ACA

ICAEW ACA Chartered Accountancy

The ACA (Associate of the Institute Of Chartered Accountants) is an accounting qualification administered by the ICAEW. Being ACA qualified allows the bearer to be referred to as an 'Accountant'. It is considered to be the premier accounting qualification available, noted for the difficulty of its examinations and the requirement to complete 3 years of technical work experience towards it.

The conventional route to ACA is through a 3-year training contract with an ICAEW accredited firm.

Structure

The ACA consists of 2 stages, professional stage, and advanced stage, comprising 6 exams and 3 exams respectively.

The professional stage exams are:

• Accounting
• Audit & Assurance
• Taxation
• Business Finance
• Financial Reporting
• Business Management

Usually these exams are completed within the first year of a 3 year contract. They focus principally on knowledge. Exams are 3 hours long and the pass mark is 55%. A substantial proportion of people fail at each sitting.

The advanced stage papers are:

• Business Reporting
• Business Change
• Case Study

The first two of these are designed to integrate the knowledge gained in the professional stage the give the trainee the skills necessary to reason based on circumstances. The case study focuses on giving advice, and is considered to be the hardest paper of all. It is the final paper you will sit.

The skills necessary for the professional stage and advanced stage differ greatly, where knowledge and numeracy play key roles in the professional stage, and reasoning, wording and language play key roles in the advanced stage.

Reference

Learn more about the ACA at the ICAEW ACA website here http://www.icaew.com/index.cfm?route=150825