Certified public accountants focus on the technical standards of accounting and auditing, and generally only consider financial factors. The key is to calculate quickly, accurately and accurately. The test questions are semi-subjective and semi-objective, and often do not require contact with reality, and there is only one standard answer. ACCA takes actual cases as the background, emphasizing the ability to analyze and solve problems, and needs to comprehensively consider financial factors and non-financial factors. Except for the objective questions in the first stage, the questions in the later stage are subjective and there is no absolute standard answer. Examiners like to see original opinions, unexpected but reasonable logical analysis, and proper connection with real life cases.
CPA only includes six independent courses such as economic law, tax law, financial cost management, corporate strategy and corporate risk, accounting and auditing, and subsequent comprehensive stages, while ACCA includes 16 courses such as financial reporting system, auditing system, financial management system, legal system and taxation system, which are distributed in three stages and gradually deepened, covering all subjects of undergraduate financial teaching and some subjects of postgraduate teaching. ACCA also encourages students who have obtained the qualification of certified public accountants to participate in ACCA study, and provides an exemption policy for up to 9 subjects.
In the subsequent comprehensive stage, the CPA exam is answered in Chinese except English. Although it is a Chinese exam, the difficulty is not low at all. ACCA's textbooks, exercises and exams are all in English, so taking the exam requires certain English ability, and it is undoubtedly the international compound talents who are proficient in professional English who finally complete the ACCA exam.
Short for ACADEMIC
Advantages: the course covers a wider system, including management accounting, business risk, finance and other fields besides financial accounting and auditing. The teaching content highlights the practical solving ability, and finally trains students to become compound senior management talents.
Disadvantages: All-English test, a little English threshold, CET-4 or above is enough.
A member of an officially recognized professional accountant organization.
Advantages: focus on training financial audit professionals, with fewer subjects to study. English in the all-Chinese exam is a plus item at present, and there is no need to answer it.
Disadvantages: the knowledge system is relatively rigid.
percent of pass
The annual pass rate of CPA is about 15%. Faced with so many candidates in China, to achieve this pass rate, examiners often put forward some off-topic and strange questions to achieve the normal distribution of scores; The global average pass rate of ACCA is 40%-50% every year, and the pass rate of students in China is as high as 60%-70%. The passing rate of low-level ACCA test subjects is higher, because ACCA does not deliberately control the passing rate, and 50 points is used as the standard for students to master knowledge. As long as students' real level reaches the passing standard, they can often pass the exam.
Gao Dun Bian Xiao concluded:
ACCA: the pass rate is high. The global student pass rate is 40%-50%, and the China student pass rate is as high as 60%-70%.
CPA: The pass rate is low, the national pass rate is only about 15%, and there is the fact that the pass rate exists.
Career prospects
ACCA is more suitable for students who want to further improve their work and students who want to switch from professional positions to management positions. CPA is relatively more suitable for students who have a certain financial foundation and want to firmly engage in financial audit in the later stage, and the company does not involve foreign business.
In large enterprises and large accounting firms, competent middle and senior managers often have both certificates. However, since ACCA is an international certificate, it has more advantages for large enterprises and foreign-funded enterprises. For China, if you are in third-and fourth-tier cities or small and medium-sized enterprises and some local accounting firms, the CPA's recognition is higher.
Gao Dun Bian Xiao concluded:
ACCA: It is suitable for the world's top 500 foreign-funded enterprises, large state-owned enterprises, large private enterprises and accounting firms.
Certified public accountant: suitable for accounting firms, small and medium-sized state-owned enterprises and private enterprises that do not involve foreign-related business.
Certified public accountants have the sole right to audit and sign in China, which is necessary for accounting firms.
Examination registration related conditions
Registration conditions:
ACCA: As long as 16 is over the age of one, students can also register for the exam.
Certified Public Accountant: College degree or above can be registered. College students can't take the exam.
This condition is very important, because during the university period, the relative study time is abundant, which can be effectively used and all ACCA courses can be completed during the university period. The employment competitiveness after graduation has also opened a very big gap with others.
Examination time:
ACCA: Starting from 20 16, there are four computer exams a year, and some subjects can take computer exams and register every month.
Certified Public Accountant: Take the exam in September or 10 every year, only once a year.
ACCA has more exam opportunities and more flexible exam time. In contrast, CPA only has one exam opportunity a year, which relatively lengthens the study time.