I am graduating this year, 2014 with Accounting and Finance. I have been a failure for my past years in my degree life as I am not able to get a 2:2 or any exemptions from those Professional Bodies. I got my exam results last week and I had reflected everything I did. I questioned myself again and again am I still want to continue in the accounting field and answer is YES. Therefore I would want to know which is the best way for me to become a charted accountant qualification.
I had looked into CFAB website and the post 2 years ago about CFAB. Post Link. I emailed CFAB and ACCA about my inquiries on am I able to get exemptions from CFAB to ACCA papers. As CFAB cover ( Business and Finance, Law, Management Information, Audit and Assurance, Taxation) but it stated that the Accounting section can on be exempted for ACA qualification by doing Financial Reporting and Financial Management or similar modules. Therefore I am thinking to do CFAB and ACCA F7 and F9 papers in order to get ACCA Fundamental Level in a year times ( if ACCA allow the exemption from CFAB ). I do have the knowledge from classes that taught in my degree just I did do enough revision for exams and leaded to this failure.
I wanted to apply for the student leaver programme as I had standard Alevel results with 1A*2A1B1C but sadly I got myself into University and they are not accepting students from this kind of situation.
Therefore I would like to have some suggestions about what should I do
1) do CFAB and ACCA F7 and F9 for getting an ACA Certificate Level then find a ACA training contract for getting a full ACA qualification.
2) do all the ACCA papers from BBP or ACCA courses provider and transfer to ACA with a training contract to get a full ACA qualification.
3) do AAT then find an ACA training contract for getting a full ACA qualification.
I know there are no easy routes to redeem my failure. I am really Lost and I would want to catch up my classmates as fast as possible by using any method and I will work my hardest to it.
if we are talking about the same thing, i believe the CFAB is the first six modules of ACA, so i am not sure why you would do them and then go on to ACCA. You could just do CFAB, and then look for a training contract for the rest. Although technically you only need to be on a training contract for the case study, but with out the work experience you will not qualify.
You could just go straight inot ACCA, which is just as good as ACA, again will need some experience, but either way if you are ACCA PQ or CFAB you should be reasonably empployable.
The other option you mention is the AAT and then you could do the AAT-ICAEW fastrack(as i did) route (or skip F1,2,3 under ACCA). I dont know exactly what you studied but i have a feeling this maybe isnt the most cost effective route in getting to chartered if this is your ultimate aim as you have a degree in accountancy.
I think either aiming for CFAB of ACCA PQ would be enough to secure you the experience you need for full chartered or certified chareted status.
Either way good luck and let us know how you get on.
Nick
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Nick
Nick Craggs FMAAT ACA AAT Distance Learning Manager
Thank You for your reply and suggestion. Firstly, Answering your question about why CFAB and then ACCA. The CFAB website sated, Please note that ICAEW CFAB students are not able to claim CPL for the Accounting module. The only exceptions are for AAT qualified individuals who have also passed the ACA Financial Accounting Top-Up module or university students who have passed the ACA Financial Accounting and Reporting module or who passed the previous ACA Financial Accounting module. Link. Therefore in order to get ACA Certificate Level, I think I need ACCA F7 and F9 paper to do so. ( However I am still waiting for CFAB reply on this question and the reply from ACCA am I allow just doing F7 and F9 paper only for getting ACA Certificate Level's exemption. )
The AAT fast track is a great option but I think 2 years on the Diploma in Accounting is a bit too long for me.
You've basically hit a pothole in your career aspirations.
You are looking at the detail at a time when its time to step back and look at the bigger picture.
The big questions are where do you want to be and how are you going to get there.
before looking at the latter question lets start with some questions to ask yourself.
Where do you actually want to be.
everything about your post echoes chartered.... Why?
Have yoy considered ACCA as an end in itself?
Is your intent practice or industry?
If industry why not CIMA? (I'm not saying that you should go CIMA, just asking why you have dismissed it?).
Think about those for starters then as you answer each post we'll see if we can't find a way of identifying what you really want and the best way to get you there.
