Comparison of Career Options Under Acca and Cima

Career path can be defined as a goal to attain some level of competence in one’s chosen sphere of work .While for others, a career path is a journey, the aim is to practice work from diverse angles in one’s area of specialization and similar field of interest (Sinofsky, 2013).The journey maybe various companies, professional bodies, job types, or other different aspect of one’s profession. This essay sets out to critically analyse and evaluate the association of chartered certified accounts (ACCA) and chartered institute of management accountants (CIMA), the two professional career paths from either the Accounting or Finance sectors, suitable for myself as a future career from different perspectives which are; focus, convenience, exemptions, flexibility, affordability, limitations and standard. It also assesses why ACCA is a better option for my career path compared to CIMA.

Palmer (2014) states, that one of the biggest factors for developing employee detainment is displaying an understandable and present career path. High ranked officials within the professional bodies ought not to only understand there is room for growth, but that efforts will be made immensely to facilitate that career growth.

Furthermore, gaining a career path in place demonstrates to employees in the professional bodies that you value them for the work they are able to do presently, as well as what they might be able to offer in the long-term. Also, having a precise career path enables employees and yields reasonable actions to pursue advancement.

Aspiring to work in the accounting and financial sector one might be thinking which professional body brings a lasting advantage, either the ACCA or the CIMA.As both presents related career path benefits, therefore deciding between them could be difficult.

According to (Harris, 2014) basically, they are similar, the main dissimilarity being that ACCA focuses mainly on financial aspects such as preparing financial statements that are shown to shareholders and other external parties. Commonly, working with historical data (for example preparation of financial figures from previous financial years) and foretelling of financial alterations.

Therefore, this may be as an advantage not only is it streamlined to my career path as a financial accountant and controller; it also has the most impact on my career path. Whereas, CIMA involves more of preparing data used for internal decision-making. CIMA deals more with future actions – strategy, planning and forecasting which are very essential according to.

Butcher (2010) states that, one could almost get used to the fact of seeing a CIMA qualified accountant in a management position but will hardly find them in a financial controlling and accounting role. In addition when CIMAs were placed in managerial positions they tend to do a job well done but management didn’t rely on them to comprehend much about financial control and account of a product or business. This suggests that CIMA won’t have much impact on my career path as it will be futile to go for a qualification that won’t have focus to my career. For this reason, ACCA is a better choice because it opens opportunities in my career path in a range of diverse industries and roles, creating awareness of professional values in my career path, and of the ethical issues that could set in.

According to (Ohsten, 2014) ACCA training course offers students with adjustable means of entry and the course could be finished at one’s own convenience and time, permitting one to create the coursework around one’s present work obligations. ACCA is a qualification that comprises of 14 exams to take. This course is economical than CIMA and does not require passing one set of exams before commencing on the next. Unlike CIMA, that is made up of 15 exams to take and is more costly and rather inflexible. Ohsten (2014) states that, relevant degree holders have to pass one set of exams before giving the consent to commence the next. Hence, CIMA is considered the tough qualification to achieve. In addition, relevant degree holders from ACCA-accredited institutions are offered nine exemptions from fourteen exams to take. On the other hand, CIMA offers five subject exemptions out of fifteen to graduates from CIMA accredited institutions.

It follows therefore that graduates having a career in ACCA would be at a greater advantage reason being that, it is flexible giving graduates the opportunity to fit coursework into one’s working commitment and it’s easier for students to complete according to (Cruze, 2014).

Also, the affordability aspect makes it easier for degree holders to acquire. This on the contrary, is different in CIMA as they are less flexible and costlier to afford. Similarly, the factor of exemption in which again ACCA has an upper hand; more exemptions and fewer courses to cover making graduates to fully put their concentration on basic courses.

However CIMA differs; more courses and more work on one’s plate. Therefore, as a result of the numbers of exams required to write student often give up at one point in time it could take forever to complete. For this reason, ACCA will be the best option for my career path as it covers the most important factors put into consideration by any student wanting to go to progress in their career in a professional body which are; exemptions, affordability and flexibility.

Another issue is the factor of limitation and standards. According to (Mavinz.com, 2014) with CIMA, qualified accountants would be confined to the industry where they assemble data to aid management, so they do not have a rigid set of regulations and guidelines to comply with, whereas with ACCA, qualified accountants are free to pick a field of interest and have to operate under a specific structure and act in accordance with certain guidelines and rules.

Businesses of today can’t bear to take an impromptu approach to liabilities and uncertainties. Therefore, applying standards helps one to recognise uncertainties and reduce them. Also, using guidelines offers a wide range of effective business and marketing tools for various organisations. One could adopt them to adjust performances and regulate risks faced while working in a more adequate and feasible way; this helps accountants to see how to insert outstanding practice into organisations.

For this reason, ACCA qualified accountants have the tendency to be able to manage risks arising beforehand therefore improving performance at every level of the organisation. Also, as result of using standards to manage risks money is saved and organisation’s image is improved making them more sustainable according to (Elliot, 2009). On the contrary, it’s different for CIMA as they are not regulated by set of rules of guidelines and standards therefore this would lead to absence of structure in organisations as well as corporate values being missed. Furthermore, business cannot organise future operations without putting into consideration accounting standards.

This supports the idea that ACCA qualification is more proficient because of its experience and use of guidelines and standards which is a very vital aspect to guarantee comparison, efficiency and clarity. According to (Schipper,2003) states that without guidelines, one cannot reach the basic aspect of assertion, for example if an organisation puts into consideration future orders as present sales or issuing a large amount of its costs.

In conclusion, from a comparison of CIMA and ACCA pathways, I have concluded that ACCA is a far better option because of my ambition which is to be a financial accountant and controller based on the evident above ACCA specializes more in that area and gives a full in depth concerning that career path .

Also as regards to my needs and goals, ACCA also meets the criteria of my aspiration to become an ACCA qualified accountant majoring in the financial sector and services which ACCA provides. Concerning my needs, ACCA does not only provide a more affordable price, but also makes the provision of flexibility options to fit into one’s daily schedule.