ACA: What are the benefits and disadvantages?

What are the benefits and disadvantages of studying the ACA? I'm currently in y13 and want to stay in accounting/finance/economics so im choosing to study the ACA after uni or in an apprenticeship, but am i able to move throughout finance/accounting well with the ACA? What other things should i look out for etc?

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by Incrediblezed

What are the benefits and disadvantages of studying the ACA? I'm currently in y13 and want to stay in accounting/finance/economics so im choosing to study the ACA after uni or in an apprenticeship, but am i able to move throughout finance/accounting well with the ACA? What other things should i look out for etc?

What are the benefits and disadvantages of studying the ACA?
ACA is one of the most reputable accounting bodies in the UK, so it's a good qualification to go for if you want to go into accounting.
ACA also has RMA/MRA agreements with a number of countries, so you can still practice accounting with an ACA in those countries (if you get the appropriate experience there).
Disadvantages include: it's not as specialised for management accounting (CIMA would be the best to go for), it has one of the highest pass marks of the accounting qualifications (60%), and you can't use it in as many countries as some other accounting qualifications (e.g. ACCA).
There would be other advantages and disadvantages.

I'm currently in y13 and want to stay in accounting/finance/economics
This doesn't make sense to me. Were you in accounting or economist roles before you did your A Levels?

but am i able to move throughout finance/accounting well with the ACA?
I don't understand this

What other things should i look out for etc?
You would need to be very specific about this. What are your concerns exactly? The question is vague.

Reply 2

Incrediblezed

OP

12

Original post by MindMax2000

What are the benefits and disadvantages of studying the ACA?
ACA is one of the most reputable accounting bodies in the UK, so it's a good qualification to go for if you want to go into accounting.
ACA also has RMA/MRA agreements with a number of countries, so you can still practice accounting with an ACA in those countries (if you get the appropriate experience there).
Disadvantages include: it's not as specialised for management accounting (CIMA would be the best to go for), it has one of the highest pass marks of the accounting qualifications (60%), and you can't use it in as many countries as some other accounting qualifications (e.g. ACCA).
There would be other advantages and disadvantages.

I'm currently in y13 and want to stay in accounting/finance/economics
This doesn't make sense to me. Were you in accounting or economist roles before you did your A Levels?

but am i able to move throughout finance/accounting well with the ACA?
I don't understand this

What other things should i look out for etc?
You would need to be very specific about this. What are your concerns exactly? The question is vague.

what I mean by this is if I don't want to stay in accounting and I want to move around within finance am I able to do so? for example move from audit to international trade? or smth like that

Reply 3

ajj2000

20

Original post by Incrediblezed

what I mean by this is if I don't want to stay in accounting and I want to move around within finance am I able to do so? for example move from audit to international trade? or smth like that

You probably need to explain what you mean by 'finance' and 'international trade'. These are pretty vague terms which mean very different things in different circumstances.

Reply 4

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by Incrediblezed

what I mean by this is if I don't want to stay in accounting and I want to move around within finance am I able to do so? for example move from audit to international trade? or smth like that

I concur with @ajj2000; the terms are so vague.

An ACA is a top qualification for roles in accounting, which is one of the branches of finance. If you don't want to say work in bookkeeping or financial accounting, you can go into other accounting services like: management accounting, auditing, tax (although not international tax), consulting, corporate finance, public finance. Having said that, there are more specialised qualifications that are better suited for some of these areas e.g. CIMA, CTA, CFA, CIPFA.
If on the other hand you want to go into say, investments, financial advisory, stockbrokering, mortgage advisory, insurance sales, etc. not a chance. Roles in the finance sector in the UK are heavily regulated and would often require specific qualifications to go into these specific roles. There is no one qualification that would allow you to go into all areas of finance, at least not in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or anywhere in the EU.

What do you mean by international trade? Logistics? Business abroad? As far as I know, trading with other companies in foreign countries to the UK does not require you to have specialised qualifications. If you can be a lot more specific about this, then I can be more specific about whether you would need specific qualifications (to my knowledge you don't, except if you're driving a lorry, ship, plane, etc.).

Side question: by the way you're phrasing your questions, can I presume you're not originally from the UK and you're from an Asian country?

Reply 5

Incrediblezed

OP

12

Original post by MindMax2000

I concur with @ajj2000; the terms are so vague.

