12-19-2011, 09:32 PM
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First of all, I agree with you, I think this thread is a must read for people planning to relocate to the UAE. Secondly, If I may, I would like to comment on your query.
Even though your post does not suggest that you wish to relocate to the UAE, neither does it question the potential for different qualifications in the UAE market, I would still like to provide a couple of pointers; whilst steering the topic for the UAE market specifically.
The first thing students need to clear is the difference between an "Academic" qualification and a "Professional" qualification. Chartered Accountancy qualifications like CPA, CA and ACCA (yes ACCA is a Chartered Accountancy Qualification) is a Professional Qualification, which means it is not a degree in itself like an Academic Qualification. In the Academic Qualification world, where you start with your Bachelorâs degree the next or "higher" step is the Masters and after that a Doctorate. In the Professional Qualification world, there is no such ladder, a shocker for Pakistan students. You absolutely cannot say one Professional Qualification is "better" than the other in the academic sense. However if you look at monetary benefits, that's a different issue.
As your query is focused on the monetary gains associated with Professional Qualifications, I'll try to answer those in terms of the UAE market. The UAE market for accountants is a Global mess; you have accountants and qualifications from all over the world. The majority being from India (CA), Philippines (CPA)and Pakistan(CA). The ACCA being a global body has no associated country, although companies may bias on hiring people from their own countries, but I have yet to see a single advertisement that specifies a preference for a Pakistani CA over an ACCA. Over there, they do not differentiate between these qualifications. What differs, as DxBRaf and myself have both discussed earlier is the Quality and Quantity of experience one might possess, here the employers draw the line. So you see it's not a matter of which qualification rather than the experience behind the qualification. In the field of Accountancy and Finance, being a CFO is not the end of the world, mind you. Nevertheless all major posts in the UAE advertise their requirements as âCA/CPA/ACCA with 10-15+ years of UAE experienceâ. This is true for all companies and groups operating in the UAE. So if you are a member of these bodies you do not need any other qualification if you stick to this field.
Keeping this in mind, In my opinion, if you already have a Professional Qualification like ACCA AND you plan to move abroad, it would make absolutely no difference to you academically or in your professional career which professional qualification you choose. The CFA is a separate issue from CA and ACCA. Please do not consider it higher than these qualifications; itâs like comparing tea with coffee. A CFA charter holder is targeting a separate market than the ones ACCA and CAs are targeting, reason being, itâs entirely a different subject. I will not go into details regarding the CFA charter as there are people with more experience and authority in this subject to argue CFAâs case. However, I will advise you to pursue CFA only in the case you would like to U-turn from your accountancy qualification. Monetarily speaking, the market for CFA is a small one. If there are 100 vacancies for accounts and finance, a requirement for CFA charter holders would be less than 10. Then again it depends where you are looking. With regard to the relevance of CFA, I believe after the devastation the Global Recession brought about ( you should research the cause of it FYI) mainly by the financial markets, people are skeptical of investing money in the speculation and derivative industry. Which is the CFA holderâs expertise area, mind you? So no money means no business, and no business means no jobs, get my point?
In short, I cannot tell you what you should be doing, itâs all up to you, but I do advise you to research and do more research before thinking of starting a different career. Hope this helps,
HarryAL
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I appreciate such a long, detailed and relevant reply and thank you very much indeed for your precious time.
I already know almost half what you wrote and the remaining proved completely advantageous for me.
Your knowledge and the spirit of sharing that, has been appreciable.
I would first summarize what I get from your reply,
"You want to say that ACCA (with the required experience) has the potential (off course besides other factors, like my personal efforts, luck, motivation etc) to take me to the highest designation in an organization...!!!"
You made the roughly blurred picture of my future plans quite clear, but still I would like to ask you (or any other person having relevant knowledge),
"What you talked about is about the markets in UAE, what about the markets in middle east and/or the west?"
Are those markets a reflection of the UAE markets or there is a significant difference?
