Bit of advertising for myself here! Comparing ACCA and ICAS is basically ranking two kettle of fish entirely - speaking from someone with several years experience. ICAS ranks higher than ACCA and is on a par with the ACA. You need firm sponsorship to sit ICAS, as you would the ACA, but you can fund yourself over an ACCA qualification which may suit your requirements. You can gain membership of the ACA or ICAS if you have been in post qualified experience with the ACCA for 5 years, and can demonstrate commercial awareness (someone correct me if I’m wrong; I think a written statement or conversion exam may be necessary). What entry level are you considering for ICAS? Its definitely the better of the two options you put forward - big employers like EY, KPMG, PWC as well as firms like GT and BDO make some employees compulsory sit ICAS depending on what department they’re in. Having gone through the ICAS qualification personally and qualified with them, I’ve then gone on to provide tuition to both ACA and ICAS students. I can tell you that the course material is basically the same over ACA and ICAS, but ICAS condense the material to 11 exams as compared to 15 for the ACA - so ICAS is a bit more intense. I’ve also tutored the CIPFA qualification; where you focus on public sector accounting, especially in your second and third year (where you’ll learn how central govt, local govt and the NHS prepare their accounts and how public financial policy and taxes are derived). If you want help with your studies feel free to PM me