ACCA: Full Form, Eligibilty, Course Details, Subjects, Certificate, Jobs, and Salary

ACCA Full Form is the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Formed in 1904, ACCA is a global accounting body that offers “Certified Chartered Accountant” certification.  ACCA course duration varies according to the level of education of the students. The course duration of the ACCA course is 3 years for students who have completed 12th, 2-2.5 years for commerce graduates, 2 years for IPCC groups, and 1 year for BCom and CA graduates.

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As per the ACCA eligibility criteria, the student must be at least 18 years, and should have completed 10+2 with an aggregate score of 65% in mathematics/accounts and English, and a minimum of 50% aggregate in all other subjects. Among others, students pursuing BCom, BBA, BMS, and other commerce or business-related disciplines can also apply for ACCA courses alongside graduation. All colleges and institutes accept and follow the same ACCA eligibility criteria.

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ACCA comprises 13 courses that are further divided into 3 levels, which are Knowledge, Skills, and Professional.  All three exams are computer-based (CBE). ACCA admission is based on both entrance as well as merit. Colleges like Apeejay Stya University admit students based on their exam score history. Many universities, like Christ University, have their own ACCA entrance exams. 

The ACCA course fees for top universities range from INR 28,000 to INR 2,60,000. Apart from this, students also have the option to combine the ACCA syllabus with BBA or BCom, which makes it a popular choice among commerce students. ACCA careers include Accountants, Auditors, Finance managers, Business Analyst, Taxation Expert, etc. The ACCA average salary ranges between INR 3.5- 4 LPA. Go through the complete article to learn more about ACCA course details, exams, admission, syllabus, subjects, jobs, career, salary, and more.

ACCA Course Details

Given below are the important details of the ACCA course program:

Read More: Bachelor of Accounting and Finance (BAF)

What is ACCA?

• Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, better known as ACCA is a universally recognized certification course with over 200,000 members and 600,000 students across 180+ countries.
• ACCA is considered one of the most prestigious certifications in the field of accounting and is highly sought after by students who want to build a successful career in accounting.
• ACCA is applicable to every country as it is one of the most respected qualifications.
• Based on international accounting and auditing standards, the ACCA is a high-level professional qualification that is equivalent to earning a full university degree
• The ACCA course can be taken parallel with the student's degree programs like B.Com, BBA, etc. More so, it can be integrated into the degree course itself.
• Since ACCA offers a very flexible exam structure, it is an attractive choice for students pursuing or passing out graduation degrees.
• ACCA consists of 13 required exams that must be completed in a maximum of 7 years.
• The ACCA qualification is an all-inclusive qualification that includes financial statements, management accounting, business taxation and legislation, audit, and business ethics.
• The ACCA syllabus is both industry-relevant and globally accredited, which provides an excellent opportunity for students to establish a career in accounts and finance.

ACCA Eligibility

The eligibility criteria for the ACCA course are as follows:

• Students must be at least 18 years old or above.
• Students must have completed 10+2 as the minimum qualification to be eligible for the ACCA course.
• Students must have achieved a minimum of 65% marks in Accounts/Mathematics and English
• Students must have scored 50% in all other subjects to be eligible for the ACCA course.

ACCA Entrance Exams

Generally, ACCA does not require entrance exams. However, there are some colleges that conduct entrance exams to grant ACCA admissions. Here is a list of the entrance exams for ACCA course admissions:

ACCA Admission 2024

There are two modes for admission into the ACCA Course, which are as follows:

1. Merit-based
2. Entrance Exam Based

Merit-Based Admission Process

Given below is the step-by-step admission process followed by colleges like Apeejay Stya University, Gurgaon that offer merit-based ACCA admissions:

• Step 1: Fill and Submit Application Form: Students must fill out the application form either online or offline, as some universities only accept online applications while others accept both.
• Step 2: Upload documents: Following completion of the application form's mandatory fields, students must scan and upload all relevant documents for admission and verification to the admissions portal.
• Step 3: Application Fee: Students should pay the application fee, which varies from college to college. They will then receive their application number through SMS or email.
• Step 4: Review of Applications and Shortlisting of Individuals: After reviewing student applications to see whether they meet the requirements, the university's admission team will select candidates. Now, these students will be contacted to participate in group discussions and personal interview (PI) rounds.
• Step 5: Group Discussions (GD) and Personal Interviews: GD and PI rounds are conducted by some institutions to learn more about the candidate's character and background in relation to what the university expects from its students.

Entrance Exam-Based Admission Process

Given below is the step-by-step process admission process followed by colleges like Christ University, Bangalore that offers ACCA admissions based on entrance exam:

• Step 1: Fill and Submit Application Form.
• Step 2: Upload the necessary documents.
• Step 3: Pay the Application Fee.
• Step 4: Register for the Entrance Exam. If the institution to which the student has applied does not automatically register the student, it is the student's duty to register for the entrance exam before the deadline.
• Step 5: Shortlisting of candidates: Based on the results of the entrance exams, the university will narrow down the candidates. For additional verification, the shortlisted individuals will be contacted.
• Step 6: Document Verification and Personal Interviews: Only the candidates who have been shortlisted will be contacted for personal interviews and document verification. Admission to the course shall be given to the candidates who are deemed eligible.

