CFA and ACCA/ACA

I want to do CFA, but most firms such as the big 4 accounting firms only offer ACCA/ACA as part of their graduate training programme. The choice is quite limited where I live, not many jobs that offer what I am interested in, and the only options are Audit or Tax hence mostly accounting qualifications. And due to family issues, I can't move out yet, but possibly will in the future. My question is this: are those professional qualifications that are included as part of training, optional? If I really want to, can I do a CFA instead? Or if that is not possible, is there a point in doing both ACA/ACCA and CFA? Or like doing the first two levels of ACA/ACCA then completing the 3 levels of CFA when I move job? Will the first two levels of ACA/ACCA still be useful?

11 Comments
 

Generally these aren't optional, and a required part of typical accounting / tax / etc. programs. I would encourage you to be open-minded to them though - ACA / ACCA are incredibly valuable and something I wish I'd looked at at the outset of my own career (I am a CFA charterholder, not an ACA). ACA is well-regarded by a lot of MM private equity firms and viewed as a lot more practical than CFA (which is very theoretical).

 
Count WACCula I

am a CFA

yo bruh did you just use CFA as a noun?!?! rofl

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Why do you want to the CFA? You do realize it’s a huge time commitment, right? Three levels, 300 hours each on average. You also don’t work in an investment capacity so I don’t really get the upside. It’s really only valuable in conjunction with experience. But hey, if you want to dedicate 900 hours of your life to it, all the power to you.

 

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