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ACCA and CPA Accountancy Path

The route to qualifying as an accountant: choosing ACCA, CPA or another body, exemptions and registration, a paper-by-paper exam plan, practical experience, membership and the first finance roles.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for ACCA and CPA Accountancy Path, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

203

Starter tasks

🧰 Professions & Trades

ACCA and CPA Accountancy Path

Qualifying as a chartered or certified accountant: choosing ACCA, CPA or another body, the exam papers, practical experience and the first finance roles.

  1. What accountants actually do each week
  2. School subjects for an accountancy route
  3. Choosing between ACCA, CPA and other accountancy bodies
  4. Exemption check against your degree or diploma
  5. Student registration with your chosen body
  6. Exam route map from first paper to qualification
  7. Funding the qualification and a fee plan
  8. Choosing a tuition provider or self-study route
  9. Exam formats and pass rules for your body
  10. Weekly study hours plan and log
  11. Exam entry calendar across sittings
  12. Question practice routine from the question bank
  13. Practical experience log and supervisor sign-offs
  14. Spaced revision cards for standards and rules
  15. Monthly technical reading routine
  16. Mistake log from practice and mock exams
  17. Study partner accountability check-in
  18. Mentors and contacts in the profession
  19. Double-entry bookkeeping refresher for newcomers
  20. Spreadsheet skills accountants use every day
  21. Reading financial statements like an examiner
  22. IFRS and US GAAP differences that matter
  23. Computer-based exam technique and timing
  24. Ethics and professional skills module
  25. Choosing and preparing for your tax paper variant
  26. Audit and assurance thinking in risks and evidence
  27. Professional writing for case study exams
  28. Accounting software and ERP basics
  29. Resit plan after a failed paper
  30. Choosing your Strategic Professional option papers
  31. Choosing your CPA discipline section
  32. Audit practice or industry for the training years
  33. Adding a degree to the professional qualification
  34. Adding a second qualification or moving between bodies
  35. Comparing first finance job offers
  36. Preparing for the next exam sitting
  37. Full timed mock exam three weeks out
  38. Results day and next paper decision
  39. First finance job applications and technical interview
  40. First ninety days as an audit or accounts trainee
  41. Membership application once exams and experience are complete
  42. School leaver route from CSEC and CAPE into accountancy
  43. Studying while working full time in finance
  44. Studying for accountancy exams with children at home
  45. Career change into accountancy in your thirties or forties
  46. Sitting US CPA exams from the Caribbean or abroad
  47. Moving abroad as a part-qualified or qualified accountant
  48. Choosing a specialism after qualifying
  49. CPD plan for your first years as a member
  50. Practising certificate and setting up in public practice

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

What accountants actually do each week

Accountancy covers very different working lives: an audit trainee visiting a client's warehouse at year end, a management accountant building the monthly budget pack, a tax adviser preparing returns in filing season, a payroll and accounts clerk at a small firm.

First tasks

  • List three people you know of who work in audit, tax or finance roles
  • Message each one asking for a twenty minute chat about their week
  • Write up what each person does, likes and dislikes about the work
  • Record your decision on whether to start a qualification this year

School subjects for an accountancy route

Students choosing CSEC and CAPE subjects, A levels, or a US high school course load can make the first professional papers easier without closing any doors. Principles of Accounts and Mathematics at CSEC, and Accounting or Management of Business at CAPE, give a head start, while a solid English grade matters more than many expect because later papers are written answers.

First tasks

  • Look up the entry requirements for two accounting degrees you might apply to
  • Check the professional body's minimum entry requirements on its website
  • Compare your CSEC, CAPE or equivalent subjects against both lists
  • Book a meeting with your guidance counsellor to confirm subject choices

Choosing between ACCA, CPA and other accountancy bodies

Recognised accountants come out of ACCA, the US CPA, CPA Canada, ICAEW's ACA and CIMA alike, but the routes differ in where they are respected, how the exams run, what experience they require and how far a member can move between countries. Across most of the Caribbean ACCA is the common route, the US CPA suits people heading to US firms or employers, and CIMA suits those set on management accounting in business.

First tasks

  • Write down the country and the kind of finance role you are aiming for
  • Collect ten local accounting job adverts and note which qualifications they ask for
  • Compare ACCA, CPA and one other body on recognition, exams, experience and cost
  • Ask your local professional institute which qualifications lead to membership there
  • Record the body you chose and why

Make it yours.

Install ACCA and CPA Accountancy Path, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.