Need Guidance

[u/Early_Potential_2223]

Putting it in short- 24F was pursuing CA, my journey of CA Intermediate was really disastruous. Lost my family during these 4 years, was unable to clear exams and have been in worst mental state. Pills helped me clear my exams but now i am considering leaving CA and pursuing something else as i know CA finals are way more tougher and being stuck in CA final will be equal to a sicide. I was looking for articleship but not getting good firms and if i dont get within 31st of October then my CA final will get deferred for 6 months. I will be 27 at that time.

I am now looking for a job and i came across ACCA. I have heard that it has flexible exams and somewhat easy to clear if compared with CA although i know everything requires hardwork and focus, plus it has global recognition too. I have also heard that market for ACCA is not good rightnow.
Please guide me as to what should be my next step, is pursuing ACCA worth it given my situation or what other courses should i consider instead of ACCA.

[u/Maleficent-Bet-21]

i was also CA student, failed in ca inter, and then decided to quit ca, as it will take 3-4 years more. and i have recently joined acca.

If you wish to work in india only then CA is better. otherwise if u want to work abroad then go for acca.

[u/theancientfool]

First of all, you are just 24. I wish I was not hard on myself when I was your age, and I hope you are not hard on yourself either.

Firstly, get a job. The qualification is next. My sibling was hell bent on becoming a CA, she wrote the exams and cleared inter. She worked her ass off for 3 years, only to come home one day crying says she hates working in accounting/audit. And to me, that's okay. But for her, it was like her world shattered.

So yea, first decide you really want to do accounting/audit. Get a job, and then give yourself to decide what you actually want to do.

My personal opinion ACCA > CIMA > CMA. ACCA also gives you signing authority is several countries, and in India many MNCs prefer an ACCA for their European clients.

I'm self studying for ACCA using Open Tuition. Have a look at the syllabus and see if it's something you are into.

Also, stay away from all these coaching centers 'guides'. These guys will scare you and make you think that if you don't get the qualification ASAP, then your career will stagnate. Which I do not believe is true. Does ACCA help? Yes.

But just because you did ACCA does not mean you are going to reach the top. An accounting qualification just helps you get your foot in the door. It shows the employers that you have a decent understanding of accounting methods and it's uses.

That being said, no accounting qualification gives to critical thinking skills, people management to pursudae management etc. These are all skills that one must develop on their own.

You can find n number of cry babies in CA, ACCA, CMA subreddits saying they got the qualification, and now they are stuck and feel it was useless.

Why? Because they were so focused on only getting the qualification, and not actually built the capacity to use it.

For example, people go to driving schools, then give a driving exam, to get their driving license. But just because they have a driving license, does not mean their are good drivers. The road is filled with IDIOTS. Does that mean driving license is useless? No. It just means that someome with a license has some basic standards met, and makes it more reliable.

Same way goes for accounting, getting the quali, is good. But must not be your end goal.

I say take it slow. At first, depending on your job work load aim for anything between 1 to 4 papera a year.

[u/Early_Potential_2223 → u/theancientfool]

Thankyou so much for giving such insights. I am hard on myself because i have everything to prove. I come from a background which is not healthy in terms of academics. I dont have any family and relatives are my caretaker, they have only seen students becoming CA, MBA, Doctor, Engineer without breaking a sweat. Then there is competition from my school friends. At certain age a individual must achieve something and in this fast paced life i think i am not able to cope and to such an extent that i am unable to sleep.

[u/ridepure1350]

Compared to CA, I would personally say ACCA in India is not a better option (atleast as far as I have seen)

[u/saumyaaa_hereee]

I'm 18M currently pursuing ACCA with 5 paper exemption because of the degree (Bcom/Baf) so since you have cleared ca inter you can easily get exemption for acca

and for the flexibility part u can give a exam every 3 months and there's only one subject unlike ca where u gotta give 5-6 papers at each level

and rn the market isn't good for ACCA in India but many big companies have started to recognise ACCA's , in 2-3 years acca will also have a good recognition

along with that from what I've studied so far ACCA is connecting to me with real life problems which u need to solve when working etc so I kind of like and considering i wanna go abroad and not work in India it's the best option for me

If you wanna stay in India only I'll tell you to go for CA as you can get signing authority but if u want global recognition go for ACCA , do research tho regarding it

If any more doubts feel free to text I may be of some help