The CA and CPA are fantastic accounting qualifications that can give your career a competitive edge. But how do you choose which one to study?
Robert Half asked two senior finance leaders – one a Chartered Accountant (CA); the other a Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) – about why they chose their qualification, the skills they gained and what it’s offered their careers.
For an employee looking to make the next step in their career, both Black and Shapter agree that any accountant with a CA or CPA have a competitive edge over those without one.
“Either postgraduate accountancy qualification is invaluable in a competitive employment market,” Black says. “Both can give a student the ability to work for many different organisations, not just professional services simply because the skills they learn are transferable to other industries.”
“In my experience, employers are increasingly considering a post-grad qualification a prerequisite for shortlisting candidates.”
Likewise, Shapter says employees with a postgraduate accountancy qualification are looked on favourably by businesses. Employees with these qualifications tend to drive efficiencies and improvements in a company’s systems and processes. “I believe qualified employees can have more exposure to the many aspects in an organisation than most other employees in a company,” says Shapter.
When it comes to separating the two qualifications, there are some distinct differences.
If you would like to specialise in a particular technical function, then a Chartered Accountant qualification is a good choice. It can help you move into a financial controller or CFO-type role later in your career.
The CA course content is geared heavily toward auditing and tax matters and, from a technical perspective, those that obtain a CA qualification are better prepared to handle the more complex accounting issues. According to Black, the knowledge he gained from his CA qualification has been applicable on a practical level nearly every day of his career. “The knowledge, insight and applied practice you gain is invaluable.”
In addition, Black says he chose the CA because he was working within a Big Four firm, which offered the Chartered Accountant qualification as part of his career development. “Often businesses encourage their employees to upskill themselves with a post-grad qualification. The company as a whole will benefit from the outcome in the long run with a more knowledgeable and efficient team.”
On the flipside, students wanting a broader focus on more varied accounting skills, such as costing, production, marketing and planning should opt for a CPA.
“A CPA can open many doors to many exciting industries around the world,” says Shapter. “You will become an active partner in the success of the company and a CPA will teach you how to diversify your thinking. This can lead to a career path in more management or innovative sectors of a business.”
For Shapter, the draw of diversifying his skills was one of the primary reasons he chose a CPA. “Rather than specialising in internal/external audit, I wanted to be more creative and collaborative in contributing to the success of the organisation. For me, a CPA seemed to fit better for this career path.”
In addition, Shapter says the CPA made him realise that accountants can have real impact on a business’ performance. A case in point, Shapter says the knowledge he gained from his CPA allowed him to restructure the company’s reporting.
“[I] implemented a new type of reporting based on customer and product profitability. I then aligned this reporting back against key assets to determine various returns and profitability mix. The amount of good decisions this led to was amazing. [Having a CPA] truly helped me - technically and motivationally - in looking at more strategic reporting that would help to shape an organisation.”
