12-18-2011, 12:56 PM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, san" id="quote">quote<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Fareed</i>
<br /><blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, san" id="quote">quote<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by DxB.Raf</i>
<br />^^
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
You people have been doing a wonderful job for the ever confused youth of accountants in Pakistan [)]
Keep it up!
I have being on the thread continuously since last three hours, and its 3.30am[)], enjoyed it a great deal and I really appreciate such a helping nature of DxB.Raf
I have a kind of unique query dear and hoping your feedback would be helpful for me.
M an ACCA student with 13 papers cleared.
I have prepared my Thesis for OBU and will be submitting it within a couple of months, In Sha Allah.
I have two choices to go for,
01. Do ACA (ICAEW), and join EnY for the experience and by the time I get my three years of experience completed I would be an ACA and ACCA.
02. The other one is that, I am planning to go for CFA and find relevant job in some financial institution(perhaps) in the mean time.
The reason y I consider the later option (although DxB.Raf rated this option as being a completely irrational one, and yeah it make sense to call it so, coz both designations have no connections), is that what I think is dat a chartered accountancy designation cannt take you to the highest level, CFO is the upper most limit (according to my narrow knowledge).
It has now almost being a week since the CFA option has invaded my mind. So, I know very little about it.
My questions
Q1. will I get higher status (post/designation in industry) and higher pay if I opt for ACA(ICAEW) or CFA? (after say, 10 years from now, keeping the luck factor, concentration and all the other factors constant)
please note one thing, i just want to see myself in say 2021, would Fareed(ACA) in 2021 be in better post and pay or it would be Fareed(CFA)in 2021 who would win the race? Off course, no one can predict future, but based on you people's vast knowledge and market experience I think you can get me an idea at least.
Q2. Provided you people advise me to go for CFA, which kind of job should I be searching for, to expose my self to the practical experience (I want to have practical exposure and to prepare my self for the exams for CFA in the mean time)?
The nature of the job that is relevant to CFA.
I appreciate your advise.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
First of all, I agree with you, I think this thread is a must read for people planning to relocate to the UAE. Secondly, If I may, I would like to comment on your query.
Even though your post does not suggest that you wish to relocate to the UAE, neither does it question the potential for different qualifications in the UAE market, I would still like to provide a couple of pointers; whilst steering the topic for the UAE market specifically.
The first thing students need to clear is the difference between an "Academic" qualification and a "Professional" qualification. Chartered Accountancy qualifications like CPA, CA and ACCA (yes ACCA is a Chartered Accountancy Qualification) is a Professional Qualification, which means it is not a degree in itself like an Academic Qualification. In the Academic Qualification world, where you start with your Bachelorâs degree the next or "higher" step is the Masters and after that a Doctorate. In the Professional Qualification world, there is no such ladder, a shocker for Pakistan students. You absolutely cannot say one Professional Qualification is "better" than the other in the academic sense. However if you look at monetary benefits, that's a different issue.
As your query is focused on the monetary gains associated with Professional Qualifications, I'll try to answer those in terms of the UAE market. The UAE market for accountants is a Global mess; you have accountants and qualifications from all over the world. The majority being from India (CA), Philippines (CPA)and Pakistan(CA). The ACCA being a global body has no associated country, although companies may bias on hiring people from their own countries, but I have yet to see a single advertisement that specifies a preference for a Pakistani CA over an ACCA. Over there, they do not differentiate between these qualifications. What differs, as DxBRaf and myself have both discussed earlier is the Quality and Quantity of experience one might possess, here the employers draw the line. So you see it's not a matter of which qualification rather than the experience behind the qualification. In the field of Accountancy and Finance, being a CFO is not the end of the world, mind you. Nevertheless all major posts in the UAE advertise their requirements as âCA/CPA/ACCA with 10-15+ years of UAE experienceâ. This is true for all companies and groups operating in the UAE. So if you are a member of these bodies you do not need any other qualification if you stick to this field.
Keeping this in mind, In my opinion, if you already have a Professional Qualification like ACCA AND you plan to move abroad, it would make absolutely no difference to you academically or in your professional career which professional qualification you choose. The CFA is a separate issue from CA and ACCA. Please do not consider it higher than these qualifications; itâs like comparing tea with coffee. A CFA charter holder is targeting a separate market than the ones ACCA and CAs are targeting, reason being, itâs entirely a different subject. I will not go into details regarding the CFA charter as there are people with more experience and authority in this subject to argue CFAâs case. However, I will advise you to pursue CFA only in the case you would like to U-turn from your accountancy qualification. Monetarily speaking, the market for CFA is a small one. If there are 100 vacancies for accounts and finance, a requirement for CFA charter holders would be less than 10. Then again it depends where you are looking. With regard to the relevance of CFA, I believe after the devastation the Global Recession brought about ( you should research the cause of it FYI) mainly by the financial markets, people are skeptical of investing money in the speculation and derivative industry. Which is the CFA holderâs expertise area, mind you? So no money means no business, and no business means no jobs, get my point?
