Steps To Become an ACCA ? Career Prospects, Eligibility, Salary

Introduction

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is a body of professional accountants spread across the world. With over 2 lakh members and another 5 lakh prospective members spread across 176 countries, ACCA, has been a pioneer in the field of accountancy profession. Its members are treated as custodians of the financial market by ensuring integrity of the books of accounts and other financial numbers. World over, the role of a finance professional is changing at a very rapid pace. Employers are increasingly looking for candidates who can innovate, perform at the highest level and across multiple functions. To cater to this ever-growing and changing needs, ACCA Course has constantly evolved its curriculum to produce knowledgeable, skilled and shinning accountants for the world.

With its international recognition and truly global curriculum, ACCA-certified accountants can even dream of a global career, in and outside India with more companies increasingly look to employ dynamic professionals.

Stages in Pursuit of ACCA

Students from any educational field like science, arts can join this coveted course and make a career out of it. Based on 3E’s of Exams, Ethics and Experience, below are the four stages in your journey to become an ACCA. 

Levels in ACCA – ACCA course is divided into below three levels to test you in specialized fields as below:

Other Requirements – In addition to clearing above mentioned papers and examinations, students would also need to comply with below two requirements to achieve the status of Qualified Professional Accountant (stage 4 in pursuit of ACCA).

• Complete 20 hours of Ethics and Professional Skills Module (EPSM)
• Complete 36 Months of Practical Experience Requirement (PER)

Eligibility Criteria

• A student should have completed 18 years of age and qualified the 10+2 exams with an aggregate of 65% in Mathematics/Accounts and English and a minimum of 50% in other subjects.
• Students pursuing graduation courses in field apart from Commerce can also join in and pursue their dream of being a Global CA – Global Citizen. 

Entry Point in ACCA Course

ACCA course has multiple entry points for everyone, irrespective of which stage of their educational career that one may be in. Students who have just completed their schooling, undergraduates and others who are desperately looking for a change in career – all have a reason to smile for ACCA has something for each one of you. Moreover, ACCA course does not distinguish between commerce, science, arts students – all are welcome to build a career out of it.

Active CA members, commerce graduates and students in middle of other professional courses like CA stand to gain from the exemptions policy of ACCA. Essentially, ACCA is offering to recognize and give due credit to your current education level by offering exemptions from certain papers and levels.

Students with below mentioned qualifications are eligible to claim exemptions in ACCA and thus take advantage of an advanced start:

Note: A CA-IPCC student can also claim additional exemptions based on their B. Com (H) and marks in CA Final level exams in Costing, SFM and Financial Reporting papers.

Opportunities in India post ACCA

With international recognition, know-how in most advanced accounting standards and display of tremendous grit, determination – ACCA qualified students command a distant edge over their peers coming from other accounting professions.

With growing globalization many multinational corporations (MNCs) like JP Morgan, Citibank, PwC, EY, Barclays, HSBC, Dell require candidates to handle their accounting, taxation & other parts of operations. This, thereby, opens up a plethora of opportunities for candidates who have knowledge of Foreign Accounting Standards and Principles like IFRS.

Below are some of the exciting career opportunities post ACCA qualification:

• Assurance Services
• Foreign Accounting
• Internal and External Auditing
• Consulting Services
• Tax and Financial Planning
• Advisory services like tax, transaction (M&A) etc.
• Forensic 

Abroad Job Opportunities for ACCA Qualified

ACCA has entered into membership recognition agreements with other international institutes/bodies. Below is the list of current agreements:

1. Accountants and Auditors Association United Arab Emirates (AAA UAE)
2. Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand (CA ANZ) 
3. CPA Bulgaria
4. HKICPA Hong Kong
5. MICPA Malaysia
6. CA Sri Lanka

Naturally, ACCA members can look for several job opportunities in these countries where they will be considered at par with locally qualified accountants. Jobs in countries like UAE, Hong Kong, Australia, Hong Kong offer candidates highly competitive packages and an exclusive lifestyle reserved for the very few.

ACCA Job Profiles

Below are some of the most exciting job roles offered to ACCA qualified accountants in India & rest of the world:

• Financial Controller – helping companies maintain their books & records compliant with relevant requirements

• Financial Planning & Analysis – supporting business partners in analysis, scenario modelling, manage forecasting and budgeting

• Fund Accountant – helping largest fund houses account for complex and varied portfolio of funds, books maintenance and management reporting

• Financial Manager – helping companies manage all the finance-related matters, end-to-end

• Business Analyst – analyse past, historical data and look at forecast to arrive at business-useful strategies

• Risk Manager – help companies with timely and adequate information on the persistent risks faced by the organisation and suggest risk-mitigant strategies

Top Companies Hiring ACCA

World’s top companies fight to win over quality ACCA certified professionals in their pursuit of efficient working system at their workplace. Some of the biggest companies hiring ACCA are:

To view the fee structure, please refer to our video on ACCA exam fees

Salary for ACCA in India

Average salary for ACCA in India is around Rs. 8 lakhs per annum. At the same time, the number of years of relevant experience and the level of hiring has a big impact on the total salary. Over time, students can also look to get into the shoes of a Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Below is an estimate of salaries at various role levels:

If you're ready to start your journey towards becoming ACCA-qualified, consider enrolling in our ACCA course. Our comprehensive program includes expert instructors, interactive learning materials, and mock exams to help you succeed on the ACCA exams. Click here to learn more and get started today!