ACCA vs CPA vs CA vs CIMA: which to choose

Which accounting qualification should you choose?

ACCA, CPA, CA and CIMA are all professional accounting qualifications, but they suit different careers. The chartered qualifications (ICAEW, ICAS, Chartered Accountants Ireland) and the CPA are rooted in one country's profession and audit rules, ACCA is a global qualification you can take anywhere, and CIMA focuses on management accounting in business. Choose by where you will work and whether you need audit rights.

This comparison uses only what each body publishes: exam counts, experience rules, fees with the year they apply to, and the recognition agreements listed by the bodies themselves, all checked in September 2026. It deliberately avoids pass-rate league tables and salary claims, which vary by year, country and employer and are easy to misread.

The qualifications at a glance

Each line gives the designation, the structure and the experience rule as published.

• ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants): 13 exams across Applied Knowledge, Applied Skills and Strategic Professional, an Ethics and Professional Skills module, and 36 months of experience with nine performance objectives.
• ACA (ICAEW, England and Wales): 14 exams over Certificate, Professional and Advanced levels, 30 units of Specialised Learning and at least 450 days of professional work experience; typically three to five years.
• CA (ICAS, Scotland): training agreement with an ICAS-authorised employer; graduates finish in approximately three years; experience tracked by time, competencies and a logbook.
• Chartered Accountants Ireland: CAP1, CAP2 and the FAE; a Training Contract of typically 3 to 4 years or a Flexible Route of up to 8 years.
• CPA Canada: today CPA PEP, the three-day Common Final Exam and 30 months of paid experience; from 2027 the four-module CPA Professional Program.
• US CPA: four exam sections, three Core plus one Discipline, and state licensing that combines education, the exam and one to two years of experience.
• CIMA (CGMA Professional Qualification): Operational, Management and Strategic levels, each with objective tests and a case study exam; designations ACMA and CGMA.
• SOCPA (Saudi Arabia): the fellowship exam and specialist certificates; SOCPA's accounting-services licence is limited to Saudi nationals who are SOCPA professional members, and audit is licensed separately.

ACCA: structure, experience and 2026 fees

The ACCA Qualification has three exam levels. Applied Knowledge covers Business and Technology, Financial Accounting and Management Accounting. Applied Skills covers Corporate and Business Law, Taxation, Financial Reporting, Performance Management, Financial Management and Audit and Assurance. Strategic Professional requires both Essentials, Strategic Business Reporting and Strategic Business Leader, plus two of four Options: Advanced Financial Management, Advanced Audit and Assurance, Advanced Taxation and Advanced Performance Management.

Membership also needs the Ethics and Professional Skills module and at least 36 months of relevant experience with nine performance objectives, signed off by a practical experience supervisor. ACCA publishes its fees; the figures below are from its UK price list for the December 2026 exam session at standard entry.

Worked cost: six Applied Skills exams at GBP 160 are GBP 960; Strategic Business Leader GBP 282, Strategic Business Reporting GBP 208 and two Options at GBP 208 add GBP 906; the ethics module adds GBP 83. That is GBP 1,949 in exam and module fees, plus GBP 89 initial registration, GBP 2,038 in total, before tuition, Applied Knowledge exam fees set by exam centres, and the annual subscription.

• Initial registration: GBP 89 (one-time).
• Annual subscription 2026: GBP 140.
• Applied Skills exam, December 2026 standard entry: GBP 160 each (late entry GBP 409).
• Strategic Business Leader: GBP 282; Strategic Business Reporting and each Option: GBP 208.
• Ethics and Professional Skills module: GBP 83.
• Exemption fees: GBP 86 per Applied Knowledge exam and GBP 114 per Applied Skills exam.

Chartered accountancy: ICAEW, ICAS and Chartered Accountants Ireland

The three chartered bodies of the UK and Ireland share a model: you train with an employer under a training agreement or contract, and exams and experience run together. ICAEW's ACA has 14 exams, 30 units of Specialised Learning and a minimum of 450 days of professional work experience that does not need to include audit. ICAS builds its CA around a training agreement with an authorised employer and a logbook of relevant practical experience. Chartered Accountants Ireland has three levels, CAP1, CAP2 and the FAE, with the Training Contract or the Flexible Route.

The practical difference from ACCA is the employer relationship. A chartered training contract usually means the employer pays for tuition and gives study leave, and in return you commit to the full term; Chartered Accountants Ireland describes exactly that exchange for its Training Contract. The Chartered Accountant designation is also a registered trade mark of ICAS, ICAEW and Chartered Accountants Ireland, and only their members may use it in the UK or EU in relation to accountancy, tax or insolvency services.

CPA Canada: today's program and the 2027 CPA Professional Program

The current CPA Certification Program is CPA PEP, the three-day Common Final Exam and 30 months of paid practical experience, supervised and discussed at least semi-annually with a CPA mentor. From 2027 it is replaced by the CPA Professional Program: four modules in sequence (Foundational Development, CPA Core in a Common or Licensure version, CPA Leadership and CPA Professional Readiness), a Foundational Development Exam and three Professional Final Exams. Admission requires a degree, at least 120 credit hours, a minimum 65% GPA on the most recent 60 credits, and the Knowledge Assessment or qualifying coursework.

The CPA Western School of Business has published its fees for the 2027-2028 academic year, before GST. Modules cost CAD 2,000 for Foundational Development, CAD 1,600 for CPA Core, CAD 2,000 for CPA Leadership and CAD 1,800 for CPA Professional Readiness, CAD 7,400 in total. Exams cost CAD 1,000 for the Foundational Development Exam, CAD 1,350 for Professional Final Exam 1 and CAD 1,400 each for Exams 2 and 3, CAD 5,150 in total. Modules and exams together come to CAD 12,550, plus CAD 1,000 for the Knowledge Assessment if you need it, a CAD 150 application fee, a CAD 350 technology fee and annual learner dues of CAD 1,200.