ACCA Syllabus

The syllabus for ACCA is divided into 13 exams and 3 course levels, which are:

1. Knowledge
2. Skills
3. Professional

The detailed ACCA subjects for each level are given below:

ACCA Subjects: Knowledge Level

ACCA Subjects: Skills Level

ACCA Subjects: Professional Level

After passing all 13 ACCA exams, candidates must document 36 months of relevant experience. Additionally, candidates should finish the Ethics and Professional Skills Module, which aids in the development of all the skills required by employers.

ACCA Exams

Given below is the list of the ACCA papers, which candidates must clear to earn ACCA certification:

1. Audit and Assurance (AA)
2. Taxation (TX) 
3. Performance Management (PM)
4. Financial Reporting (FR)
5. Financial Management (FM)
6. Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA)
7. Advanced Taxation (ATX)
8. Advanced Performance Management (APM)
9. Strategic Business Reporting (SBR) 
10. Advanced Financial Management (AFM)
11. Strategic Business Leader (SBL)
12. Advanced Taxation (ATX)
13. Corporate and Business Law (LW)

ACCA Exemptions

Depending upon the qualifications, there are certain exemptions for ACCA Exams for students, which are listed below:

Please take note that these are only preliminary information. To learn more about eligibility and exemptions based on your present qualifications, visit ACCA Global.

ACCA Course: Recommended Books

Given below is the list of the important ACCA books:

• ACCA Approved Guides by Kaplan Publishing
• ACCA Approved Textbooks & Work Books by BPP Learning Media
• Revision Kits by Becker Professional Education

ACCA Top Colleges 

ACCA Course is available in two forms. Firstly, in combination with BBA or BCom or secondly, individually. The top colleges that offer ACCA coursestop-levelanalyze are as follows:

ACCA Course Comparison

In this section, we have compared the ACCA course with similar courses like CA, CS, and CPA in terms of qualification, duration, fees, eligibility, admission, and other considerable factors.

ACCA vs CA

ACCA is an internationally recognized accountancy course certification. In India, ICAI provides a similar accountancy qualification namely Chartered Accountancy (CA) course. Know the details of ACCA vs CA to choose which is a more suitable option for you:

Know more: CA Salary in India

ACCA vs CS

While the ACCA course prepares candidates to be financial officers and accountants, Company Secretary (CS) course is all about financial and legal aspects of a corporation. Below is the detailed comparison of both the courses in terms of qualification, duration, fees, eligibility, admission, and more:

See Also: How to Become a Company Secretary

ACCA vs CPA

The tabulated form below mentions the difference between ACCA and Certified Public Accountants (CPA) course in USA on parameters such as qualification, examination, duration, fees, average salary and more: 

ACCA Scope 

• The demand for ACCA professionals is rising quickly in India as well as worldwide and in India.
• Students with an ACCA qualification can get employment at prestigious firms like Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, HSBC, Standard Chartered, and others.
• Accounting advisory, risk advisory, corporate finance, audit and assurance, internal audit, taxation, investment advisory, etc. are among the profiles available to ACCA-qualified students in India.
• These employment offers are comparable to those for Indian CAs with the same designation, profile, and compensation packages.

Higher Studies after ACCA Course

Students have the option of continuing their education in India or overseas after completing their ACCA course. After ACCA course completion, students can opt for higher studies options like:

• Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA USA), a postgraduate degree in finance that is available globally.
• The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA UK) focuses on accountants who are currently employed in the field and offers training and certification in management accountancy and related fields. It also offers members continuous assistance and training.
• Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) is the only chartered professional body in the UK dedicated to educating, developing, and regulating actuaries based both in the UK and internationally, and is considered by many to be the toughest finance exam in the world.
• Financial Risk Management (FRM US), the top certification for risk managers, is sought after by practically every major bank and company in the globe. It is only given to people who can prove they have the skills and knowledge necessary to foresee, address, and adapt to pressing risk situations.

ACCA Careers

• Students who get an ACCA-qualified chartered account are prepared for senior management roles and can easily climb up to senior positions like Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
• The initial ACCA salary can range anywhere between INR 3.5-4 LPA with bright chances of profitable opportunities in the future.
• There are as many as 18 job profiles that one can explore after the ACCA course, and each profile offers different positions. That said, there are numerous career options in the domain of accountancy.

ACCA Jobs and Salary

ACCA Salary in India

Given below is a list of ACCA job profiles and ACCA salary in India in a tabular form:

ACCA: Top Recruiters

Here is a list of the top recruiters that hire ACCA course graduates:

• Ernst & Young (EY)
• Deloitte
• Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG)
• Pricewaterhousecoopers (PwC)
• Grant Thornton
• BDO