[JanieS]

Hi everyone,
I’m J from India. I am 26 years old and I have wasted the last 6 years of my life doing CA (CPA equivalent of India) and I have not cleared (I cleared IPCC and only could not clear the last 8 papers of CA Final). I have decided to quit it as it was leading to severe depression and I was not happy at all. I am now working in Finance and Accounts department of a major KPO in India.
I am not happy with my qualification and CPA looks like a attractive option but I’m scared to make another mistake and waste more time AND money. I am a good student and scored well all the way to college.
Can you please help me make this decision?

[Skynet]

There's a lot of hot women in accounting. Need I say more? 😋

[JanieS]

@skynet
Haha, Your reply actually made me smile. I'm guessing you are asking me to join them as I am a woman too?

[Anonymous]

Why are you thinking of pursuing a CPA if CA is the CPA equivalent in india? Do they recognize CPA in india?

[noclady]

Would companies in India value a CPA as much as, or more than, a CA? Or like babel asked, would they even recognize it? Maybe it's just me, but if they DID recognize it and value it as much, I would hate to have to go through the additional time and money it would take to even to sit for it. You'd first have to select a jurisdiction (state) in which to obtain the ok to take the exam. Your university would have to be recognized by the AICPA. Wouldn't you have to take the exam in a different country? There are 4 sections. And if I did have to travel to take the exam, it would not be worth it to me to have to travel 4 different times (assuming you passed each section the first time) to a different country.

You're investing hours and hours of study time, in addition to the other application-related time you'll have to invest. Never mind the financial outlay. You'd have to figure out if having a CPA will exponentially increase your opportunities there in India. And if those opportunities FAR outweigh the time,effort and $$ you'll have to put into getting a CPA, then maybe you could think about it. But if the opportunities would be the same or less, I wouldn't do it.

[Preksha]

@Indiandreams
Hey! I am pursuing CA as well but my Final attempt is next year, in the meantime I hope to clear my CPA exams. I understand your frustration. Pursuing CA is horrendous, I attend face to face classes and I have met a lot of people who are in the process of leaving CA or have already left CA. The scope of CPA in India is still quite vague, with the introduction of the new syllabus which includes Indian AS converged with IFRS the CA syllabus is evolving but it will still take some time. The Big 4's do hire CPA's and the packages are quite lucrative too if you a good work experience. Bottom line if you have money and are dead set on leaving CA then there is no better option other than CPA. However I would still request you to do proper research

[Anonymous]

Sorry but if you can't earn a degree or license in your own country, then it seems neither logical nor practical to try to substitute that with a foreign degree or license.

[Recked]

3) Ease of Examination: CPA include just 4 exams which are bifurcated into multiple choice and subjective exams. CA on the other hand includes a total of 16 exams including CPT/IPCC/Final. All the exams in CA are short and long answers type and requires off line mode of answering. CPA has online examination.

4) Time to completion: CPA takes around 7 months to be completed with proper guidance and devotion. On the other hand, CA requires a minimum of 4 years to completion.

6) Work Experience: CPA license and certification is issued when a candidate passes the exams and gains one year work experience in the CPA field. The CA license is issued only when a candidate gains minimum 3 years of article-ship in a CA firm. Clearly, the task is more tedious for a CA candidate.

https://www.edupristine.com/blog/cpa-or-ca

Some interesting facts about the CPA vs CA.
The brief article does not indicate if the 4 years required for the CA goes concurrent with college. If the 16 CA exams represent progress testing along the collegiate path, then the 5 years required for the 150 hour degree would alter the scales. If the 16 exams, plus 4 years, plus 3 years experience is all in addition to college, then I would try the CPA for sure.

[Recked]

A little more info on the India CA exams.
WTF…

Lots of tests, and it seems lower % to pass, but still only 3-8% actually pass.
Very interesting.

https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-become-a-Chartered-Accountant-in-India

[JanieS]

Thank You all for your opinions. I really appreciate it.


@noclady -Yes, CPA is recognised in India and as @Preksha said the Big 4's do hire CPAs.
Also, there are course review institutes here in Mumbai that help Indian students with all the CPA examination formalities like evaluation of mark sheets and finding a jurisdiction/ state for us. All the way till we get our CPA license.
I would have to take the exam in the US or Dubai. Travelling is not a huge hassle as I plan to give in Dubai since its near and cheaper compared to travelling and living in US.

Its practical and logical to pursue another qualification because I want to add to my knowledge and not give up just because I could not do one course. CA is particularly tedious and seemingly never ending. Not only do we have to study for a full 16 exams, we have a compulsory articleship that goes for 3 years where we work almost 7 days a week while we attend classes and study (Also, no one cares if your mom passes away from cancer and you are suicidal, if you take a break from articleship you have to complete it with an extension in service).

Now, I am an Inter CA, Bcom which means I am just a college passout and those years of hardwork were for nothing.
I feel lost and I have ambitions to be the one of the best in my field (which is finance).
So here I am, asking you all, since you have been through similar circumstances in CPA and you would give me the honest truth (hopefully without tearing me down too much :P).

[noclady]

Indiandreams – It sounds like you've made up your mind. And I think that if you're ready to put in what is needed to achieve this goal, then go for it. Best of luck!

[Preksha]

@indiandreams Yes there are many review courses such as Edupristine which provide Becker's review material, you can get 90 credits for B.com and around 35 credits for Inter CA (cleared both groups), you still need to do M.com for obtaining the CPA License.I'm from Mumbai too. If you want further clarification, would you like me to send you my email address?

[Author]

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