ACCA or Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, is a globally recognized program related to accounting that has job opportunities in over 180+ countries. It is one of the most preferred courses for students who want to make a career international. 

With Over  252,500+  members and over 526,000+ Students in over 180 countries it is the most widest international network of accounting professionals who are most preferred by major financial institutions & accounting firms including  PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, EY, Grant Thornton, and BDO who are employed in accounting, finance, corporate financial reporting, audit, taxation, risk management and management Positions.

Due to its higher standards, higher course work associated with completion & recognition among major accounting firms ACCA and CA are considered equivalent to each other by many firms.

ACCA Qualifications

Eligibility for ACCA includes age, education, and country-specific standards that  makes it crucial for grasping the higher qualifications. 

To qualify ACCA you have to complete 13 papers in three sub categories namely Foundation Level, Applied Skills Level & Professional Level.

Eligibility criteria for ACCA exams 

For every student who are aspiring for ACCA Qualification can have two routes for entry namely Traditional route & exemptional route 

Traditional route 

In the traditional route students have to qualify all 13 papers individually while taking their respective exams

These papers are 

Applied Knowledge Level: 3 Papers

- BT: Business & Technology

- MA: Management Accounting

- FA: Financial Accounting

Applied Skills Level: 6 Papers

- LW: Corporate and Business Law

- PM: Performance Management

- TX: Taxation

- FR: Financial Reporting

- AA: Audit and Assurance

- FM: Financial Management

Strategic Professional Level (Essential): 2 Papers

- SBL: Strategic Business Leader

- SBR: Strategic Business Reporting

Strategic Professional Level (Optional): 2 out of 4 Papers

- AFM: Advanced Financial Management

- APM: Advanced Performance Management

- ATX: Advanced Taxation

- AAA: Advanced Audit & Assurance

Exemption Route 

ACCA exemption route was an opportunity for many students who wished to find wonderful opportunities of ACCA after they have or while they are pursuing graduation or post graduation.

Th exemption Depends on certain factors like

• The course pursued for Graduation or post Graduation

The Courses specialised in graduation or post graduation can have high impact on your exemption level, Some courses won't be carrying any exemptions while some courses related to commerce and finance can have the exemption level from Four papers up-to Nine papers.

• The year of completion

The course completion year does have a high impact as with the curriculum & the methods getting updated with new changes the options to higher exemption are there as well for students.

The level of exemption provided is on the basis of their existing qualifications and are available for 

1. Foundation level Exams.
2. Three papers of Applied Knowledge level Exams.
3. Six papers of Applied Skills level Exams.

But there is no exemptions available for

• Two compulsory papers nor two optional papers of Strategic Professional Level exams
• On the basis of work experiences.

The most common level of exemptions available are 

ACCA with Bcom Exemption

In this students prepare for ACCA while completing Bcom from universities that are accredited by ACCA for providing courses that can have the advantage of getting nine paper exemption.

This gives the students the double advantage of:

• Acquiring a graduation from a recognized university.
• Option to appear for Strategic Professional Level papers after completing second year of graduation.

For every student this gives the option to complete graduation as well as ACCA certification within the three years itself.

ACCA With MBA Exemption

This exemption route is apt for students who have completed their graduation and are looking to widen their horizon with higher professional qualification. Apart from the nine paper exemption students gets the option to 

• Acquiring your masters from a recognized university.
• Option to appear for Strategic Professional Level papers after completing first  year of MBA.

ACCA after Completing CA 

Students who have completed Chartered Accountants (CAs) qualification of ICAI are eligible to obtain the 9 paper exemptions of ACCA leaving them to only clear the four  Strategic Professional Level papers to acquire the ACCA qualification 

Conclusion

Trained & qualified  accounting professionals are the cornerstone for developing dynamic businesses that deliver long-term value to the economy. With qualifications like ACCA students get the fastest entry point into becoming professional with the opportunity to work in high profile high paying jobs where they can manage  both financial and management accounting.