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Here is some advice for students of ACCA and I would also like to clear some misconceptions which run through our accounting profession in Pakistan.

First of all

A ‘qualified’ ACCA is a person who has

a) …completed the practical training as per ACCA’s requirement.

AND

b) …cleared the professional examinations.

AND

c) …obtained the membership certificate which includes the legal right to use the ACCA designation.

Practically speaking, in Pakistan and some other regions, ACCA ‘affiliates’ are called or considered ‘qualified’ which is definitely wrong. (…calling yourself as ‘qualified’ if you have only completed the examinations is also illegal and subject to disciplinary procedures by your institute.) It makes ACCA’s generally look incompetent when they say ‘they have qualified’ and don’t even know how to send a print job on a network. They are simply discrediting their own profession.

Anyway, in the United Kingdom, European and Middle Eastern markets, ACCA, ACA, CIMA qualifications are considered practically equivalent and a lot of your actual worth comes from training experience and how well you manage to ‘market yourself’ in an interview. A lot will matter where you work, if your firm has a majority of ACCA’s as its managing partners, expect to be given preference. Take ICAS’s (Scotland) example. ICAS is the oldest institute of chartered accountants in the world and predates ICAEW. There is quite a bit of rivalry between ICAS and ICAEW in the UK with ICAS claiming higher ‘prestige’ and ICAEW claiming more market penetration. ICAEW has nearly 10 times as many members as ICAS and ICAS simply pleads no contest here in member counts because it considers its examination and training requirements more rigorous. ICAS’s examinations are considered by many to be the hardest accountancy examinations in the world and they have exclusive rights to the ‘CA’ designation (rather than ACA) for use in the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, CA’s and ACA’s start on equivalent footing in UK unless of course, your recruiter is a CA rather than an ACA. As another example, CIMA may not be considered as well as ACCA or ACA in a practice, but in the industry it’s considered perfectly equivalent and in some cases CIMA is rated even higher than ACA or ACCA.

I would like to add, ICAEW’s market prestige has drastically fallen in the past few years, mainly due to mismanagement. Search for ICAEW on accountancyage.com and you will come up with all sorts of articles regarding ICAEW’s troubles. They have been doing their best to attract people away from ACCA or CIMA and a lot is about to change. (Training offices now sprouting up all over the world is simply part of changes in ICAEW policy). ICAP thinks ICAEW is some ‘untouchable mother body’, which is unsurprising, since majority of the people who are involved in running ICAP were originally ICAEW qualified who got their ICAP certificates through reciprocal arrangements. (ICAEW’s final exam pass rate was nearly 80% in 2005, out of only 800 students appearing compared to about 50% for ACCA”s final exam’s.) The huge drop in ICAEW recruitments explains the small number of candidates who appeared, with more and more preferring ACCA and CIMA now compared to a few years back.

Coming back to Pakistan’s case, an ACCA is sometimes given less preference to a local ACA because of the following reasons

1) ACA’s are allowed practice certificates by local legislature in Pakistan, ACCA’s aren’t.

2) The profession policies are managed by FCA’s who obviously don’t like ACCA’s. This is called professional rivalry and will always exist.

3) ACCA’s training requirements are more ‘flexible’ than ACA’s, which creates a false impression of relaxation and less discipline. (In the UK, one of the major reasons ACCA’s market worth has grown is actually because of their more flexible requirements)

4) There is a much smaller number of fully qualified ACCA’s than ACA’s in Pakistan, and although as many (or more, since ACCA's pass rate is consistent) ACCA’s as ACA’s complete the exams each year, the actual number which is annually admitted to ACCA membership in Pakistan is lower. The accounting profession is dictated by majority.

5) ACCA’s were not examined in local laws and tax. (They now are, but that was introduced only recently so market penetration of qualified ACCA’s who are well versed in local law and tax wont happen any time before the end of 2007.)

6) ACCA is relatively new in Pakistan. Employers and the market in general, are not aware of ACCA or its intrinsic value and when they ask ICAP for advice, ICAP tells them it’s a foreign qualification with no ‘scope’ in Pakistan.