An ACA is a top qualification for roles in accounting, which is one of the branches of finance. If you don't want to say work in bookkeeping or financial accounting, you can go into other accounting services like: management accounting, auditing, tax (although not international tax), consulting, corporate finance, public finance. Having said that, there are more specialised qualifications that are better suited for some of these areas e.g. CIMA, CTA, CFA, CIPFA.
If on the other hand you want to go into say, investments, financial advisory, stockbrokering, mortgage advisory, insurance sales, etc. not a chance. Roles in the finance sector in the UK are heavily regulated and would often require specific qualifications to go into these specific roles. There is no one qualification that would allow you to go into all areas of finance, at least not in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or anywhere in the EU.

What do you mean by international trade? Logistics? Business abroad? As far as I know, trading with other companies in foreign countries to the UK does not require you to have specialised qualifications. If you can be a lot more specific about this, then I can be more specific about whether you would need specific qualifications (to my knowledge you don't, except if you're driving a lorry, ship, plane, etc.).

Side question: by the way you're phrasing your questions, can I presume you're not originally from the UK and you're from an Asian country?

Ouch, hahahahah nah ethnically Asian but I've lived in the UK all my life and got a 9 at GCSE 💀💀. I basically just don't know much about the finance sector and ACA as there's nothing in my life to do with jobs that's rlly interested me apart from the fact I want to go into things to do with the economy, money finance etc. I'm vague about it more so because I simply don't know about it and during my work experience with Santander, I got to meet what they called the "loans and international trades team" so I just referred to it as that because I was quite interested in it. So I was wondering if I basically pursue a career initially in accounting for about 5 maybe 6 years, am I then able to move around sort of easily to other jobs and if so what jobs could I move to?

Reply 6

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by Incrediblezed

Ouch, hahahahah nah ethnically Asian but I've lived in the UK all my life and got a 9 at GCSE 💀💀. I basically just don't know much about the finance sector and ACA as there's nothing in my life to do with jobs that's rlly interested me apart from the fact I want to go into things to do with the economy, money finance etc. I'm vague about it more so because I simply don't know about it and during my work experience with Santander, I got to meet what they called the "loans and international trades team" so I just referred to it as that because I was quite interested in it. So I was wondering if I basically pursue a career initially in accounting for about 5 maybe 6 years, am I then able to move around sort of easily to other jobs and if so what jobs could I move to?

From experience, it's somewhat difficult to move from one role in finance to another. Generally if you go into one role, you're kind of stuck with it. This is because the roles tend to be very competitive and unless you are super well connected, they don't give you a second look - do get a second opinion on this though.

Don't get me wrong though, I know of people who were in corporate finance and became hedge fund managers; people who were traders going into coprorate finance, etc.

Roles in banking tend not to require specific qualifications as a legal requirement. So the team in loans and international trades doesn't require specific qualifications i.e. you should be able to go in with A Levels, a degree, or ACA as none of these are required. Having said that, you do get grad schemes with Santander in international trades and loans that ask for grads with degrees in any subject though.

With an ACA, you're more likely looking for accounting roles in other sectors than anything else e.g. you can start off working in an accounting practice, then you can move into management accounting or public sector finance e.g. NHS, tax office, etc. Having said that, some accountants decide to go teach in colleges or major name course providers e.g. BPP, Kaplan, etc.

If you want to go through the list of possible roles in finance, see the following:
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-categories/business-and-finance
https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/job-sectors/finance-accounting/job-profiles
You would quickly find out that the majority of the jobs in finance won't require you to have a degree. You can often get into many of these roles via apprenticeships or professional qualifications. The more difficult part is getting the role in the first place.

If you did a degree in an area that's legally required in certain professions, then you can move into those said professions (e.g. medicine, architecture, denitstry, vetinary science, nursing, etc.) as a backup even with an ACA.
Alternatively, there are 600+ different professions you can do with the equivalent of A Levels.

If you're interested in the economy, you can look into an economics degree to become an economist (although you should be able to get by with A Levels for an apprenticeship or any degree for specific roles in economics). However, you won't need the degree to do most things in finance. If you specifically want something quantitative to go into any role in finance (there are some roles that are highly quantitative), then I would recommend doing a degree in maths (physics and engineering are fine alternatives though). A degree in maths tends to be asked for in graduate roles in actuary and quants (although in quants, you're more likely to be expected to have a PhD in a quantitative subject). The other roles in finance that aren't particularly quantitative tend to not require any academic qualification, but the professional qualifications (most of which don't require specific prior qualifications to do).

If you can be more specific about the sort of roles you are looking for after viewing the above, I can refer you to some of the people in the forum who can provide you with better career advice. ajj2000 is very good with finance and accounting.

ACA: What are the benefits and disadvantages?

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