Finance Students know that CMA is the Indian certification and ACCA is the global certification. CMA is about cost accountancy and ACCA is about financial accountancy and management accountancy. From a global perspective, CMA is easier than ACCA. The course duration and exam pattern are easy to pass for CMA students. Job opportunities are also high for CMA in foreign countries. Then is the answer for the question “CMA or ACCA which is easy” is CMA. From the Indian context, CMA and ACCA both have exemptions and easy to clear when compared to CA. CA is the topmost course in India. In this blog, we would like to discuss the subjects of CMA and ACCA. The global trends and subjects make CMA more interesting than ACCA. For beginners, CMA subjects are good to start than ACCA. Let me continue the argument with a comparison of these two courses.
Fundamental subjects of CMA and ACCA
In the ACCA exam, the examination structure is knowledge level, skill level and professional level. At the foundational level, the students learn the basic concepts of management accounting, financial accounting, taxation and audit. In India, the CMA students learn about financial accounting, cost accounting, direct taxation, indirect taxation, and audit. CMA is the basic subject that covers the finance, cost and technical aspects of the companies in India. CMA and ACCA both are comprehensive subjects.
Cost and management accountants work as a financial accountant, financial risk manager, consultant, performance manager, and cost accountant. ACCA professional can work as a chief financial officer, auditor, finance manager, forensic accountant, management accountant, tax specialist and corporate treasurer. The job roles depend upon the area of practice of the professionals.
Auditing, tax consultation and decision making are the three pillars of Indian companies and foreign companies. Starting the journey as a decision-maker and then exploring the areas of tax consultation is a good way to leap forward with a systematic approach. Doing Indian CMA is a wise decision to understand the decision-making strategies and then learning ACCA is good to understand the difference between Indian companies and foreign companies. The learning process for a student must start with Indian companies and then move to foreign companies. This gives a better understanding.
Indian GAAP and international GAAP are different. The consolidation accounting, Indian tax law and equity accounting stand with a different approach as the accounts for parent company and subsidiary company are different. Deferred tax is not in use in India. Revaluation of asset is allowed in India but it is not allowed in the USA. In India, the investments are valued at market value and in the case of the international GAAP the investments are valued with a fair price which results out of the market to market accounting.
CMA-ACCA exemption
If the students learn ACCA after completing CMA then they are exempted from the foundation level subjects. They need to work only on the professional level advanced subjects. So, the nine subjects in ACCA that is F1 to F9 are exempted for a CMA student. To know further about the ACCA exemptions go to the official website and check the details. In ACCA job experience of 36 months is mandatory for the membership. For ICMAI 15 months of article ship, training is mandatory.
Approval of Union Cabinet of India
CMA and ACCA MOU from the UK have ended up in the year 2020 and it is essential to sign a new MOU. Recently the cabinet from the parliament of India approved the MOU of ICMAI and ICSI with foreign universities and organizations. This will help for more workshops, seminars, webinars, technical cooperation, training programs and joint research projects. Knowledge and experience with the same subjects help for handling the corporate level challenges. This will promote the quality standards of both the institute. The organizations which are dealt with are IPA, Australia, CISI, UK, CIPFA, UK, Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, UK and Institute of certified management accountants, Sri Lanka. Indian qualifications and foreign qualifications need to be in exchange for knowledge.
In the year 1991, Dr Man Mohan Singh introduced the LPG policy which stands for liberalization, privatization and globalization. Technology, communication and transport help for the concept of globalization. It is necessary to bear in mind that globalization pay way to foreign competition. So, Indian companies need to satisfy the Indian investors and foreign investors. The post-pandemic economy demands globalization, competition and cooperation between world countries. So, starting from the educational sector to other sectors such as the financial sector, agriculture sector, industrial sector and export and import sector globalization becomes part of growth.
Bottom line
Cost accountants are on demand because of large companies but small companies do not require cost accountants. In a country where foreign companies are increasing and large production companies are increasing there is demand for cost accountants. To analyze the cost of production and to implement the cost control business strategies cost accountants are wanted. So, CMA is a good course to start and explore foreign opportunities. CMA and ACCA combination is needed for an international career. CMA and ACCA salary in India from job portals reflects the growth of professionals in India.