7) Coaching centers are focusing too much on minting money and do not assist in professional grooming or development at any level. Their ‘counseling’ is solely restricted to showing tricks to students on gathering as many degrees as possible.

8) From a student point of view, ACCA is VERY expensive compared to ICAP, and failure is simply not affordable by most ACCA students, since they can risk losing a whole years saving on just two or three papers along with the ridiculously high subscription fees. Failure can be particularly hurtful in ACCA and that is why some people don’t recommend it, especially to those with humble backgrounds.

9) While the overall profession policies are managed by qualified FCA’s - the actual accountancy profession image in Pakistan's employment market is managed by people who never managed to fully qualify due to some reason or the other. These finalists, because they never passed, consciously or unconsciously, imagine 'ACA' as some sort of ‘legendry’ and ‘mythical’ qualification, simply because of a fact of human nature that something you can’t achieve is the stuff of ‘legend’. These people can, and will do the work of a qualified Chartered Accountant at a lower cost hence they are much highly sought after by employers and in good demand.

10) ACCA’s brand image has drastically improved in the past decade and this is considered threatening by ICAP. ICAP is protecting its interests by de-recognition of ACCA to ensure that the value of chartered qualifications remains intact, otherwise people would simply use ACCA as a back door to qualifying ICAP and never care about developing the ACCA profession as they are doing so now. It’s a complicated paradox, but generally speaking ICAP’s anti-competitive policies have helped ACCA create its own worth. Pakistan’s economy simply can not afford so many qualified accountants. There are nearly 100 times as many qualified accountants in the UK compared to Pakistan simply because they can be afforded by the economy. ICAP admits ACCA’s worth by its policies, otherwise if they found ACCA worthless they simply would have ignored ACCA like MCOM or MBA Finance.

In an accountancy and audit role a fresh ACCA affiliate with no experience is practically worthless and wont get productive any time soon, but obviously in more general management roles where financial analysis and strategic planning is involved, such as consultancy projects, fresh ACCA affiliates or finalists (especially those who have gained the Bsc. Hons after completing Stage 2) are far more precious than those MBA Finance graduates who start anywhere from 10-35k. An intelligent ACCA affiliate or finalist, who can write good reports and utilize his skills with numbers to advise on business strategy, is worth at least 30k in a management consulting role, even if he has no experience at all.

From a recruiter’s point of view, it’s easy to judge who is the more ‘book keeping type’, whether he/she is a student of ACCA or ICAP. Naturally, an analytical mind is very, very rare and a person who can generate business ideas rather than know the ins and outs of how Sage Line 50 operates is worth many times more. Sage 50, IRIS and tricks in MS-Excel can always be taught to anyone with basic I.T aptitude.

ACCA is not just about accounting and audit. ACCA’s management and business strategy related assessment is better than all other locally available qualifications and ACCA students should use this to their advantage when it comes to managerial roles. Really, if I want someone just to do my book-keeping and keypunching, I’d hire a B.COM or a CAT or an ICAP Module A-B.

DO NOT UNDERSELL yourself if you are an affiliate with no experience and an employer misguides you by saying ‘this is the maximum slab of 6k’ for your qualification. There is NO such 'slab' for ACCA's. How much you earn is right now determined by how well you utilize your skills and present yourself. These employers only want book keepers and key punchers and you will damage your worth if you fall for their tricks. You are not a book keeper. As a book keeper you are worthless. Just like a PhD in Theoretical Physics from MIT would be worthless in book keeping, you are also worthless in that role. It is NOT your scope of work.

Needless to say, ACCA’s should look for more analytical and planning roles if they have already cleared their exams and have no experience. They have no future in the audit profession in Pakistan as long as ICAP’s anti-competitive policy is around, so they should be perfectly aware of that. Training in a practice is ideal and the best option, but ACCA students/affiliates should choose firms where there are lots of fellow members of your same institute, since it will keep you more aware of issues affecting your own profession.