US CPA: the Core plus Discipline exam

The Uniform CPA Examination has three Core sections that everyone takes, Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) and Taxation and Regulation (REG), plus one Discipline section of the candidate's choice: Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR), Information Systems and Controls (ISC) or Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP). The AICPA describes it as a 16-hour exam. Each section has five testlets: two of multiple-choice questions followed by three of task-based simulations.

Licensing is by state. According to the AICPA, two pathways are available everywhere, a master's degree or 150 credit hours with one year of experience and a passed exam, and many states have adopted or are adopting a third: a bachelor's degree with two years of experience. Because the exam is administered for US state boards, a US CPA is a licence to practise in a state, and recognition elsewhere depends on agreements such as those listed below.

CIMA and the CGMA designation

CIMA's CGMA Professional Qualification has three levels, Operational, Management and Strategic, each with its own objective tests and a case study examination. The Canadian CPA bodies' memorandum of understanding with CIMA lists the eight Management and Strategic level exams: at the Management level E2 Managing Performance, P2 Advanced Management Accounting, F2 Advanced Financial Reporting and the Management Case Study; at the Strategic level E3 Strategic Management, P3 Risk Management, F3 Financial Strategy and the Strategic Case Study. CIMA publishes separate examination blueprints for each level and has released both a 2026 and a 2027 syllabus.

Qualified members use the ACMA and CGMA designations, and fellows FCMA. CIMA is the natural choice if your career is in business finance, such as planning, performance management and business partnering, rather than audit or public practice. It does not by itself give audit rights.

SOCPA in Saudi Arabia

SOCPA, the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants, runs the profession's exams and membership in Saudi Arabia. Its exam list includes the SOCPA fellowship exam, a VAT specialist exam, an accounting technician exam, an IFRS certificate, a public-sector accounting standards certificate and a financial fraud examiner certificate.

The decisive rule is licensing. Article 5 of SOCPA's Rules Regulating Accounting Services (board resolution 4/1 dated 02/09/1443H) grants a full-time accounting-services licence only to a Saudi national with full legal capacity and a degree in accounting or an approved related field with 21 accounting credit hours, who has passed the SOCPA accounting technician or fellowship exam, is a SOCPA professional member with at least one year of experience, and is of good conduct. That licence excludes audit and zakat and tax services, which are licensed separately. A foreign qualification, however senior, does not by itself give the right to sign audit reports in the Kingdom, although it remains valuable for finance roles in industry.

Recognition and mutual recognition agreements

Recognition agreements are where the choice of qualification pays off or costs you years. They are published by the bodies and can change, so treat the list below as a snapshot and check the current version before relying on it. CPA Alberta, for example, lists reciprocal membership agreements with ICAEW, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, Chartered Accountants Ireland, ICAS, the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs, SAICA and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe, and mutual recognition agreements with the Mexican institute IMCP and with the AICPA for a limited number of states.

• Reciprocal membership in Canada: members of the chartered bodies listed by CPA Alberta may be admitted to CPA membership in that province; membership alone does not give the right to practise public accounting there.
• CIMA and the Canadian CPA bodies: under the current program's memorandum of understanding, CIMA members who passed the eight Management and Strategic level exams and hold a degree with 120 credit hours are exempt from the CPA PEP modules and Day 1 of the Common Final Exam, but must pass Days 2 and 3, as described by the CPA Western School of Business.
• IFAC member bodies without such an agreement: CPA Alberta admits their members in good standing directly to CPA PEP at Core 1 without prerequisite courses.
• ICAS: a direct reciprocal membership arrangement with seven international bodies, plus pathways for ACCA and CIPFA members.
• EU statutory audit: Directive 2006/43/EC sets the minimum education, examination and three years of practical training, so audit rights still run through each member state's approval.
• Saudi Arabia: SOCPA licences are tied to Saudi nationality and SOCPA professional membership, whatever other qualification you hold.

How to choose: six questions

Answer these in order; the first one that gives a clear answer usually decides.

• Where will you work for the next five years? A national CPA or chartered qualification is strongest in its own country.
• Do you want to sign audit reports? Then follow the local audit route: a chartered body in the UK and Ireland, CPA licensure in Canada or a US state, the national institute in an EU country, SOCPA in Saudi Arabia.
• Is your career in business rather than practice? CIMA's management accounting focus fits planning and performance roles; ACCA and the chartered qualifications also lead there.
• Will your employer sponsor a training contract? If yes, the chartered route is often the natural one; if you are funding yourself while working, ACCA or Ireland's Flexible Route are designed for that.
• Do you expect to move countries? Check recognition agreements between your target countries before you enrol, not after.
• What can you afford in time and money? Compare the published fees above with the experience rule: 36 months, 450 days or 30 months usually sets the real finish date.

Where Skyline Nexus ERP fits in your training

Whichever qualification you choose, the exams assume you understand how transactions reach the ledger. In Skyline Nexus ERP you can see that chain directly: sales, purchases, payments, expenses and payroll post balanced journals to the general ledger when their auto-post switches are on, and the Fiscal Authority reports include the Trial Balance, Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, Changes in Equity, General Ledger and AR and AP ageing reports. The trial balance can be shown as opening, movement and closing balances and exported to Excel, which is a practical way to connect exam theory to a real ledger.

For students preparing audit papers, the Accounting Audit Trail logs who created, approved, posted or reversed an entry, with old and new values, and the Audit Pack exports a year's chart of accounts, trial balance, journals and ledgers in one Excel workbook.