CA or Engineering?

FariaK · 09-07-2010, 07:33 AM

Assalamoalaikum
I'm an A levels student in A2 with straight A's in AS. My subjects are sciences and math because my original plan was to do engineering. However, I have been told by many that CA is also a great career choice. But I've never studied Humanities, so I have no idea what accounting is all about S
Therefore, I need advice-CA or Engineering? At the time, I have no great knowledge about either fields, but job opportunity is one factor that matters a lot when it comes to decision making.
Secondly, which is the best institution for CA in Islamabad?
Thank you for your time )

Nauman · 09-07-2010, 02:15 PM

UOL is a good institution in Islamabad, as for Engineering or CA well it depends on your aptitude, you do not need accounting background to start CA, they teach you from scratch.

cowsgonemadd · 09-07-2010, 05:43 PM

Well first off, CA is no doubt a great career choice and opens up many avenues. without prejudice to engineering field, I would go so far as to say that if you can complete CA within a reasonable time frame your ten times more likely to land a decent paying job than you'd if you went with engineering.
secondly, i will be point blank and tell you that you will need a lot of effort to get the ball rolling in accounts, I got "A" in O level accounts and B in a level accounts, and still face trouble in MODULE B accounts even though Ive been studying my guts out. so theres a huge learning curve involved for people with non-accounting background. you will most probably need one on one tuition. not saying this to discourage you or anything, just making sure you know what your signing up for.
BTW have you got maths and GP? if you gain 80%+ in maths(p1+p3+s1+s2) and 80%+ in GP, you can have module A exempted. Add in 80%+ in ECO and you can get module B ECO exempted too. But the catch is that you must have 70%+ in all papers or you wont get any exemption.
I am talking in % rather than grade because cambridge appears to have changed the grading system.
As for a good academy, cant really say much since Im based in karachi.
If you got any questions feel free to message me or post here and I'll be happy to answer.

Nauman · 09-07-2010, 06:10 PM

cowsgonemad I think you are wrong about the learning curve, I did my A levels in science subjects and had absolutely no problems with module B accounting, though did struggle with module C accounting for a while but that was more due to lack of effort on my part then anything else.

cowsgonemadd · 09-07-2010, 06:38 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by cowsgonemadd
 Well first off, CA is no doubt a great career choice and opens up many avenues. without prejudice to engineering field, I would go so far as to say that if you can complete CA within a reasonable time frame your ten times more likely to land a decent paying job than you'd if you went with engineering.
secondly, i will be point blank and tell you that you are going to have to put in a lot of effort to get the ball rolling in accounts, I got "A" in O level accounts and B in a level accounts, and still face trouble in MODULE B accounts even though Ive been studying my guts out. so theres a huge learning curve involved for people with non-accounting background. you will most probably need one on one tuition. not saying this to discourage you or anything, just making sure you know what your signing up for.
BTW have you got maths and GP? if you gain 80%+ in maths(p1+p3+s1+s2) and 80%+ in GP, you can have module A exempted. Add in 80%+ in ECO and you can get module B ECO exempted too. But the catch is that you must have 70%+ in all papers or you wont get any exemption.
I am talking in % rather than grade because cambridge appears to have changed the grading system.
As for a good academy, cant really say much since Im based in karachi.
If you got any questions feel free to message me or post here and I'll be happy to assist anyway i can.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

FariaK · 09-07-2010, 08:55 PM

Thank you for replying everybody )
I haven't taken either economics or GP but I do have math. You see, I hadn't planned on doing CA when I started my A levels S But I will take all these points into consideration. A problem for me is that there are no really reputable institutions in Islamabad (where I live) for CA. The only one I've ever heard of is SKANS and people don't hold that in very high regard either.Therefore, I was wondering if I should go to a mediocre institution for CA or not at all. I will try and find out more about UOL though.If anyone knows another good place, please comment.

FariaK · 09-09-2010, 01:13 AM

Also would it be advisable to do ACCA, and then get exemptions and finish CA, or would it be better to do CA directly?

Nauman · 09-09-2010, 02:38 AM

ICAP is expected to withdraw exemptions for ACCA significantly in near future so if your plan is to do CA then start with CA and see it through all the way, do not look for short cuts or alternate routes.

noman · 09-09-2010, 03:05 AM

if you are good at engineering..i think you should stick to it......if u do hell lot of effort and almost kill yourself by studying now..you will get admission in engineering nicely...and then onwards it will be trouble free as far as qualification is concerned...
in CA you never know when u will get stuck.....and i don't think that CA profession will continue to enjoy the rewards that were there untill recently.......a LOT of people have entered the field recently and i personally believe it will get very over-saturated soon....

I still think that a good engineer coupled with an MBA can earn as much as a qualified CA, if not more......and also CA requires a specific aptitude to succeed....so keep these things in mind before entering the profession.

VITAL · 09-09-2010, 03:28 AM

âEngineering coupled with MBAâ tells the success story of job market of engineering.
My cousin is doing this.

Yes Engineering is risk-free field while CA is full of uncertainties.... and profit is reward of risk-taking and uncertainty-bearing.... CAs always make long-term profits.

VITAL · 09-09-2010, 03:42 AM

Many people treat ACCA as shortcut to CA final level and recommend it. But nowadays there are predictions regarding reduction in exemptions given to ACCA by ICAP (as pointed out by Nauman). ICAP has not made any official statement about it. If it happens so then ACCA will no longer be shortcut.

My advice is you should first confirm it from ICAP then make a decision.

Mr. Omair Jamal is the Director Education and Training
Ms. Shumaila is a manager education and CPD

You can contact them at

[email protected]
[email protected]

They usually respond within a day and give useful information other than information relating to new reforms.

VITAL · 09-09-2010, 09:17 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by FariaK
 Thank you for replying everybody )
I haven't taken either economics or GP but I do have math. You see, I hadn't planned on doing CA when I started my A levels S But I will take all these points into consideration. A problem for me is that there are no really reputable institutions in Islamabad (where I live) for CA. The only one I've ever heard of is SKANS and people don't hold that in very high regard either.Therefore, I was wondering if I should go to a mediocre institution for CA or not at all. I will try and find out more about UOL though.If anyone knows another good place, please comment.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
CA institutes or CA colleges are correctly known as Registered Accounting Education Tutors (RAETs). They are only authorized to conduct coaching classes for CA students.

You can find list of RAETs at the following link

http//www.icap.org.pk/web/links/248/listofraets.php

FariaK · 09-11-2010, 12:42 AM

I know about the list,I was looking for more of a rating, in order to decide which would be the best RAET to attend.

VITAL · 09-11-2010, 12:55 AM

You said that you want to know about other places that's why I gave the list.

Only ISB students can tell you and they usually rate ICAF as No. 1

noman · 09-11-2010, 01:21 AM

FariaK have you decided to join the profession?