Not the fastest or easiest way with the most exemptions and ending up a half finished accountant but the best way where you realise that the journey is more important in many ways than the destination.
looking forwards to chatting and hopefully finding a route through the maze of qualifications to try and get you to where you want to be,
kind regards,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Thank You for your reply and suggestions. I know I hit a pothole in my career aspirations and that is why I am so worrying which is the most suitable way for me to handle.
I wanted to be an chartered accountant and then into an audit team and of course being in the management later around 40.
I think to be a chartered accountant is the recognition of a professional accountant and I do want to work in the accounting/auditing industry.
I like ACCA as an itself, but since I am UK. I would want to take the advantage of being ACA qualifier. Although ACCA and ACA are more likely the same.
I did consider CIMA before, but I see myself more suitable on the ACCA or ACA section as financial accounting instead of management accounting.
I understand there are not fastest or easiest way and I had prepared to start from the bottom. I got the email reply from ACCA about CFAB exemptions, and they only allow F1, F2, F3 if I finished the whole CFAB. Therefore I think my decision right now is to do ACCA F1 to F9 within one and a half year and look for ACA contact to support my accounting qualification. If not I will continue on ACCA paper.
I am not so sure is it the possible to do so for a non complete ACCA student to transfer to ACA Qualification.
Looking forwards to your opinions on my thought and really want to get out from this situation as soon as possible.
Besides needing to be a Sheldon Cooper type genius, the maximum papers that you can sit in one sitting is 4, there are two sittings a year so that would be a maximum of 8.
They are extending it to four sittings from next year but you will still not be able to take more than 8 different papers within a 12 month period.
I'm not sure how its going to work as it will takes around ten weeks to mark a paper so I'm not seeing the sitting after three months being for resits but rather I think that they're going for sit an exam, get ready for the next, the results from the previous sitting just tell you what your going to be studying for the one after the next sitting.
It should speed qualification up a little.
What you are planning to fit into one year I think that you need to be looking closer to three years.
The first three papers are very straight forwards and basically AAT level IV sort of material.
Papers F4 to F9 are a step up in complexity. Those six togetehr being the equivalent of a BSc.
Papers P1 to P7 are at MSc level but those 5 alone would not equate to an MSc (I say 5 not 7 as its P1-P3 then any 2 from the remaining 4).
You would be doing right going straight to ACCA as too many people take the exemptions and then fall out of the qualification shortly afterwards because they have not been prepared for the skills level questions by understanding the basics from the ACCA's perspective.
The exams are very time pressured and after the first three you will start to see twists in the questions that really test your level of knowledge as les well prepared people are able to answer the questions but they miss that the real points are hidden between the lines of the questions.
As you identify Chartered remains the top of the tree but there is no real difference in the knowledge base between chartered and chartered certified.
ACCA could get you into a chartered firm which would open oportunities to use full ACCA for serious exemptions from ACA leaving just a few papers to do under your training contract. So, whilst the straight transfer is no longer available its still possible to transfer over if thats what you wanted to do.
As for the recognition of a professional accountant line, I think one way to consider that statement is what do others regard as an accountant for things like bank references and passport applications.
ACA, ACCA, CIPFA and CIMA qualified are always on those lists. AIA and IFA sometimes make it on.
I think that CIMA has suffered a little from leaving the CCAB party but that doesn't make it any less of a accountancy qualification.
Forgtting everything but ACA and ACCAyou need to start thinking in terms of five years from now to qualification. Assuming that you go ACCA I would sit them as follows :
1) F1, F2 & F3
2) F5 & F9
3) F7 & F8
4) F6
5) F4
feel free to swap 2 and 3 around dependant upon whether your preference is to continue with management or financial accounting after doing the first three.
You probably won't pass them all first time but the four sittings a year should help to keep you on track (The above is assuming six months between papers to give you chance to get ready for the next one).
As you can see, thats just planned out around 2.5 years.
F1 to F3 assume that you are an office junior.
F4 to F9 assume that you are workig as an accountant
P1 to P7 assume that you are working in a supervisory capacity.
I remember one ACCA quote in relation to P7 where the examiner said that the intention was for you to be in the position that you are likely to be in ten years after qualifying.
Even with my plan which is much slower than your first thoughts on this you will still be on track with your life plan.
Good luck with your studies and don't forget to keep giving us updates on your progress.
Kind regards,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
