Comparison of CPA course with other courses

The Accounting industry offers you various opportunities to learn via various courses. You can choose which one suits your academic and practical requirement. Along with Accounts, finance industry also beneficial for you to pursue in today’s professional world. The question is – After your graduation which accounting or financial credential should you pursue? We have investigated, researched and compared many courses to CPA. To help you taking a right decision, we’ve compared most popular credentials like CFA® Program, CMA and ACCA with CPA.

CPA

A Certified Public Accountant is the highest standard of competence in the field of Accountancy across the globe. The exam is administered by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), which is the world’s largest accounting body. In order to appear for Certified Public Accountant Examination, the candidate should be a B.Com with PG. Indian CA’s with B.Com are also accepted by quite a few states in the US. However, the exact criteria will vary from State to State.

CPA vs CFA

Chartered Financial Analyst® is a professional credential offered by the CFA® Institute to Investment and Finance professionals. The CFA® Program has three different Levels and the minimum time required to clear all three is around 2.5 years (although the overall average is around 4 years).

	CPA	CFA
Offered by	AICPA	CFA® Institute
Exam Papers	Four sections of Exam ( AUD, FAR, BEC, REG)	Three Steps of Exam(Level 1, Level 2, Level 3)
Exam months	Jan-Feb, Mar-Apr, Jul-Aug, Oct-Nov	February, May, August, November
Eligibility	Post-Graduation after B.COM	Graduation or 4 year of Work experience
Focuses on	Investment banking, hedge funds and portfolio management	Auditing, accounting and Concept of business environment
Time to Complete	1.5 years	2.5 years
Course fees(Application+ Registration+ Exam fees)	$3400 (by Becker)	$2550 as early registration (by CFA® institute)
Average salary(In India)	INR- 8,24,336 per year (by PayScale	INR- 6,10,128 per year (by PayScale)
Careers	Financial forensics Business valuation Personal financial planning IT consulting	Portfolio Manager Research Analyst Chief Executive Financial Advisor

CPA vs ACCA

ACCA( Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the world’s leading and fastest-growing international accountancy organization which provides high standards of employee learning and development. ACCA provides you skills and knowledge about all areas of business, financial statements, management accounting, business taxation, and also business ethics.

	CPA Course	ACCA Course
Offered by	AICPA	ACCA
Exam Papers	Four sections of Exam ( AUD, FAR, BEC, REG)	Fundamental (Knowledge and Skills)- 9 papers and Professional (Essential and Option)- 5 paper
Exam months	Jan-Feb, Mar-Apr, Jul-Aug, Oct-Nov	March, June, September, December
Eligibility	Post-Graduation after B.COM	12th from commerce (with 65% marks) or B.COM graduates
Focuses on	Investment banking, hedge funds and portfolio management	Financial, Management Accounting, Taxation, Business Analysis
Time to Complete	1.5 years	Varies from 6 months to 2 years
Course fees(Application+ Registration+ Exam fees)	Total $3400 approx. (by Becker)	Total $1793 approx. (by ACCA global)
Average salary(In India)	Rupees- 8,24,336 (by PayScale)	Rupees- 5,71,000 (by PayScale)
Careers	Financial forensics Business valuation Personal financial planning IT consulting	Chartered Accountant in India Financial Accountant Management Consultant Tax Consultant

CPA vs CMA

Certified Management Accountant is a globally recognized, advanced-level credential offered by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) USA and the content is regularly reviewed by the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA). The CMA course enhances the value of your current position and expands your career potential.

	CPA Course	CMA Course
Offered by	AICPA	IMA
Exam Papers	Four sections of Exam ( AUD, FAR, BEC, REG)	Part 1 and Part 2
Exam months	Jan-Feb, Mar-Apr, Jul-Aug, Oct-Nov	Jan/Feb/ May/Jun/ Sep/Oct
Eligibility	Post-Graduation after B.Com	Graduation and Two years of professional experience
Focuses on	Investment banking, hedge funds and portfolio management	financial planning, Control, decision support, and professional ethics
Time to Complete	1.5 years	6 months
Course fees(Application+ Registration+ Exam fees)	Total $3400 approx. (by Becker)	$1325(Professional Member) $849 (Student Member) (by Becker)
Average salary(In India)	Rupees- 8,24,336 (by PayScale)	Rupees- 4,05,620 (by PayScale)
Careers	Financial forensics Business valuation Personal financial planning IT consulting	Cost managers Relationship managers Finance managers Analysts

Since it is not possible to say which course you should target, it’s your decision which one is better for your career or which is more suitable to your academic qualification. In terms of which qualification is better, it is like a question on which Cricket team do you support among South Africa, Australia, England and West-indies. It really depends on what do you plan to work as. However, if you’re seeking an accounting job in the U.S., don’t overthink and go for the CPA. EduPristine provides training for the CPA certification that will help you to clear the CPA exams easily. We hope this comparative analysis will help you in choosing the right career for yourself. In case of any queries or doubts about these certifications, feel free to comment below.