In short, I cannot tell you what you should be doing, itâs all up to you, but I do advise you to research and do more research before thinking of starting a different career. Hope this helps,
HarryAL
<br /><blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, san" id="quote">quote<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by DxB.Raf</i>
<br />^^
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
You people have been doing a wonderful job for the ever confused youth of accountants in Pakistan [)]
Keep it up!
I have being on the thread continuously since last three hours, and its 3.30am[)], enjoyed it a great deal and I really appreciate such a helping nature of DxB.Raf
I have a kind of unique query dear and hoping your feedback would be helpful for me.
M an ACCA student with 13 papers cleared.
I have prepared my Thesis for OBU and will be submitting it within a couple of months, In Sha Allah.
I have two choices to go for,
01. Do ACA (ICAEW), and join EnY for the experience and by the time I get my three years of experience completed I would be an ACA and ACCA.
02. The other one is that, I am planning to go for CFA and find relevant job in some financial institution(perhaps) in the mean time.
The reason y I consider the later option (although DxB.Raf rated this option as being a completely irrational one, and yeah it make sense to call it so, coz both designations have no connections), is that what I think is dat a chartered accountancy designation cannt take you to the highest level, CFO is the upper most limit (according to my narrow knowledge).
It has now almost being a week since the CFA option has invaded my mind. So, I know very little about it.
My questions
Q1. will I get higher status (post/designation in industry) and higher pay if I opt for ACA(ICAEW) or CFA? (after say, 10 years from now, keeping the luck factor, concentration and all the other factors constant)
please note one thing, i just want to see myself in say 2021, would Fareed(ACA) in 2021 be in better post and pay or it would be Fareed(CFA)in 2021 who would win the race? Off course, no one can predict future, but based on you people's vast knowledge and market experience I think you can get me an idea at least.
Q2. Provided you people advise me to go for CFA, which kind of job should I be searching for, to expose my self to the practical experience (I want to have practical exposure and to prepare my self for the exams for CFA in the mean time)?
The nature of the job that is relevant to CFA.
I appreciate your advise.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
First of all, I agree with you, I think this thread is a must read for people planning to relocate to the UAE. Secondly, If I may, I would like to comment on your query.
Even though your post does not suggest that you wish to relocate to the UAE, neither does it question the potential for different qualifications in the UAE market, I would still like to provide a couple of pointers; whilst steering the topic for the UAE market specifically.
The first thing students need to clear is the difference between an "Academic" qualification and a "Professional" qualification. Chartered Accountancy qualifications like CPA, CA and ACCA (yes ACCA is a Chartered Accountancy Qualification) is a Professional Qualification, which means it is not a degree in itself like an Academic Qualification. In the Academic Qualification world, where you start with your Bachelorâs degree the next or "higher" step is the Masters and after that a Doctorate. In the Professional Qualification world, there is no such ladder, a shocker for Pakistan students. You absolutely cannot say one Professional Qualification is "better" than the other in the academic sense. However if you look at monetary benefits, that's a different issue.
As your query is focused on the monetary gains associated with Professional Qualifications, I'll try to answer those in terms of the UAE market. The UAE market for accountants is a Global mess; you have accountants and qualifications from all over the world. The majority being from India (CA), Philippines (CPA)and Pakistan(CA). The ACCA being a global body has no associated country, although companies may bias on hiring people from their own countries, but I have yet to see a single advertisement that specifies a preference for a Pakistani CA over an ACCA. Over there, they do not differentiate between these qualifications. What differs, as DxBRaf and myself have both discussed earlier is the Quality and Quantity of experience one might possess, here the employers draw the line. So you see it's not a matter of which qualification rather than the experience behind the qualification. In the field of Accountancy and Finance, being a CFO is not the end of the world, mind you. Nevertheless all major posts in the UAE advertise their requirements as âCA/CPA/ACCA with 10-15+ years of UAE experienceâ. This is true for all companies and groups operating in the UAE. So if you are a member of these bodies you do not need any other qualification if you stick to this field.
Keeping this in mind, In my opinion, if you already have a Professional Qualification like ACCA AND you plan to move abroad, it would make absolutely no difference to you academically or in your professional career which professional qualification you choose. The CFA is a separate issue from CA and ACCA. Please do not consider it higher than these qualifications; itâs like comparing tea with coffee. A CFA charter holder is targeting a separate market than the ones ACCA and CAs are targeting, reason being, itâs entirely a different subject. I will not go into details regarding the CFA charter as there are people with more experience and authority in this subject to argue CFAâs case. However, I will advise you to pursue CFA only in the case you would like to U-turn from your accountancy qualification. Monetarily speaking, the market for CFA is a small one. If there are 100 vacancies for accounts and finance, a requirement for CFA charter holders would be less than 10. Then again it depends where you are looking. With regard to the relevance of CFA, I believe after the devastation the Global Recession brought about ( you should research the cause of it FYI) mainly by the financial markets, people are skeptical of investing money in the speculation and derivative industry. Which is the CFA holderâs expertise area, mind you? So no money means no business, and no business means no jobs, get my point?
In short, I cannot tell you what you should be doing, itâs all up to you, but I do advise you to research and do more research before thinking of starting a different career. Hope this helps,
HarryAL
