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What are the differences between the accounting designations
You've worked hard earning your degree and getting your pre-requisite courses in accounting and you feel like you could take on CRA by yourself. You crunch numbers like nuts in the mouths of squirrels, but you didn't calculate that you'd have to choose between three professional accounting designations.
In the world of business, the best way to excel in your field is to obtain a professional designation. Any of the accounting designations are going to put you ahead of the competition, but as with any qualification, each one will lead you to a different destination. Now is the time to decide which program is going to help you get where you want to go.
CA (Chartered Accountant)
The CA program sets up talented and ambitious candidates for a successful career where the potential for advancement is limitless. Once in the program, you will start three years of practical experience with an approved CA Training Office. Regular evaluation through the CA School of Business (CASB) will ensure that you are retaining the skills learned in the CASB Modules.
There are many advantages to the CA designation including global recognition, paid work experience, prestige, and versatility. The requirement for training at an approved CA Training Office ensures the experience you obtain meets the profession's rigourous standards. Experience obtained in public practice exposes CA candidates to a wide variety of industries, businesses and organizations. Experience obtained in the corporate or public sector exposes you to a wide range of rotations to different departments, locations, functions, and projects. All CA candidates receive professional mentorship in the early years.
CMA (Certified Management Accountant)
CMAs focus on managerial accounting and are most often found in industry. The skills taught in this program help manager-track accountants develop creative solutions for finance problems. Following university graduation, CMA candidates write a two-day exam that tests business knowledge, analytical thinking and written communication.
If you pass the exam, you enter the CMA Strategic Leadership Program that requires you to complete 24 months of practical work experience in the field. This work experience is peppered with a series of face-to-face sessions in which you, fellow candidates, and program moderators will discuss program concepts and complete management reports on how the concepts learned apply to your work placement. Case studies used in the sessions are all based on real-life business scenarios and the learning format gives students the opportunity to develop valuable communication and negotiation skills.
CGA (Certified General Accountant)
The primary focus of this program is to put practical tools in the hands of individuals so that they succeed in accounting. Unlike the CMAs and CAs, CGAs can start the program while they are attending university-making this designation attractive because you can earn a decent wage working in your field while you finish your degree. CGAs have great technical skills, and are often found in public practice, working in CA firms and on their own. The pre-requisites for entering this program are often part of a commerce degree, and the program is flexible enough to work around your schedule.
The Bottom Line
Obtaining a professional designation in any field is a good investment because it gives you a legitimacy that it would take you a decade to earn on your own. In the case of accounting, candidates need to examine what their long-term goals include and which designation will best help them achieve that. If you want to run your own small business, work your way up the ranks of a Fortune 500 company, or add accounting to your already diverse quiver of skills, each option has its merits.
The best tactic is to talk to accountants that are in a position you would like to see yourself ten years from now and find out how they got there. You can also contact the institutes that run these programs to find out more about the advantages and pre-requisites of each.
Contact information
We think the CA designation offers students challenge, flexibility, and reward. But don't take our word for it. Compare us with the other designations for more information.
Who: Chartered Accountant (CA)
Where: Western CA Institutes
Web: www.becomea.CA
Who: Certified General Accountant (CGA)
800 - 1188 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, British Columbia , V6E 4A2
Web: www.cga-online.org
Telephone: 1-800-663-1529Who: Certified Management Accountant (CMA)
Who: Certified Management Accountant (CMA)
1 Robert Speck Parkway, Suite 1400
Mississauga, ON L4Z 3M3
Web: www.cma-canada.org
Telephone: 1-800-263-7622
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