Which is more difficult ACCA or CA? and How difficult is it?

For any student or professional who aspires to pursue their career in either financial management or accounting management, or say even as a financial planner in a firm, they would definitely look forward to taking up either ACCA or CA. The major differences between ACCA and CA are as follows:

i. ACCA stands for Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and CA stands for Chartered Accountant.

ii. ACCA course has been recognized as an international qualification while CA is recognized by the ICAI only in India.

iii. ACCA course mainly focuses on both accounting and finance while CA course caters to financial statements analysis and auditing.

iv. ACCA course has 2 levels namely Fundamental and Professional and the CA has 3 levels namely Fundamental, Intermediate and Final.

v. If you are looking for a career in India then you have to practice CA for a minimum of 3 years before you acquire a coveted position of an auditor in any firm.

vi. With most of the MNCs having a global presence, the ACCA course enables you to fetch a very passionate offer in one of them.

vii. When it comes to career opportunities, ACCA provides a variety of options such as accountant, consultant, business analyst, financial planner, auditor, tax consultant and so on.

When it comes to the difficulty levels, it is considered that CA is pretty difficult as it does not have any flexibility in attempting each of the levels. Moreover the ACCA does not have any grouping systems while you attempt the papers. Whereas in CA if you do not clear one of the papers in a 4 group system, you are required to give an attempt to all the 4 papers next time. When it comes to the method of learning, ACCA has more practical application of the concepts and not the rote learning. The ACCA course is relatively easier than CA but when it comes to popularity, it is slowly gaining its importance with new globally present organizations who operate outside India.

At the end of the day, it is going to be your own choice when it comes to taking up any course for that matter. Both CA and ACCA have their own merits and demerits in terms of ease in cracking the course, the time involved in preparation, the career prospects, the expected growth in terms of monetary benefits as new laws keep coming up.

All the best for your future endeavours!