ACCA went the other way - without catapults - and, unlike CIMA, made a relief exclusively in terms of English. But the fact remains: another center of attraction for restless financial souls has appeared. Let's figure out what we have now. And, since de facto the new ACCA Diploma is an unambiguous "competitor" for the CIMA Diploma, I decided to build a further story on the comparison of these two programs with each other acca certificate.
ACCA Diploma in Finance and Business Management
As usual, the diagram speaks for itself, but I will help her say something that she cannot handle.
So, the ACCA Diploma in Finance and Business Management is 6 consecutive subjects from the full ACCA qualification, which from December 2019 can be taken in Russian: law, management accounting (performance management), taxes, financial reporting, audit and financial management. Six, Karl!
Each subject passed is issued a separate certificate - in case the student, for example, does not need audit and law, but the other four subjects are needed. If all six exams are passed, then the owner of such a mega-Diploma either stops at this summit, or, taking a breath, storms the remaining 4 subjects (two mandatory plus two optional) in English on the way to full membership in ACCA.
It turns out that at the finish after the ACCA Diploma and after the CIMA Diploma, the number of steps-examinations before membership is formally the same. But how different is the path to the coveted finish line!
The first difference: offsets to offsets are different
When registering for the Russian-language Diploma in Finance and Business Management, ACCA reads the first three exams of its qualifications, but not automatically. There will be a credit, but only if you can boast of a specialized economic education (finance, accounting, audit, taxation, etc.). By the way, the same credit rule applies to the English-speaking ACCA all over the world. In order not to lower the prestige of qualifications, there are no concessions for our brother: the Russian-speaking path to the professional top should deliver financiers of the same quality to the finish line as the classic English-speaking one.
The approach of the CIMA Diploma, as I mentioned above, is different: many more exams are automatically read to our public, even if you worked all your life (before it dawned on you to become a financier), figuratively speaking, as a doctor. Make up - we are confident in CIMA - all life is ahead!
Second difference: exam format
The ACCA exams are very different from the CIMA exams. They differ in general and in particular - that is, within the framework of the Diplomas in question. The only common thing is that both there and there exams are conducted in a computer format. This is where the similarities end, because each exam of the Russian-language ACCA Diploma includes not only classic tests (A-B-C-D, comparison and others), but also mini-cases where you need to argue, comment and / or give your calculations. ... The passing mark is 50%, and exams take 3 hours. The only thing that stands out here is the law exam, which is made entirely of tests and lasts 2 hours.
In CIMA, exams in each subject being studied are a 90-minute test in the form of tests with a passing score of 2/3, and the case is taken into a separate three-hour exam and tests the skills of three subjects of the corresponding level at once. As part of the Russian-language CIMA Diploma, two test exams and one business case are passed. Three exams versus six in the ACCA Diploma, although to pass the business case, you need to gain knowledge in those subjects in which you were formally given automatic credit.
By the way, while I was preparing the diagram for this article, I had to deal with the intricacies of translation. The Russian language subjects of the CIMA Diploma are called Operations Performance Management (P1) and Business Performance Management (P2). However, in the English-language CIMA full qualification, the same subjects have different names: P1 is called Management Accounting, and P2 is called Advanced Management Accounting (ie, Advanced Management Accounting).
I am not drawing your attention to this for reasons of simple meticulousness - I am trying to explain myself. The fact is that one of the subjects of the CIMA English-language qualification - E2 - read in the Russian-language CIMA Diploma - is called Managing Performance, i.e. "Business Performance Management". As a result, it turns out that on my diagram two different objects (P2 and E2) bear the same name. This is not a mistake, but a consequence of the specific reading of the Russian-language CIMA Diploma by the translators.
Third difference: national legislation
Both CIMA and ACCA are associations, if not yet with a global reach, then at least with a global scope. Therefore, CIMA does it simply: where it comes to financial areas with flashy national characteristics (corporate law and taxes above all), CIMA covers only basic international principles. Like, this is how VAT works in principle. And so - copyright. Well, they told you - the glo-bal-na-i association! As it is heard, it is written.
ACCA is structured in a completely different way: international principles are great, but students want to get the most practical skills. Therefore, tax and legal items for large markets are most often localized. In Russia, these two exams are taken based on the national legislation of the Russian Federation. This rule applies to both the English-speaking ACCA qualification and the discussed Russian-speaking Diploma. And if later it turns out that you will be working in another country - for God's sake! You still learned the basic principles of taxes and law. We just studied them on the material of a specific country.
Differences fourth, fifth - and so on to infinity
This is where the superficial comparison ends. Obviously, further digging into the structure of each Diploma will again lead us to an essential comparison of the two qualifications as a whole, and I have already done this .
But there are some substantive differences that I am still eager to highlight now, otherwise my article will degenerate into a simple mechanical comparison in the spirit of "six-against-three." Therefore, let me take a little more time from you for a detailed comparison of the points of the curriculum of the CIMA subjects P1 and P2 and the "paired" subjects from the ACCA Diploma in Finance and Business Management:
Well, what kind of comments are there? At least this: almost all topics of management accounting from CIMA subjects P1 and P2 found themselves in either ACCA PM or ACCA FM . Of course, the diagram does not show the depth of testing for each topic, but trust us teachers: it is approximately the same in both CIMA and ACCA. Needless to say, those two topics on business risk management and traditional approaches to costing that are not in ACCA PM and FM are in other ACCA subjects?
Please hear me: the insistently repeated claim that CIMA places much more emphasis on management accounting than ACCA is actually fiction. Frequent repetition of such misconceptions does not make them true.
By the way, I don’t want to create another misconception: my scheme may give the false impression that CIMA does not have working capital management, company financing issues and other goodies from ACCA FM. This is not so - they are in CIMA. Ironically, just in those subjects that are automatically read when registering for a Russian-language diploma - that is, in F1 and F2. So these gaps will have to be bridged separately in preparation for the management-level business case.
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