Audit training, of course makes you a ‘real’ accountant and polishes a ‘munshi’ into a reporting specialist. If you have training in audit, you will be able to appraise and troubleshoot financial statements three years down the road if you choose to stay in the same line of practice. A qualified accountant does not produce accounts himself, but rather, his role is to ensure they are produced while at the same time maintaining a delicate balance between all relevant stakeholders’ wishes.

Full time employment in audit firms and their management consultancy divisions will pay less than the industry, but the exposure you get from them is well worth it.

If you don’t like the audit training option and want to make more money you can just go towards business management. I believe ACCA’s financial management exams are fairly equivalent to or tougher than most assessment schemes of the best business schools in Pakistan.

I would advise ACCA students going for the industry against training in bookkeeping roles in a single organization, since it does not carry enough exposure to match their professional qualification. Work in at least two organizations to receive a minimal level of diversification, since information systems vary. Contrary to popular belief, training in a large organization where systems are more formalized is not as rich as working in a medium sized organization under good supervision. Concentrate on designing and appraising information systems rather than just ‘feeding’ data. The true nature of an accountant’s professional training is defeated when after three years he only knows the ins and outs of the system in one organization. It is the reason why it’s recommended to keep your training as diverse as possible. You can be a financial controller or just a book-keeper, it’s your choice.

Avoid banking like the plague, especially consumer banking. Although it may pay well you are simply wasting your studies since that is something anyone can learn. If you manage to get into the corporate planning department of a bank, that would be a good option although.

Pay scales vary so there’s no specific yardstick. I have seen fresh ACCA Affiliates or finalists with no experience getting paid anywhere from 5-15k/mo in book-keeping roles. Halve the aforementioned and that’s what they get paid as stipends when they are training in an audit practice. Fresh affiliates or finalists where roles are more analytical and are assisting in corporate planning and risk management can earn 15-50k depending on the job description. Fully qualified ACCA’s usually get around 40k-50k at start which is about the same as ACA. In one specific case, I have seen an ACCA earning more than the ACA in the same organization, where the ACCA was actually a business planning analyst while the ACA was simply a tax advisor, and both had the same level of experience.

Of course if you manage to get in a multinational where long term employee retention is considered a critical success factor, expect to get paid up to twice the comparative industrial medians.

The actual examination quality and curriculum of ACCA is higher than ICAP’s local examinations. A lot of ICAP PE I & II students have been using ACCA texts to study for the financial management exams, since they are more succinct and usually not littered with recycled and irrelevant information. In some cases, a fully qualified ACCA who has had a good, diverse training experience is actually considered better than a qualified ACA by employers who know the examination structure of both institutes and are aware of ACCA’s more analytical examinations. ICAP also has a habit of recycling the Shukla, Mukherjee, Meigs etc. for some odd reason, and this practice has continued to this day. ICAP's curriculum is also unnecessarily bloated with repetition intended to give the impression of a 'thorough' study course but, why the THREE law papers? All UK based accountancy qualifications have one dedicated law paper, the rest of the law you need to know is well distributed over the remaining part of the syllabus. ICAP also has twice the number of examinations that ICAEW and ICAS have - for reasons unknown...

ICAP students have the current edge in local law and taxation, but I believe ACCA is already examining Pakistani law and tax since last year so that edge will be gone in the near future when more ACCA trainees qualify. Besides, the UK taxation system is considered one of the most complicated around, and those who have passed the Tax Planning paper of ACCA should know that they have the aptitude of any local chartered accountant in the tax field on any given day at any given time. I have also heard that this optional tax paper of ACCA is also notoriously difficult, and is avoided by most people wishing to clear the examinations sooner.

Download ICAP’s most recent PE level Business Management exam and you will see those age old MCOM grade questions asking you to ‘define’ and regurgitate rote learned stuff. Take a look at ACCA’s Business Planning paper and you will be treated to a ridiculously long 60 mark case study where actual application of all those ‘rattas’ will be asked for. ACCA’s advanced auditing exam is considered by many to be the one of hardest auditing exams of any institute in the world. Overall ACCA’s examination have a much more practical focus, and compensate for the relaxation on a minimum training period before you sit the final exams, since practical training helps a lot in ACCA’s later stage examinations.

