ACCA, CIMA or ACA

In regards to the masters, I left school with only GCSE's... Would you still be under the impression that a masters would be of no real value?

As someone looking into accountancy to start of my career could some one please tell me what CIMA, ACCA etc are and what the difference is as I am struggling to find out myself. Thank you.

Hi there,

I'm nearing the end of my AAT studies and have been given the option of studying ACCA, CIMA or ACA, I'm currently working in the public sector in management accounting, and have been given until tomorrow to decide which qualification I want to pursue.

The obvious qualification appears to be CIMA however I have been told there are more opportunities within finance such as working within IB with ACA, however ACCA provides a degree in accounting which I can use as a prerequisite for a masters.

My question is which would you take and why?

Thanks

As someone looking into accountancy to start of my career could some one please tell me what CIMA, ACCA etc are and what the difference is as I am struggling to find out myself. Thank you.

Hi! I work for ICAEW and we provide the ACA qualification.
With the ACA qualification you are able to work in any aspect of business so it does allow you to keep your options open if you want to change your role in the future.
Once you become fully qualified there really is no reason for you to do a masters, employers would be satisfied with your qualification.

Hope this helps

Hi there, I work for ICAEW and we provide the ACA qualification.
CIMA is the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and their members and students tend to work mostly in business.
We train people in business, practice, financial services and not for profit so you can choose which you prefer and can change sector in the future.
We also have standardised exams that we write ourselves so everyone is trained to the same level. You should have a look at our careers website icaew.com/careers if you need more information.

Hope this helps a bit

Hi Jacqueline!

I'm just about to finish AAT level 2 and I'm really interested in moving on to ACA once I'm fully qualified with AAT. I realise it's still at least 2 years until I can even entertain the idea of applying for ACA, but is there anything you could advise that I do now to better prepare myself for it? I notice there is a requirement of 450 days experience that accompanies the qualification, do you need to complete that before you're even accepted on to the course?

Thanks