CIMA vs ACCA

If you want a qualification that is respected by American companies - take CIMA; if you want a qualification respected by non-americas - take ACCA

CIMA is designed for those that are planning to work at management accounting or financial planning and analysis department.

ACCA is designed for those that are in statutory reporting, auditing and taxation.

Both are equally strong in their scope and knowledge.

CIMA used to be harder than ACCA due to their need to pass all papers in one go, but this requirements has been removed.

It would be ranked equally.

One of the unique features of CIMA exams is that it is a single case study with computer based answering - this imitates real life.

If you are not sure which is better - then consider what you want to be in the future before you decide - CEO or CFO

CEO does CIMA; CFO does ACCA

Taylor re-starts ACCA

Taylor College Subang re-starts ACCA after they had tried it out in the past.

This is the 3rd time Taylor is trying to enter the ACCA market with their first entry early in 2011 and then again in 2014 and now finally in 2019.

The first time they did this venture, they had brought in a team of elite lecturer and expected to break into the market by challenging the market leader Sunway College - that was a complete disaster with the college taking a huge write off on their venture.

They then decided to move to Hartamas and try their luck there - this was also a major failure since they had to close shortly after that.

This is the next try - we hope that history does not repeat itself again.....wait to see the outcome in 2019.

ACCA - Getting started in Malaysia?

Are you studying your degree in accounting now?

If so, you want to know what are the plans after completion of the degree?

Here is a guide for students that are starting out in ACCA or thinking about being a chartered accountants.

1. Check if your degree is accelerated?
If your degree is accelerated, it will allow you to join ACCA before you complete the finals for your degree.

Accelerated degree's have an advantage of allowing the students to start the course earlier - you can take 1 or 2 papers before you complete your degree.

This will give you an advantage as it may be synergistic with the papers that you have to prepare for the final exams of your degree.

2. Check if your degree has exemptions from ACCA?

If you have completed the degree and want to check your exemptions - ask your university department head.

If they do not know, check back with ACCA exemption database.

It should tell you whether you get full 9 paper exemptions for ACCA, allowing you to jump directly to ACCA final stage.

However, there is an exemption fee and also registration fee for the papers that was given an exemption

3. Sign up with a tuition provider
It would be good to start looking around for a tuition provider to support your preparation for the ACCA exams.

In this case - looking out for what your friends and parents recommend may not actually be the best choice for you.

Brand name may be considered, but in the ACCA market, this may not weigh too strong since a professional is identified from where they obtain chartered status rather than studied.

Brand name is more relevant for bragging rights is family gathering and also friends - but remember you may struggle to cope in a location that has many "full ACCA" students - since the lecturers will assume that all students are the same.

Also consider whether you want the facilities that a tuition provider has to offer - after all during your time at a university, you have already experienced the facilities.

Some tuition providers charge a significant fee for their resources and facilities - up to RM1,500 - which is equal to tuition cost of 1 or 2 papers.

Also consider whether you are going to be working during your study period - not all the players design their timetable for those working.

In my experience, studying in a class for more than 5 hours in a day is the maximum a student can take - there are many providers that assumes that students can cope with this - practically it is not valid - so consider whether it is worth it to pay for that?

Finally, consider whether you can commit to the time required for studies - are you discipline?


4. Talk or WhatsApp jpro
If you need more information on preparing for ACCA and want a great place to study for the ACCA exams - consider visiting Jpro for more details.