both are undoubtedly good, but I would argue the ACA edges out the ACCA for prestige in that generally speaking being on the ACA means you've managed to get yourself into a training agreement with a firm whereas anyone can sit the ACCA I believe (so generally ACA will equal a higher quality of candidate). Given the choice, I'd go for ACA, but you should obviously do your own research thoroughly before making the decision and figure out what's best for you.

Easily the best i have ever seen on this site! Thank you
I need to ask again, sorry to disturb but i'll be starting uni September(Anglia Ruskin, Accounting & Finance), What level will i need to acheive to get on the ACA programe(b'cos im sold!) and how will i find this transition?

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With regards to entry requirements, the base requirement isn't high for the ICAEW (ACA) - http://www.icaew.com/en/members/regulations-standards-and-guidance/qualifications/aca-entry-routes. Just any degree will do it basically.

However that's the easy bit, the hard part is getting a company to hire you and invest upwards of £10,000 in training you over the first couple of years. You can't study for the ACA anywhere, it needs to be at an approved company which can offer the right level of technical experience. As a general rule you'll need a minimum of a 2.1 degree. In addition there are usually UCAS requirements, the big 4 firms will require 300+ (BBB) whereas others may require 240+ (CCC) depending on the firm (from your top 3 A-levels only). Furthermore competition is pretty fierce (easily 30+ to 1 place for big 4), so you need to have a strong CV. That means getting yourself into positions of responsibility in societies at university and taking the initiative to get professional work experience (summer internship's and placement years are great). You're thinking about this earlier then most, so if you put your mind to it over the next 3/4 years you should be able to put forward a strong application.

As for the transition to the ACA, it's hard to say as it's really down to the individual. Firms tend to take from all degree programmes and train from scratch, so given your course you'll probably find the transition easier then those coming from unrelated degrees.

Good luck

Would it be a sensible idea to do the ACCA first then follow up with a degree?

Why not?

What if I was to do the ACCA first and then follow up with a degree? Would that be a sensible thing to do?