Accountancy

[KobeBryant]

hi, everyone
i am very interested in accounting and actuarial science and since the actuarial science thread has been set up , so this thread is dedicated to accounting

i am a pure science students but took "prinsip akaun" in my SPM 2003. At the moment , i just know some professional bodies like ACCA , MICPA , CIMA and CPA . Is there anyone studying accounting here ? i would like to know more about this profession.I notice that there are lots of accounting students who are not very well-versed with the pathway after obtaining their accounting degree

the ultimate aim for accounting students is to become a chartered accountant ? how is the pathway leading to the designation " chartered accountant" ? ermm.....after u get an accounting degree, u can take the ACCA exams ?? there are how many papers altogether ? like MMU , the uni is awarded exemptions for 9 paper which is the highest in Malaysia Universities.

It seems that even students who have an australian degree also do ACCA exams?? What is the CPA ?? then how about MACPA ? are these 2 professional bodies not as highly rated as the ACCA ??

Can anyone out there who is very knowledgeable and well-versed with all these helps me to clarify my queries. Pls enlighten me

Thank you very much

[KobeBryant]

who can answer my questions ?

[lilet]

Hi~! I took Prinsip Akaun too though seriously, I don't really know what is it talking about cause I wasn't really interested in doing Accounting in the first place. I only know a little, the basic parts only, about Accounting.

At the moment , i just know some professional bodies like ACCA , MICPA , CIMA and CPA .
I only know about ACCA and CIMA, the other 2 not so sure... =) As far as I know, ACCA is more to the Accounting area whereas CIMA is more to the Management Accounting area, true to what they stand for... =) On which one to choose, it largely depends on preference...

ermm.....after u get an accounting degree, u can take the ACCA exams ?? there are how many papers altogether ?
Huh? If I am not wrong, a person doesn't need to have an Accounting degree before taking ACCA. My ex-classmate from SPM 2003 is doing ACCA right now... =) How many papers? I used to have all the details but unfortunately, it's not stored in my brain memory. =) I think it should be about 14 or 16, in which there will be a test every 6 months and the max you can take is 4 papers each time so the minimum time to fully pass ACCA is 2 years. Hopefully, I am not wrong~! =)

I didn't really take Accounting into consideration when deciding what to apply for JPA or whatsoever that has to do with my future. Actuarial Science yes, but I suck at Add Maths~! =) Anyway, the furthest that I've ever got to do about accounting stuff is only LCCI. In case you don't know, LCCI stands for London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Usually, many students will opt to take the Third Level LCCI Diploma in Accounting before they go further to either ACCA or CIMA. This course lasts one year and the minimum number of subjects to take is 3, which of course, includes Accounting. Rest of the subjects are Management Accounting, Cost Accounting, Business Statistics (important especially in Actuarial Science) and Advanced Business Calculations (also called ABC, which is true to its name, this subject is quite kacang putih compared to our Add Maths~!).

To KobeBryant, if you really are that interested in Accounting, it's really quite worthwhile to try out LCCI though I guess it's quite late now since JPA results are about to come out already. It will give you an intro to Accounting, though not at a deep level... =)

That's all I can help. Hope that it's not just crap~! =)

[KobeBryant]

hi , lilet
u r now studying in singapore under ASEAN scholarship ?

about ACCA , yeah..i know that there are altogether 14 papers to be taken........
but why everybody just talks about ACCA when it comes to accounting ? most ppl know only ACCA , but not MACPA , CPA Australia....

[lilet]

Yup.. I am in Singapore right now... =)

why everybody just talks about ACCA when it comes to accounting ? most ppl know only ACCA , but not MACPA , CPA Australia....

Haha.. this one I dunno cause I am also one of the 'everybody' you were mentioning about. What's MACPA and CPA for by the way?

[KobeBryant]

actually , there is a regulatory body for accountants in every country. in malaysia , it is the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA).
no one can hold himself out or practise as an accountant unless he is registered with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). u can only call urself an accountant if u are a member of MIA.

There are 2 ways to become an chartered accountant.the MIA recognises only Accounting degree from local universities , so if u are a accounting graduate of local unis like UM , UKM , UUM , UPM etc , u can register directly with the MIA. For degrees other than these unis , the students can only register with MIA through some recognised professional associations. ACCA , actually , is only one of the many professional bodies. since MIA doesn't recognise accountancy degrees other than our local unis , accounting students must be the member of professional associations to be recognised by MIA . by this way , they are also members of MIA


below is the professional bodies that are recognised by MIA :

Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA)
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA)
CPA Australia
Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand
Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants
Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)

the reason ppl knows only ACCA is because ACCA is highly regarded worldwide and it is also the biggest professional body.
however , ACCA is only one of the many qualifications for accountants. u can still be an accountant by other routes

for more information , pls go to http://www.mia.org.my/main/

thank you..i hope that u guys can gain some knowledge from my post