Passing the ICAP examinations is a different matter, where it is a well established fact that only the most perfect scripts have a chance of passing. More disturbingly, ICAP’s examinations and assessment policies undergo sudden changes after every few attempts, which is rather unfair for students who are risking their careers. ACCA (or any other UK institute like ICAEW or ICAS) changes their exam policies after careful deliberation and consultancy with all stakeholders including students. This is a very long process and usually takes years, and only after a consistent pattern of assessment has already started to stagnate. ICAP's passing rates are market demand driven, which is a reasonable and reliable basis of maintaining quality, but changing assessment policies every now and then is definitely not good.

No doubt, the students which ICAP qualifies are professionals who have attained near perfection, but ICAP’s sudden changes in assessment policy have disrupted the careers of many individuals and have hurt ICAP’s repute. You can never be sure of two ICAP qualified ACA’s having similar skill levels when one of them qualified in a session where there were only 10 pass outs and the other qualified along with 300 of his peers in the preceding session. ICAP has a lot to prove if questioned that the standard of ACA’s it has produced over the years has been consistent or not.

Age also plays an important role here when securing jobs. Since an ACCA affiliate has no experience requirement to sit the final exams, ACA’s usually are older and more mature, since they already have a lot of practical experience behind them compared to an ACCA Affiliate, who in nearly 90% of all cases starts calling himself ‘qualified’ when he actually isn’t and isn’t doing the marketability of his profession any good at all.

Educational institutes are also not helping at all. Most of them are run like businesses and their ‘fast track’ programs brainwash students into passing exams as early as possible and collecting as many ‘degrees’ as they can. Sadly, unlike what many are led to believe, rigorous study in the ‘get rich quick’ mentality with absolutely no focus on professional training has become a staple of these so called ‘coaching’ centers and it only turns out bookworms rather than enterprising professionals.

Another alarming aspect is how many students are led to believe the false notion by their teachers that ACCA is actually a step below achieving ACA and is a ‘fast track’ to ICAP membership, where in the case you never pass ICAP’s exams, you will still have a degree in your hands compared to just being a CA-Inter. This is, simply put, a con to gain more revenue at the expense of your parents money AND your career, since you may go for more classes after your coaching center has duped you into studying for a ‘higher’ qualification’. Given the current exemption scheme, going for ICAP, after completing ACCA’s exams just to gain a supposedly ‘higher’ qualification is utter foolishness and an exercise which should only be undertaken if an audit practice certificate is the only goal in life you will ever have.

If you really want to go for a truly higher qualification, go for CFA or diversify your portfolio by going for another field of study, such as developmental economics. Pakistan is in dire need of honest and selfless economists and ACCA’s have the brains to go for it and contribute to their country, rather than just obsessing about accounting and audit.

Currently, ICAP has more marketability in the audit profession within Pakistani borders and that will continue for the foreseeable future.

You have to learn to market yourself. It’s the duty of ACCA’s to work for their own profession and going for menial book-keeping and 'chief accountant' roles after achieving full membership is simply degrading yourself. Comparing the actual qualifications side by side, it’s all about your experience and how well you demonstrate it at a job interview.

Last but not least, your personal presentability and communication skills will give you the final edge in securing a job and in the eyes of many, are the most important aspect of a person’s professional life.

I would like to add a footnote for all those ICAP and ACCA students who have been hurling dirty insults at each other on this web forum in abysmally poor language “Grow up.”


If you have any questions feel free to ask here.



hello,

i myself am studying for 'core' exams for
ACCA and i'm from an o'levels background.

your article was very very convincing and had
most what most of the students at my stage
want o know.

i myself was making my mind on whether to go for
ACA (ICAP) or for CFA.

CFA is the obvious choice now, but kindly recommend
me that whether i should also work as an ACCA affiliate
trainee along wid studying for CFA? or just focus on
completing the CFA first?
Secondly, kindly explain in detail the procedure of internship
in CFA.

