Having an ACCA certification opens multiple doors of opportunities for you. Most importantly, you get to become part of an international network of accountants. While this field is challenging, the yearly number of people who appear for exams keeps increasing. This is because people are well-informed about the benefits of an ACCA degree.
If you want to know how this certification can help you in the future and want to know reasons other people have in mind when they are thinking of joining, read ahead.
International Experience
The most significant benefit of ACCA, and why people are so inclined towards it, is that you get international exposure. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants is continuously growing and being recognized worldwide. It means once you are a part of it, you automatically get to build a network with specialists worldwide. By interacting and working with them, you get access to global exposure and find out what opportunities you can take up. In addition, ACCA has an Alumni network of 219,000 members and 517,000 students from 179 countries.
Important Financial Information
Another reason people who want to pursue finance choose to do ACCA is that this degree is planned to ensure you are up to date with all information that will be important for this field in the future. A simple finance degree will not emphasize laws or rules that must be kept in mind. However, ACCA teaches all tax laws and regulations that you must be aware of when you take up jobs. You must also work on strategic and analytical skill-building while studying financial concepts. A few things this degree emphasizes are:
- Financial Statement Interpretation
- Corporate, Business, and Tax Laws
- Business Transactions and Documentations
- Performance Management
- Business Analysis
Better paying jobs
Since ACCA is supposed to help develop a skill set within you, having the certification gives you more room to ask for higher salaries. Most of the time, the jobs that individuals who have done this certification take up automatically have higher pay. This is because this degree is well in demand. Also, organizations know how difficult it is to pass the exams, and if someone applying for a job has made it this far, it is implied they would be a great resource. This also means that companies are constantly looking to hire accountants with this degree to derive the business benefits of ACCA. Therefore, your resume will automatically stand out if you are part of ACCA, landing better jobs. Most of the Chief Financial officers in MultiNational Companies are ACCA holders. A recent example is that of Komal Altaf, Nestle’s CFO.
Flexibility in Field
It is a common assumption that doing ACCA means you have minimal mainstream accounting career options. This is not true. One of the significant benefits of ACCA is that there is a wide range of avenues to choose from, including but not limited to taxation, accounting, corporate finance, and consultancy. The certification is only meant to build a few skills within you. You can choose what to do with these skills and explore any domain you find interesting. You can branch out in different areas and develop new skills with the job you are taking up.
This is not all you are limited to. Individuals also opt for further studies, and many end up getting an MBA degree or MSc to complement their ACCA certification. This further opens up room to go towards the business management side.
To conclude, if you want to know if doing ACCA is worth the effort, we are here to tell you it is. Not only is this a respectable field, but it also is your ladder to reach unprecedented heights.