Difference Between ACCA and CPA (With Table)

ACCA is an acronym for Association of Certified Chartered Accountants. It is a very widely pursued course, and over 180 countries accept its degree. With a high value, there are a lot of opportunities for people pursuing this course. The exam for ACCA consists of 14 papers, and complete attention is given to fields like accounting, integrity, innovation, diversity, and many more similar topics.

CPA is an acronym for Certified Public Association. It is an 18-month long course, and just like ACCA, it is very widely pursued and has a great scope in the Finance field. There are a lot of options to choose from for a CPA including, Taxation, Accounting, Auditing, Financial Analyst, etc. 

Comparison Table Between ACCA and CPA

What is ACCA?

ACCA is a very widely known cross and expands to the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants. It is Royal Charter granted, and anyone who pursues this degree is offered many courses in the field of finance. Some of these roles can be taxation, accounting, and even auditing. The field of work that comes under ACCA is account service inspection to public and private entities. There is a criterion to pass certification before the inspection. ACCA has global recognition and can work across the finance field, that is, under accounting, finance controlling, financial analysis, and other such streams. They often have to deal with the International accounting standards too. 

The duration of the association of certified chartered accountants is about 24 to 36 months that is 2-3 years. The primary delegation of ACCA is to implement ethics at the place of work and frame policies on behalf of the management. The experience required for ACCA is three years of work and a graduation degree. They also need to complete 3 stages of this course. ACCA is known to be a very old course and dates back to about 100 years back. There are around more than 7500 people providing work in this field. There are three important levels of ACCA, which are Diploma (applied knowledge), Advanced diploma (applied skills), and essentials.

What is CPA?

CPA or certified public accountant is yet another field where finance students can make a lot of achievements and pursue their careers. CPA has a lot of streams to choose from in the finance field, from financial analyst management, accounting taxation auditing, and finance controlling. There is an examination held by the AICPA, and the candidates who pass this examination need to follow some procedures and frameworks guided by the governing body. After this, the CPA professionals can work as consultants in the business field and for small-sized and midsize forms. 

Some other courses that a CPA graduate can pursue are management accounting, auditing, handling accounts of organizations handling their taxations, etc. The course is not as long as the ACCA and is only 18 months. Also, the work experience required for CPA is just 1 to 2 years, along with a graduation degree. Another requirement is forty hours of continuing degree education. The work field of CPA is maintaining procedure and law order as well as guiding people in MNCs and medium to small-sized firms. CPA is not as old as ACCA but has still gained popularity and importance in the field of finance over a little time.

Main Differences Between ACCA and CPA

1. Association of a certified chartered accountant is the full form of ACCA, and certified public accountant is the full form of CPA.
2. Rules offered to an ACCA are accountant, auditing, and taxation, whereas the roles for a CPA are accounting, taxation, and many more similar ones.
3. The course duration of Association Certified Chartered Accountant is 24 to 36 months, whereas for Certified Public Accountant is 18 months.
4. An Association of Certified Chartered Accountant degree holder is offered the position of implementing ethics and framing policies for the organization. On the other hand, a Certified Public Accountant is offered to handle the Auditing and Taxation Department.
5. The minimum criteria required for an ACCA is 3 years of work experience after graduation, whereas, for CPA, it is 1-2 years of work experience after graduation.

Conclusion

It is evident after looking at the differences and key features of both the courses that CPA and ac CA are not very different in terms of field of work but still are differentiable on the basis of duration of course experience and eligibility of appearing for examinations.

There are 3 differences, and the students must be aware of each and every aspect related to these two courses before opting for either of them. The differences might be slide, but they make a huge impact at the time of job placement and position of work in an organization. The knowledge of every aspect of ACCA and CPA is very important to acknowledge their worth.

References

1. https://search.proquest.com/openview/e93beb86834832ba80db0d964cd73d48/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=41798