And yes, after having given my optional papers, i downloaded
the module E and F papers, and i felt lyk as if i had already
studied everything at ACCA but i understand that it's not
so easy to pass. so, ifimable to get an ACA degree as well,
will it be an added advantage?

And inshort u meant that we should look for the right kind
of training (internship) after completeing the ACCA. The
job should more analytical in nature to enhance and make
gud use of skills developed while studying for ACCA.
But plz explain how should one do it.
which firms offer such analytical jobs and if we work
as trainees at an audit firm such as fordrhodes, are we
gonna be working to enhance our book=keeping skills only? (lyk u said).please explain that how to get the right kind of
training. which firms to go for and is it lyk that we
should ask for the job descriptions and then choose
which firms to join?

thanks..
Usman.
I am not entirely sure about CFA training requirements, but I believe the training should be relevant to CFA's context, e.g. business finance decisions, preferably in an investment or insurance house. (Do not confuse this with working for a brokerage house, since that’s purely salesmanship) I am certain some of those training requirements may overlap with ACCA's requirements, especially the client advisory and decision making modules.

Check for more info regarding CFA work experience here http//www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprog/requirements/workexperience.html

Do note you need a US Bachelors Degree or equivalent to enroll, and the BSc. Honors you have a chance to gain after completing Stage 2 of ACCA would work here.

Training choices vary from person to person. If you are in the age range of 20-24, then you have a very fresh mind and would be an ideal trainee in a good audit firm. Trainees who are 24+ or older with no prior experience may have more problems coping in an audit practice based environment, especially if your training supervisor is actually younger than you but senior in terms of experience or exam passes. Most good firms and employers usually keep note of such human resource issues, but be prepared, just in case. Training in the industry would be ideal in this case if you are older and do not want to go through the audit training process, and you may also be able to get better compensation. (Try management consultancy firms as well, since roles here usually involve more financial analysis and actual ‘brain’ crunching)

Remember, whether you turn into a ‘book-keeper’ or a driver of business strategy depends entirely on how well you carry yourself and communicate your ideas. Examinations are just paperwork intended to ensure that you have minimum theoretical knowledge to meet challenging real life situations.

Regarding those industry based employers wanting just book-keepers, I am not entirely aware of the local industry (and its professionally unethical to criticize entities by name on a public forum when you have no personal grievances against them) but yes, everyone goes through a little of book-keeping at some stage in their training since its an essential component of your experience and should not be neglected, but its entirely up to you whether you want your career to revolve around it or not. Your personality also counts a lot over here. A book-keeper only goes as far as a ‘chief accountant’, regardless of qualification. That’s the end of the road. (Be especially careful of accounting jobs in the industry where the employers are not ACCA accredited, and always check up on the accreditation status of a prospective place of employment and try to go for Gold or Platinum rate firms)

Due to the poor market awareness and poor guidance (local coaching centers at fault here), I have seen a fresh ACCA affiliates ending up with basic accounting jobs in unknown companies, so be careful in that regard. That’s the area of MCOM and BCOM grads, not ACCA’s.

Placements in budgeting, financial control and risk management should be ideal if you are gunning for the industry.

One of the best audit firms for ACCA trainees in Pakistan is FRSH (E&Y), bar none. They provide the best environment, and stipend rates are also decent. I am recommending FRSH because they already have a lot of ACCA trainees hence the environment will be more tailored to your goals and issues surrounding your profession.

Again I shall say, training in a good audit firm is the best option, especially if you get more involved in the management consultancy area of these firms towards the latter stages of your training.

I said earlier that ACCA has no future in the audit profession in Pakistan and I reaffirm my statement, but do keep in mind, if you give enough time to develop your profession and work hard collectively, may be you can make a good enough impression to bring about a major change.

Its because of ICAP's policies that ACCA has developed so well, love them or hate them, otherwise everyone would have been going for ACA and completely forgotten about ACCA. In the UK, even though ACCA was an RQB from the CCAB list, it was still considered second tier to ICAEW and ICAS back in the 1980's. In the 1990's ACCA underwent a major revamp and members started actively promoting their profession and as of time of writing, ACCA is definitely considered a first tier qualification in the UK (and a real rival to ICAEW) due to efforts of its members.

