Last updated on October 24th, 2024 at 03:41 pm

CFA CHARTERHOLDER

ALLEN ARAVINDAN,CFA

ACCA full form stands for Association of Chartered Certified Accountants But I am sure you haven’t come here just to know that. Read this article to the end to make the correct decision regarding ACCA.

What is ACCA? -Top Most Important ACCA Course Details in India

Let me first discuss the most important relevant acca course information which you would be required to decide this journey.

ACCA Full Form

The acca course full form stands for Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is a professional accounting body.Which offers the certified chartered accountant qualification. A qualified member would call him self Certified chartered accountant.

Place of Origin, Recognition & Members

This acca info is to establish the credibility and recognition of this qualification.

• The qualification is originally from U.K and It was established in the year 1904.
• Initially this was established under the name London Association of accountants.
• It is the fourth largest professional accounting body, recognised across 179 countries.
• Currently, there are around 2,52000 members of ACCA world wide.
• ACCA Syllabus has been made the UN global accountancy benchmark.

Pathway to Becoming an ACCA member?

Since ACCA is a long program and has different routes to begin the qualification. Hence, this ACCA information regarding pathway is important for your decision on when to start.

An ACCA member can continue to develop his knowledge in the CPD(continuous professional development) which is mandatory.

The exams for ACCA are conducted worldwide four times a year

In total there are 13 subjects but there are exemptions for candidates from various commerce qualifications.

There are three levels to becoming a member of ACCA

Candidates who register and clear all the exams are called as affiliate

Post earning of 5 years of professional accounting experience, you become a FCCA

ACCA Recognition Status Globally

Click on the flag of the country to read about the current recognition status.

United Kingdom European Union Turkey United States Canada Australia New Zealand Hong Kong China Malaysia India Pakistan South Africa UAE

ACCA Eligibility Criteria in India

So, ACCA course eligibility is very simple, you can start as fast as after class x and as late as after completing your post graduation.

ACCA Qualification Requirements in India has the following eligibility requirements; Either of them a

• 10+2 / India School Certificate / Intermediate Certificate / Higher School Certificate / Higher Secondary Certificate / Pre-University Course / Intermediate Public Examination are all eligible for registration.
• All India Senior School Certificate/ Senior School Certificate /Senior Secondary School Examination

So that summarises the basic eligibility for acca in India.

ACCA Exemptions Calculator

Some Testimonials From ACCA Members

International Clients For Private Practice

The main reason for doing ACCA was that it’s basically the UK’s CA, and it was my father’s wish that if I set up my own practice in the future, it would be easier to connect with international clients, especially UK clients, because of the ACA qualification. And if you look at the ACCA curriculum, there are a total of 13 papers. Out of those, nine get exempted if you are a CA, so you only need to attempt four papers. Out of these four, three papers—Costing, FM (Financial Management), SFM (Strategic Financial Management)—from CA Final are the same. Then, there is one subject called FR (Financial Reporting), and another subject called SBL (Strategic Business Leadership), which is a bit different and more practical.

Kushal L, CA, ACCA

ACCA Course Duration & Fees

Now there is no absolute accurate time line to complete the course. However, I will briefly categorise the ACCA duration from different starting points.

ACCA After 12th

• After completion of your higher secondary exam, you will take approximately 2.5 to 3 years to complete 13 exams. Post the completion of 13 paper, you will need another 3 years of relevant experience to become a charter. After finishing 12th grade, you will take 3 papers for the knowledge exams, which are scheduled based on demand.
• The three papers in foundation level are foundation in accounting or accountant in business, management accounting and financial accounting i.e F1,F2 & F3
• After you complete the foundation level, you will be appearing for skill level, however you can appear for only 8 distinct exams in a year in the acca certification. Which means that if there are total of 13 papers, then by graduation you should be done with the accounting qualifications.

ACCA course duration After Graduation

Now let me quickly look at the acca course duration after bcom

• Now, acca after graduation has certain benefits like exemptions of 4 papers. Namely F1,F2,F3 & F4.
• So you need to complete total of 9 exams with the maximum cap limit of 8 exams per year. However, you also need to understand that these exams are only conducted 4 times a year.
• Son realistically, acca course duration after boom should be around 2 years.

ACCA Course Fees in India

ACCA Fees Breakdown for Various Qualifications

How the Costing Works

• If you start after class 12th then you first include the registration 34 Pounds plus 134 Pounds of annual subscription fee.
• Each exam of knowledge level will cost around:£84 x 3= £252 or approximate around INR 27000.
• Each Exam of skill level will cost you around $150 per exam, so total is £450. Or around iINR 50,000
• Finally the professional level or Strategic level as they say will cost £252 x 3+ £74(ethics)=£830. Or around INR 87000.
• Consider that each training paper requires around INR 20,000 as training fees, in case you opt for one.

Now let me summarise the acca cost basis where you start,

1. After Class 12th, the total cost would be K- level exams= INR 27000, Skill level = INR 50,000, strategic level = INR 87000. Hence exam cost = INR 1,62,000 & Training fees around 3.5 Lacs INR. Which totals to INR 4.8 Lacs
2. After Graduation it would be INR 50,000 For skill level exams, iINR 87000 For strategic level and the exemptions fees of INR 27000 For knowledge level . Making the cost almost similar

ACCA Syllabus

Below is the basic depiction of the various papers and subjects in ACCA program.

ACCA Qualification – Subject Breakdown

ACCA Exam Structure

So, firstly all of the ACCA exams are conducted online in CBE format.However you must note that not all exams are available all the time. Some of the exams are based on the set calender schedule.

ACCA ExamExam nameExam typeACCA QualificationBT, MA, FAOn-demand LW (UK & GLO)On-demand LW (other versions)Session-based TX, FR, PM, FM, AASession-based SBR, SBL, AFM, APM, ATX, AAASession-basedFoundations in AccountancyMA1, FA1, MA2, FA2On-demand FBT, FMA, FFAOn-demand FAU, FFM, FTXSession-based

Comparison of ACCA Course In India with Other Qualifications

So, now it’s time to check the credibility of the ACCA course in comparison with other qualificaitons.

ACCA Vs CA,CS & CPA

So, now let me take you through the comparison between the three major qualfications apart from ACCA i.e CA, CS & CPA.

ACCA Certificate

The Final Decision

So I will give you three questions to ask yourself and then decide

1. Do you want to have a private practice of accounting in India?
2. Secondly Do you consider yourself very passionate about having a CA designation.
3. Finally rate your patience and hardworking capability- Can you stick around with CA even with 6 years and continous dissapointments.

If your answer is Yes for all the three, then don’t do ACCA, but even if one of those answers is No, then its better to do ACCA then waste lacs in useless degrees.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the ACCA fees in indian rupees?

ACCA Fees in GBP and INR for Various Qualifications