Written by Nida Qudrat

If you’re a student, teacher, or an academician, and perhaps now no longer of them however nevertheless you without a doubt might have heard approximately the phrases CA, ACCA, and CMA, and the distinction among them, no? Sometimes they’re very perplexing to recognize and differentiate. In this article, we’re right here to make it smooth so that you can recognize those phrases and degrees.

Before we shall explain these degrees it is quite necessary to give a little introduction to CA, ACCA, and CMA. This will help you to better understand the course of this article.

What is CA?

CA stands for Chartered Accountancy. It is a degree wherein the character contains several fields of accountants of the enterprise. For instance, finance, which may additionally include financial reporting, audit, taxation, monetary and fashionable management. A person with the purpose to grow to be a chartered accountant desire to look at the subjects of the money owed, auditing, taxation, company laws, corporate finance, economics, management, and Information devise.

What is ACCA?

ACCA stands for Association of Chartered Accountants. It is an extensive professional program conducted by using the international body of ACCA. The applicants with this degree are considered to be the finest accountants around the globe because the route specializes in strengthening the candidate’s concepts of accounting principles that are helpful within the fields of audit and tax.

What is CMA?

CMA stands for Certified/ Cost Management Accountant. This degree program is organized with the aid of the ICMA (The Institute of Cost and Management Accountants). In this absolute course, the applicant learns comprehensive insights into financial management and also management accounting.

Now you have a basic idea that what CA, ACCA, and CMA stand for and what they mean. Now we shall give explanations of the difference between them as well so that the aspirants of any of these degrees do not have any confusion in the future while choosing any of the above-mentioned degree programs.

What Is the Difference Between ACCA and CA?

First, we would like to start with the difference between the ACCA, and CA. Although ACCA and CA are well-liked choices on the market, let’s discuss some of their key distinctions.

1: Related To

The full form of ACCA is the Association of Chartered Accountants which is certified by the Association of Chartered Accountants. Candidates who complete the course successfully are qualified to become management, tax, and auditing accountants. managing accounts, for both public and commercial companies, as an example.

CA stands for Chartered Accountancy which specializes in financial accounting and finance and caters to all fields of finance.

2: Field of Work

The primary work is related to Taxation and accounting for the public sector, and private entities. Other than taxation and auditing ACCA can work globally across finance fields like finance controlling, accounting, and financial analytics. A certified ACCA deals with international accounting standards.

Chartered accountants work across various finance positions primarily government concerns and private entities. They can also work with their own firm under a specific registration number.

3: The Tenure

The time frame required to complete the ACCA course is 3 years and also the training of 2-3 years as well.

The time frame of completing the CA degree is five years and that depends upon the capabilities of the applicant beside that there is one more year of training in addition.

4: Position

The candidates primarily deal with the rules and regulations and implementations of policies within the company and compile with the auditing and taxation part.

The CA candidate primarily works in government institutions but they also work in private sectors at the level of the Gazette officer. The power of attorney is given by the ICAI (The Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Accountants).

5: Recognition

ACCA is an internationally recognized professional degree. The numerous learning facilities that ACCA certification has established within the countries where it was founded seem to approach learning in a consistent manner. ACCA has an advantage because of its widespread reputation and ability to help students prepare for prospective accreditation. Mainly in Middle Eastern countries.

According to national law and regulatory agencies like ICAP, ICAI, and ICAEW in Pakistan, India, England, and Wales, CA qualifications vary by country. Since certification does not typically guarantee compliance with the specific regulatory requirements of the relevant country, chartered accountants who want to practice in other countries will need to pass a specific test in accordance with those criteria.

Since we have outlined the main distinctions between the ACCA and CA in clear, succinct terms, we are optimistic that you now have a better understanding of them. Let’s now discuss how the CMA differs from each of these degrees.

How CMA is Different from ACCA and CA?

CMA (Certified/ Cost Management Accountant) is a full-scale degree program organized by the ICMA. The applicants of this program get an insightful concept of financial management, and also management accounting. Certified Management Certified is considered to be one of the most difficult competitive accounting certification courses in the financial market. The tenure of the CMA is flexible.

1: Pass Percentage

Another big difference between the CMA and other degrees is that it is much tougher to pass. The pass percentages for CMA are nearly 20%.

2: Salary Difference

One of the major differences in the salary is between the CA, ACCA, and CMA. The ACCA and CA are much more recognized internationally than CMA. CMA is much ahead in terms of salary. If you the relevant experience in your field from 3-5 years so, you can easily make up to $70k per year.

3: Value Addition

One of the greatest advantages you will have and is also one of the major differences that the CMA has is one of the latest and modern perspectives. This is one main reason why fortune 500 companies keep an eye on CMA passed out.

Now we have studied the introduction of ACCA, CA, and CMA, and what are the major differences between them. Each degree is prominent in its field and serves a great purpose in many fields in both government and private sectors.

But before we reach a certain conclusion we can still have a sense of confusion about what to choose and what not to choose. Which course program will really benefit us and how we can come to know about the right degree course for us?

Which is Right for You?

In this last conclusion, we will explain which program could be a great fit for you and your prosperous and bright future.

After the conclusive study, we found that ACCA would be a great choice for students who want to make a great career in the field of accountants around the globe. Let us explain to you why you should opt for ACCA over CA and CMA.

1: Global Recognition

ACCA is a globally recognized degree course within 180 countries with over 436, 000 students, more than CA, and CMA.

2: Simplified Course Perspective

Another reason for choosing ACCA is that the course perspective is way much easier and simplified than CA and CMA. If you look at the statistics of the passing and compared it with CA, and CMA, is it more than 40%. This is not just because ACCA is easier than both of these but because the course outline is designed so that students can easily catch up to the syllabus.

3: Budget Friendly

Choose ACCA over other options if you want a global certification fast and at a reasonable cost because ACCA fees are almost three times less expensive.

4: Flexibility

ACCA also gives better flexibility to its applicants as they can take 4 exams every quarter.

5: Career Perspective

ACCA can provide some great future opportunities and career goals. You can make up to Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Forensic Accountant, Auditor, and Tax Specialist with ACCA.

Conclusion

We have explained with clarity which course degree is right for you and the conclusion that how ACCA can give you better options, and opportunities, and how it can shape your future. In the end, it is your own sole decision which program you want to opt for.

Best of luck.