Assessing Certified Practicing Accountants vs Institute of Chartered Accountants - Essay Example

Running head: CPA and ICAA comparison Student name: Student number: Course title: Lecturer: Date: Executive summary With competition in the job market today, people will scrutinize the professions they choose. Getting the right profession is not enough to earn you that much desired job you have yearned for years; it matters the examining body you choose. The accounting profession I one of the most desired professions for many and this is the reason why many students choose for their career. The main challenge that many students face is when choosing the examining body, whether to choose CPA or ICA. This path will usually depend on the profession that one is in, the qualifications they have attained, the region in which they reside, and the profession they have started practicing. Accounting is a popular profession that is the favorite of many people looking for a career to follow in life. The first decision to make for those who are into taking this career as their path will be to decide which accounting professional body to join to be sure that they get the best in the career. It is important to be examined by the most trusted professional examination body than be promised to finish the learning process fast and yet fail to be recognized in the job market. This paper will analyze two accounting professionals bodies: CPA and ICA. It will then give a guide for those students contemplating on the two bodies. Table of contents Executive summary 2 Table of contents 3 Introduction 4 Assessing my class 4 Certified Practicing Accountants (CPA) 5 Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) 6 Recommendations 6 Conclusion 7 References 8 Introduction Accounting can be defined as the art of keeping track of the resources in an organization; both the tangible and the intangible resources. Many organizations value this professional as it is the main driving force in an organization (Nobes, & Parker, 2002). Businesses are able to run basing on the information from accountants. This is what is making the accounting profession important. There are rules and the standards that should be followed in the profession. These are the standards which have made the profession what they are today. They form the very important part of the profession and make them to be relevant more. The operating functions of the company get their financial information from the accountants and the accounting department. Assessing my class My colleagues have varying needs and aspirations in their career. It is a mixture of those with international ambitions who would love to work in international organizations and there are those who will be contented with working locally. Many of those who would be contented with local industries prefer such sectors as private, management, or government. My colleagues all have the ambitions of coming out bright and shining in their studies and their profession. Generally, the class members would like to have a career and knowledge on both Australia and other countries. In this age where telecommuting is a reality, it is the desire of all and sundry to understand the accounting standards that are observed in various countries. Based on these needs, the sections that will follow will analyze the two popular accounting professional bodies that are found in Australia. It will look at the requirements and the areas that are strongly covered in these bodies. With the many accounting bodies that are found in Australia, it becomes hard to know which accounting firm is better that one can join in order to get the necessary skills. Certified Practicing Accountants (CPA) It is touted as the largest accounting professional body in the world. It has managed to produce about 120000 practicing accountants in the world. ). The CPA program that is offered currently has important aspects of the current world economy. It has the necessary skills today that serve to offer the necessary skills for tomorrow (CPA Australia, 2011). It is more accessible today than ever and offers accounting that is useful for strategic thinkers. It is rigorous and offer integrated education and experience. The body offers their members a chance to continue with their profession. There are mentorship in the program to ensure that the students get the required skills and technical expertise (Kendall, 2006). Though it is a professional certification, it is now recognized in the academic field and one can go on with their academic training even if they start with this professional course. Australia is faced with dynamic issues that come as a result of the financial turbulence in the world. For this reason, CPA has been seen to offer the necessary skills that are required to manage organizations in these turbulent times. Unlike other renowned accounting professional bodies, the CPA body does not fail to have an in-depth analysis of the local financial. The registration process is at par with the current trends of information and communicating technologies (ICT). This is because it has an online registration process which is done online (CPA Australia, 2011). This enables members to register from anywhere without having to travel to the offices to do the registration process. Looking at the needs of the students in my class, most of the students would like to work in Australia. The CPA program has been known to help students and the members to unlock their business potential. It gives the members the required knowledge to understand local and international financial concepts. Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) It is more oriented for international students. It is good for students with the ambition of working abroad. As explained earlier, this will not be the better choice for my colleagues. Most of them have the desire to work locally. The institute has membership to Global Accounting Alliance (GAA) which gives the students an opportunity to look for employment opportunities in abroad countries (Chartered Accountants, 2011). The ICAA certification is a graduate diploma which is accredited. The good thing of the institute of institute of chartered accounting is the fact that the members are recognized worldwide. It is also an accredited Higher Education provider. The CPA Australia is not. The requirements for the certification are seen to favor those who already have undergraduate diplomas and are looking for advanced qualifications in their accounting career (Chartered Accountants, 2011). Unlike CPA, the qualifications are seen to be competitive as they take people who have a diploma. It does not have the foundation level that act as refresher course for the accounting novices. This option is available in the CPA program. Recommendations I have managed to rigorously examine the two accounting bodies. Although both of the accounting bodies serve to continue training of the members, ICAA is more geared towards enabling her members to adopt international and integrate with local accounting standards. I would therefore recommend ICA for my class as most of us will be attaining our diplomas and would like to add a feather to our caps. This is provided by the chartered institute. The CPA does not provide avenues for higher education the way ICAA does. Most of my classmates want avenues which would allow them to pursue their higher education and at the same time hone their accounting technical skills. Given this fact, I would recommend that my classmates take ICAA. There are few students from my class who would like to work on their own businesses and I will recommend these few to take on CPA. Conclusion Comparing the two standards, it is worth saying that the two bdies have nothing different as to warrant a loss if someone joined one over the other. It is a matter o hard work. One can do ICA and fail and be overtaken by one who did CPA. In the end, there are bright accountants who have done CPA and also brilliant ones who have done ICAA. Also, there are students who are dreadful in their accounting professions and yet they have done either CPA or ICAA. After closer analysis, it is the quest for continual of knowledge that matters in the end (Carter, 2007). The CPA program used to provide multiple-choice answers to students. ICAA is known to be rigorous and more drilling. But at the end of the day, it will all boil down to the goal and the dream that someone wants. My advice to my class, ICAA is rigorous and has an international outlook. References Carter, F 2007, Accounting careers: Adding interest to your future! Career FAQs, Victoria, Australia. Chartered Accountants, 2011, The chartered accountants program, retrieved on 28th March 2011 from http://www.icaa.org.au/Chartered-Accountants/The-Chartered-Accountants-Program CPA Australia, 2011, About CPA program, retrieved on 28th March, 2011 from http://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/cpa-site/hs.xsl/pd-cpa-program-about.html Kendall, R 2006, Accounting (Victoria), Career, FAQsVictoria, Australia, Nobes, C, & Parker, R 2002, Comparative international accounting, Financial Times/Prentice-Hall, California. Read More