CIMA/ACCA vs Msc in Accounting & Finance

Who do you think KPMG or E&Y or Deloitte.. would want more?

A - the person who's been accredited by CIMA and ACCA
or
B - the one with the Msc in Accounting & Finance

A or B. let's do the math shall we?

Reply 1

Rakesh1987

I'm from Singapore and I'll be going to study in the UK (MSc Finance at Cass Business School) in September. I did my ACCA here and was with KPMG (audit department) for 4 months before deciding to leave for continuing my studies.

I have a degree but it was obtained through some partnership ACCA has with Oxford Brookes university. So, I didn;t exactly attend 3/4 years of proper university.

I don't know about Deloitte, but KPMG (in Singapore) values ACCA more highly because the technical knowledge of the ACCA graduates are far better than the degree graduates. They recommend those that have finished their degrees and joined the firm to go and attend ACCA classes (and to take the exams if possible). ACCA is recognised my almost all universities in the UK for application for postgraduate studies. If they don't, one can still use the Oxford Brookes degree.

However, the downside with ACCA is that one will not get the kind of exposure/networking as in a university. You probably won't have opportunities to work in teams and to ake presentations and all. So, it all depends on what you want - the technical knowledge or the university experience (provided you go for only one).