I've just completed my second year of studying accounting and finance at Cass Business School, City University London. My second semester went well which means I hit a first this year and am just hitting a first overall by the skin of my teeth. I'm starting to think about what I want to do in the future and I'm really unsure as to wether I should do ACA or a CFA.
Having done financial analysis and company valuation as electives this term I had realised I quite enjoy financial analysis. I got firsts in both modules (73.1% in company valuation and 78.7% in financial analysis). I've never really done too well in my financial accounting modules until this term.
(Introduction to Financial Accounting-54% (Year 1)
Financial Accounting-60.3% (Year 2 semester 1, note: there were complaints about the examination of this module)
Financial Accounting 2-70.7% (Year 2 semester 2)
I've still yet to get a first in a final exam. I've got good guests in midterms but my highest final exam results for financial accounting 2 where I got 65%.
I also didn't do very well in my assurance module (60.4%). In fact my financial accounting and assurance modules were my worst modules this year by far. Whilst preperstion is a major factor this seems to suggest to me that it'll take more time for me to truly master accounting based on my results thus far but I do have a decent base to do an ACA (I will have 8 exemptions by the end of my degree God willing)
I know the CFA qualification is very difficult to obtain. I also understand that it takes a lot of dedication and requires a lot of knowledge in a lot of areas. However, I feel doing an accounting and finance degree at a good institution provides me with a solid base to begin CFA preparations especially since I took financial analysis and company valuation as electives both which are in the CFA syllabus. Having an accounting background also helps with the CFA as there is a lot of accounting in the CFA particularly level 2.
My uncle who is a CEO for one of the subsidiaries of capita Plc (a FTSE100 company) recommends doing an ACA. He may be a bit biased having done an ACA himself but he makes the point that a lot of CEOs are former accountants. He also said that if would like to become a CEO or CFO or FD (I mentioned to him that this may potentially be my long term aim) that I should not do CFA as this will not allow me to do these kind of roles.
Furthermore, he says that a CFA only limits you to financial services whereas an ACA is a more broad qualification which enables you to go into many other fields. He also stated that a lot of jobs put qualified accountant in their job description but not many jobs require a CFA. However, having read online it seems to suggest that being a CFA is more financially rewarding than being an ACA. I've also read that a CFA is also a very broad qualification (I need some clarity on this). I enjoy accounting but from what I've done so far I'm not an expert but I can with some work become an expert. I feel that I understand financial analysis a lot better and my grades seem to suggest I do. However, I'm afraid that doing a CFA is too restrictive in career paths.
I'm currently 20 years old (21 in September) and have an idea what I'd like to do in the next few years. I have 3 routes.
1) Complete degree, ACA , MBA (5-6 years total)
2) Complete degree, CFA, MBA (6-7 years total, note it takes on average 4 years to complete the CFA)
3) Complete degree, ACA, CFA, MBA (9-10 years total) (I'm not sure wether to do ACA or CFA first if I go down this route so if you suggest this route please advise me on what to do first)
I'm really sorry for this long winded forum starter I just really wanted to mention my entire situation so it'll be easier for you to evaluate what the best option would be for me. I'm so confused and I would really like some help particularly from people who've either done an ACA, CFA or both. It'll be much appreciated.