Global Careers for Commerce Graduates_CPA & CMA

Miles Cpa Review

Description

CPA (Certified Public Accountant) is the highest accounting qualification in the US and is the
reigning profession for public accountants all over the world. The Uniform CPA examinations
are conducted by the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants). In very simple
terms, CPA is the US equivalent of the Indian CA qualification.

Sujets

• CPA
• Certified Public Accountant

Informations

• Publié par: MilesCPAReview
• Publié le: 05 janvier 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• Langue: English

Extrait

GLOBAL CAREERS FOR COMERCE GRADUATES – CPA and CMA – THE ALTERNATIVE PATH!

From an Indian perspective, starting from the high school level, commerce is arguably one of the most popular choice of academic streams – the other two being humanities and science. A graduate in commerce primarily deals in areas like banking, marketing, accounting, corporate finance, stock markets and the whole lot! A commerce specialist, in very simple terms, gets to understand the inner functioning of an industry and how a specific organization deals with money. While pursuing commerce and accounting as a career option, an undergraduate student comes acrosstwo primary career paths– (1) Professional qualifications in India including Chartered Accountant (CA), Cost and Works Accountant (CWA/CMA) or Company Secretary (CS), and (2) High education options like Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with specialization in finance.

However, a commerce undergraduate remains rather confused and at crossroads, at large, at this point – firstly, he/she is left only with the aforesaid two broad career options and secondly, both the choices take a student an average of 2-4 years even beyond under-graduation to be employable. The Indian professional qualifications have an enormous amount of academic content, a lot of which might not be needed by a “professional” and with single-digit pass rates, they can be very difficult to achieve at one shot. The MBA path again is not advisable for an undergraduate without having at least 3-4 years of work experience, and to have the right credibility and exposure from MBA, the reputation of the B-school really matters. So, the question lingers whether there are only the above two traditional paths orcan we find the third pathwhich could be achieved faster and which would, at the same time, provide the commerce undergraduates an edge in the global job market? Bingo! The solution to all these questions lies right here – withUS professional qualifications like CPA (Certified Public Accountant) and CMA (Certified Management Accountant)! In today’s world, a crucial objective of education is to be able to change not just one’s local markets, but to influence the entire world. CPAs and CMAs are equipped with this aptitude and ability to create a difference to their respective industries and thereby the international economy as a whole. Thus, a commerce graduate from India can now explore US professional certifications while taking classes from test-prep providers in India. For CPA, candidates can take training with Indian-providers like Miles CPA Review or franchisees of US-based providers like Becker Professional Education. For CMA, Wiley is the global publisher for official IMA-licensed study materials. Miles CMA Review is the official partner for IMA and Wiley for CMA training in India.

CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT (CPA):

CPA (Certified Public Accountant) is the highest accounting qualification in the US and is the reigning profession for public accountants all over the world. The Uniform CPA examinations are conducted by the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants). In very simple terms, CPA is the US equivalent of the Indian CA qualification. Most Indian commerce undergraduates are eligible to take the Uniform CPA examinations which comprises of just 4 exam parts: (1)Financial Accounting and Regulation(FAR)covering both US GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) (2)Auditing (AUD)covering US and International Standards for Auditing (3)Regulation (REG)covering taxation and business laws (4)Business Environment & Concepts (BEC)covering the areas of management accounting, financial management and other key financial areas The CPA exams are online exams with objective testing (multiple choice questions and task based simulations) conducted across 8 months every year. Indian CPA candidates need to travel to the US for a recommended period of about 15 days to take the CPA exams. The best news here is that a commerce student, given his dedication and commitment, can finish his CPA coursework within a time span of one year.

Career opportunities for CPAs are far and widespread in all dimensions of the economy. CPAs can be employed in the areas of Financial/international accounting, Mergers & Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Assurance Services, Financial Analysis, Taxation Planning and Control, Auditing, Governmental Accounting, Corporate Governance et al. A CPA’s starting salary in India ranges anywhere between INR 600,000 to INR 800,000 per annum, and there is certainly no upper limit for experienced CPAs. The Big 4 accounting firms (which include Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PWC), financial services or consulting firms and multinational corporations look forward to have CPAs on-board their accounting and finance teams. To summarize, CPA from an career perspective means 4 exams, 800-1000 hours of study over 12 months, exams conducted in the US and extensive opportunities with the Big 4 and MNCs.

CERTIFIED MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANT (CMA):

The other course that has a global advantage, ease of entry and ensures completion within quite a short timeframe and focuses mainly on the managerial side of an organization is CMA. CMA (Certified Management Accountant) is the highest management accounting qualification in the US offered by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), US. CMA is the US equivalent of CMA/CWA in India and CIMA in the UK (See table for a comparison). The CMA certification provides students, accountants and financial professionals with an edge in the area of management accounting and financial management. A Certified Management Accountant is highly sought after in roles like financial analyst, costing controller, costs and variance analyst, planning and budgeting specialist et al The CMA coursework is one of the easiest options available, equally to students and working professionals. The CMA Exam is broken down into 2 exam parts: (1)Part I – Financial Planning, Performance and Control, which includes coverage of cost and management accounting and related topics, and (2)Part II – Financial Decision Making, which includes coverage of financial management and related topics The CMA exams are online exams with predominantly objective testing (75% multiple choice questions and 25% essays) conducted across 6 months every year. Taking the CMA pathway is very convenient for Indian candidates as the exams can be taken in Prometric centres across India, and there is no need to travel to the US as in case of the CPA exams. Further, the CMA coursework may be completed in a time span of 6 months to a year. A comparison chart as presented below helps one understand the relative inherent merits of the CMA coursework: CMA (US) CMA (India) CIMA (UK) Credentials offered by Credentials offered by Credentials offered by Institute of Management Institute of Cost Accountants Chartered Institute of Accountants (IMA), US of India (formerly ICWAI) Management Accountants (CIMA), UK 2 papers, single level exams 20 papers, 3 level exams 16 papers, 5 level exams 6-12 months 3-4 years 3-4 years Recognized in the US and Recognized in India and Recognized in UK & globally Middle East commonwealth countries Further, there is a Memorandum of Understanding between IMA, US, and Institute of Cost Accountants of India whereby both the institutes mutually recognize US and Indian CMAs. Fresh CMAs earnings range between INR 400,000 to INR 600,000 per annum, and with experienced CMAs in top management and finance positions in companies, there is certainly no

upper limit to their pay packages. Most of the cream job opportunities for CMAs are with multi- national corporations. To summarize, CMA from a career perspective means 2 exams, 300-400 hours of study over 6 months, exams conducted in India and extensive opportunities with MNCs.