First of all, I agree with you, I think this thread is a must read for people planning to relocate to the UAE. Secondly, If I may, I would like to comment on your query.
Even though your post does not suggest that you wish to relocate to the UAE, neither does it question the potential for different qualifications in the UAE market, I would still like to provide a couple of pointers; whilst steering the topic for the UAE market specifically.
The first thing students need to clear is the difference between an "Academic" qualification and a "Professional" qualification. Chartered Accountancy qualifications like CPA, CA and ACCA (yes ACCA is a Chartered Accountancy Qualification) is a Professional Qualification, which means it is not a degree in itself like an Academic Qualification. In the Academic Qualification world, where you start with your Bachelorâs degree the next or "higher" step is the Masters and after that a Doctorate. In the Professional Qualification world, there is no such ladder, a shocker for Pakistan students. You absolutely cannot say one Professional Qualification is "better" than the other in the academic sense. However if you look at monetary benefits, that's a different issue.
As your query is focused on the monetary gains associated with Professional Qualifications, I'll try to answer those in terms of the UAE market. The UAE market for accountants is a Global mess; you have accountants and qualifications from all over the world. The majority being from India (CA), Philippines (CPA)and Pakistan(CA). The ACCA being a global body has no associated country, although companies may bias on hiring people from their own countries, but I have yet to see a single advertisement that specifies a preference for a Pakistani CA over an ACCA. Over there, they do not differentiate between these qualifications. What differs, as DxBRaf and myself have both discussed earlier is the Quality and Quantity of experience one might possess, here the employers draw the line. So you see it's not a matter of which qualification rather than the experience behind the qualification. In the field of Accountancy and Finance, being a CFO is not the end of the world, mind you. Nevertheless all major posts in the UAE advertise their requirements as âCA/CPA/ACCA with 10-15+ years of UAE experienceâ. This is true for all companies and groups operating in the UAE. So if you are a member of these bodies you do not need any other qualification if you stick to this field.
Keeping this in mind, In my opinion, if you already have a Professional Qualification like ACCA AND you plan to move abroad, it would make absolutely no difference to you academically or in your professional career which professional qualification you choose. The CFA is a separate issue from CA and ACCA. Please do not consider it higher than these qualifications; itâs like comparing tea with coffee. A CFA charter holder is targeting a separate market than the ones ACCA and CAs are targeting, reason being, itâs entirely a different subject. I will not go into details regarding the CFA charter as there are people with more experience and authority in this subject to argue CFAâs case. However, I will advise you to pursue CFA only in the case you would like to U-turn from your accountancy qualification. Monetarily speaking, the market for CFA is a small one. If there are 100 vacancies for accounts and finance, a requirement for CFA charter holders would be less than 10. Then again it depends where you are looking. With regard to the relevance of CFA, I believe after the devastation the Global Recession brought about ( you should research the cause of it FYI) mainly by the financial markets, people are skeptical of investing money in the speculation and derivative industry. Which is the CFA holderâs expertise area, mind you? So no money means no business, and no business means no jobs, get my point?
In short, I cannot tell you what you should be doing, itâs all up to you, but I do advise you to research and do more research before thinking of starting a different career. Hope this helps,
HarryAL
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I appreciate such a long, detailed and relevant reply and thank you very much indeed for your precious time.
I already know almost half what you wrote and the remaining proved completely advantageous for me.
Your knowledge and the spirit of sharing that, has been appreciable.
I would first summarize what I get from your reply,
"You want to say that ACCA (with the required experience) has the potential (off course besides other factors, like my personal efforts, luck, motivation etc) to take me to the highest designation in an organization...!!!"
You made the roughly blurred picture of my future plans quite clear, but still I would like to ask you (or any other person having relevant knowledge),
"What you talked about is about the markets in UAE, what about the markets in middle east and/or the west?"
Are those markets a reflection of the UAE markets or there is a significant difference?