I will post some more info regarding the accountancy profession in the UK later on, maybe tomorrow.
I am ACCA part 2 student & I was always thinking to enter the investment banking industry & go for CFA ultimately.

Well, I want to ask some questions?

You said avoid banking except corporate planning. Does investment banking includes in the list of avoidance? I mean its a sort of different banking.

Secondly, getting into a good institution is really important in investmenet banking. I want to ask that would there be any chances of breaking into an entry level job in investment banking if I apply on the basis of my BSc Hons from Oxford brookes (thru ACCA) & then later on Associate membership of of Securities & Investment Institute UK (thru ACCA affiliate status; ofcourse) & ACCA affiliate status?

Would be there any chances?
Because doing CFA is not the only requirement but getting into the profession is also of basic importance.

Can you guide guide me how to enter the profession? Will I be able to do it on the basis of my ACCA & its by qualifications (BSc, SII membership)?


Thanks
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial" id="quote">quote<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">

Can you guide guide me how to enter the profession?

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

You may benefit from my article written a few years back.


http//www.soa.org/ccm/content/research-publications/library-publications/the-future-actuary/summer-2005/securing-an-internship-or-graduate-position.en?g11n


DT
thankyou. I'm downloading the article
Follow this link,

http//www.accaglobal.com/join/register/

There are two ways to register.

a- by post
b- Online

The easiest one is online one; all you need is a credit card...
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial" id="quote">quote<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Saud</i>
<br />tell me how i can register with ACCA through www.accaglobal.com
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

This is ridiculous. Highly ill mannered. I'm asking a QUESTION about a specific thing & you "Saud" are giving spam asking for how to register?????????!!!!!!

You could have started a new topic for ur question. Why disturb my post??
Sorry for the lack of responses. I am very busy with work these days and will try to come by again this weekend.
hi can anyone tell me abt acca in india. if i get myself registered where to get books from? and how much will all cost including all the fees and books as well. wating for reply thanks
Thoughtful article there wandering star,.. quite comprehensive.

You are quite right in pointing out the fallacy of some ACCA affiliates refering themselves as ACCAs, there is a world of a difference between the two. People in Pakistan usually do not appreciate how much or less relevant experience counts and the kind of exposure one needs along with skills ofcourse to get on to the right wrung of the ladder.

Keep on writing.
MR Wandering Star and MR Kamran ACA,
I'm result awaiting for the last 3 papers of ACCA, and
i've joined Ford Rhodes (Lahore) as a trainee for a month or so.
I'm confident that i'll make
it through and become an ACCA affiliate by feb inshallah.
I wish to pursue ICAEW and i've been advised by my collegues
to get transferred to FRSH Karachi where i'll be offered
with far superior learning oppurtunities and also that there
are greater chances for me to go for secondments where i can
secure an ICAEW training contract. I've got no hurdles in
moving to karachi but need your analysis and advice on the
situation.

Thanks and regards!
Usman.
thanz to wandering star for the info given related to acca
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial" id="quote">quote<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by usmanaftab24</i>
<br />MR Wandering Star and MR Kamran ACA,
I'm result awaiting for the last 3 papers of ACCA, and
i've joined Ford Rhodes (Lahore) as a trainee for a month or so.
I'm confident that i'll make
it through and become an ACCA affiliate by feb inshallah.
I wish to pursue ICAEW and i've been advised by my collegues
to get transferred to FRSH Karachi where i'll be offered
with far superior learning oppurtunities and also that there
are greater chances for me to go for secondments where i can
secure an ICAEW training contract. I've got no hurdles in
moving to karachi but need your analysis and advice on the
situation.

Thanks and regards!
Usman.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

As far as what I have heard better learning oppurtunities are there in Karachi. But it never means that one can't learn in Lahore or secondments are not availalbe here. Had I been in your condition I have stayed right where I am.
Dear Usman Aftab,

Shoaib's advice is good for you.

However, if you get a chance for ICAEW, it would be extremely good for you.


Regards,


Kamran.
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