What Is ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) ?
ACCA is one of the oldest and most renowned accountancy courses in the world, recognized by 170+ countries with more than 7000 approved employers globally.
ACCA was established in 1904 in the UK which offers the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification. As an international qualification, it opens up possibilities of living and working in different parts of the world as well as working with multinational companies based in India.
Course Structure
To qualify as an ACCA member, a candidate will be required to do the following:
- Attempt and clear 13 exams (ACCA does provide upto 9 paper exemptions depending upon the candidate’s previous qualification)
- Record 36 months’ experience in a relevant role. The candidate can acquire the experience before/ during/ after completion of the qualification.
- Complete the Ethics and Professional Skills module.
The 13 subjects and exams of ACCA are divided into three levels: Applied Knowledge, Applied Skills & Strategic Professional.
- Applied Knowledge Level:
- Business and Technology (BT)
- Management Accounting (MA)
- Financial Accounting (FA)
Students are awarded the ACCA Diploma in Accounting and Business (RQF Level 4) when they have successfully completed the Business and Technology (BT), Management Accounting (MA) and Financial Accounting (FA) exams (at least one of which must have been sat and passed), plus completion of Foundations in Professionalism.
- Applied Skills Level
- Corporate and Business Law(LW)
- Performance Management
- Taxation (TX)
- Financial Reporting (FR)
- Audit and Assurance (AA)
- Financial Management (FM)
Students are awarded the Advanced Diploma in Accounting and Business when they have successfully completed (either passed or exempt) the Applied Skills exams. At least two of these papers must have been sat and passed.
- Strategic professional Level Essentials:
- Strategic Business Leader(SBL)
- Strategic Business Reporting(SBR)
Options: (Any 2)
- Advanced Financial Management (AFM)
- Advanced Performance Management (APM)
- Advanced Taxation (ATX)
- Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA)
Students are awarded a Strategic Professional Certificate when they have successfully completed all the Strategic Professional exams of the ACCA Qualification. These are the two Strategic Professional Essentials exams and any two of the Strategic Professional Options exams
- Ethics and Professional Skills Module
Students are required to complete 20 hrs of Ethics and Professional Skills Module which develops in students the complete range of skills that are demanded by the employers.
By introducing students to the full spectrum of advanced ethical and professional skills and exposing them to realistic business situations, students are ready to shine with recruiters and be really credible in the workplace.
- Practical Experience Requirement
To qualify as an ACCA member, the candidate must complete a minimum 36 months’ relevant work experience and achieve 9 performance objectives.
The candidate’s time in a relevant role and performance objectives need to be signed off by a practical experience supervisor.
Eligibility Criteria
- For entry to ACCA’s qualification, you 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. The ACCA professional examinations are offered worldwide twice yearly, in June and December.
- management accounting aspirants all over the world if they’re worthy of the designation CPA. Lakhs of aspirants take US CMA exams every year to grow into Management Accountants, Finance analysts and many other roles.
- You must also have passed your Senior Secondary Examination (10+2) or equivalent from a recognized examination board.
Minimum Entry Requirements:
The minimum entry requirements for ACCA Qualification, beginning at the Knowledge level, is as below:
passes should be held in 5 subjects including English and Mathematics / Accounts, mark of 65% in at least 2 subjects and over 50% on the others. You may qualify for exemptions from some modules if you possess higher qualifications.
# Please note even a CA Final Pursuing candidate can be eligible to get more exemptions if he/she scored 40 or more marks in the relevant subject in the CA Final Examination.
Similarly, a candidate who has not qualified CA IPCC Exams but scored 40 marks or more in the relevant subject of CA IPCC Exam, is eligible to avail more exemptions.
Exam Details
ACCA Exam Pattern
ACCA Foundation Level Exams
Duration: 2Hrs
Questions: 50
Total marks: 100marks
Passing marks: 50%
ACCA Applied Knowledge Exams
Section A contains objective test questions (OTs)
Section B contains multi-task questions (MTQs)
Duration: 2 Hrs
Total Marks: 100 marks
Passing Marks: 50%
Note: Business and Technology (BT), Management Accounting (MA) and Financial Accounting (FA) exams have the same structure and syllabus as the Foundation-level Diploma exams (FBT, FMA and FFA respectively).
ACCA Applied Skills Exams
A variety of OT Questions, Multi Task Questions and Constructed Response Questions using spreadsheets and processing tools.
Duration (CBE): 3 hrs.
Passing Marks: 50%
Total marks: 100
The 3-hour exam will assess all parts of the syllabus and will test knowledge and some comprehensive or application of this knowledge.
ACCA Strategic Professional Level Exams
A variety of Case Study Based / Scenario based Questions will be asked.
Duration (CBE): 4 hrs for SBL / 3 hrs for other exams.
Passing Marks: 50%
Total marks: 100
The 4/3-hour exam will assess all parts of the syllabus and will test comprehensive application of this knowledge.
Opportunities
Apart from an accountant, an ACCA professional can work as a management consultant, financial planner, and so on.
It is not possible for an ACCA to pursue auditing in India. That’s because an ACCA India has no authority for signing and hence he cannot mark his signature on audit reports. Similarly, he cannot set up his own auditing firm as well. However, ACCA India professionals can carry out auditing jobs in the UK.
Likewise, as more students are becoming aware of ACCA and its benefits, the demand for the certification exam has increased in the industry.
With such an influx, it is being predicted that India could easily become one of the biggest global markets for ACCA. As such, the Indian economy is on the path of growth and globalization. Due to which, even MNCs and larger international companies are turning towards India to seek professional accountants and ace finance experts.
