CAT not difficult, it will spend around 1.5 year. When come to ACCA, u will start from F4. Each sitting u can take up to maximum 4 papers. But since u are part timer, I advise u take only 2 paper each sitting. When come to professional level, it is depend how much you can study. For P1 & P3, it is easier compare to other paper, so may be you can take together. Other professional paper, if you can't study too much, then you may be only take 1 paper la.

It is very difficult to estimate time for part timer. I assume you take 2 paper each sitting, you must take at least 3 yrs to finish ACCA. So ACCA + CAT will be around at least 4 to 5 years for u la.

Btw, ACCA is not easy as you think. A lot of student like u think can pass all paper in 1 sitting b4 study ACCA, but when study, they keep on fail paper. The reason was ACCA can't study hard, but neeed to study smart and work hard.

Another thing I need to tell u - To become ACCA member, you need to work at least 36 months. You must achieve all 9 Essential Performance Objectives + at least 4 options Performance Objective from the PER. So to get ACCA professional skills is not easy as per your thinking.

This post has been edited by carlosandy: Jul 17 2009, 02:38 PM

i know it's very difficult to pass the ACCA paper.that's why i need to seek as many advise as i can so i can plan it properly.by the way thanx again for your advises.it's really helpful.

bro, if u're willing to throw ur social life away for a few years i tink u dnt hav to worry about the difficult part. especially wen u're working as well @@

Doing CAT is advisable but I think the main problem lies in the "adjustment" factor.
Most that are doing CAT are quite young & if you don't mind the age gap, there is also a problem of style of learning.
For advance level, lecturers will accommodate older students with adult learning style compared to CAT which is constant practice & homework.

It is not unheard of for some that can even pass all acca papers even by themselves b4 without the need for lecturers.
Since you are matured & experienced enough you can reason better than younger students in certain technical areas.
Most papers required self reasoning & practical knowledge instead of just rote learning. The only problem is to tackle the technical part, however I can breakdown the similarity between ACCA & CAT :

TAX (T6 vs F6) : Syllabus wise is almost 90% similar so its not that detrimental even if you did not took CAT.

Costing (T7 vs F5) : Syllabus is quite similar but main difference is in way of answering which lecturer can teach you.

Audit (T8 vs F8) : Since most student ignore this optional paper in CAT & F8 is way harder than T8 don't bother about it.

Finance (T9 vs F9) : Why bother since most students tend to take this paper after few seatings of CAT (most already forget) so its not that detrimental.

Reporting (T6 vs F6) : This area is very subjective since in acca it will almost ignore all the examination of fundamental areas of T6 like debit / credit. But understanding of the basics is very important so if you want you can sit for CAT T6 first for revision (no need to take exam).

Since everybody has been stating the prudent & conservative approach of taking acca, I just illustrate the more aggresive way for you to compare. Best to approach things from both perspective.

By the way I am really interested on how accounting & engineering will help both of you together. I have a lot of engineers relative & some do diversified like yourself. But most of them turn into consultants in firms like Accenture & Hewlett Packard. They took MBA or CFA.

Dear all,
Wonder if this has been shared in the forum previously.

For those who have completed ACCA, aka ACCA Graduates..
Have u realised that the certs u hv are only the Professional and Fundamental level completion status certs?

Well, there is a Passed ACCA Finalist cert that u are entitled to..
But perhaps ACCA wants to cut down on costs fir this so they implemented a clause to obtaining this cert.

Students..now the graduates, have to fill in a status form b4 the application for this ACCA cert is obtainable.

Had a friend facing problems with her job visa application as the govt in that country wanted the Passed Finalist cert.

Ciaoz.

are f4 and f6 at KSA malaysia variant or international? Thanks.

Where can I buy Kaplan ACCA books in KL/Penang? I'm looking for P1

F4 & F6 in KSA are Malaysia variant.

You make a BIG MISTAKE also, cos there is NO international variant for law and tax paper. ACCA never provide international law & tax exam paper. Only accounting & auditing std got international stream (means F7, F8, P2 & P7)

wow, good info
would like to hear more

My lecturer has clearly indicated that he is teaching the international variant for F7 but I am not sure about F8. So I should choose international variant for F8 is it?

Engineering and Accounting is a perfect combination.
Law and Accounting will be a perfect + excellent combination. ^^

for f8, i dun think there's any big difference between int n mys variant. if i remember correctly, it's the currency n name of company tat is different oni, the rest should be the same

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Added on July 19, 2009, 8:07 pmthx for ur replies.

yesterday i went for f8 cls at 2pm(reach at 2.35pm) n i park my car in the ksa building, i wanted to go out at around 5.30pm n come in again as the parking after 5pm is rm3 but the parking was closed! as a result i go round n round n fortunately i found the parking at the UO supermarket(the McD there) is quite cheap, more than 5hrs max rm6 (shorter time different rates but more reasonable than ksa building), & after 6pm rm2 per entry! Got CCTV, n not many ppl park there coz the indian building behind KSA also full. the oni disadvantage is u hv to walk a bit to the building from KSA

hope tis can help some guys who are looking for parkings.

This post has been edited by squallyeo: Jul 19 2009, 08:07 PM

Which of the big 4 firm offers a training contract for CAT graduates to do ICAEW?
Which tax and law variant would a ICAEW trainee be examined on?

ACCA career 2009 is held at 8 august.
At first some of my friends emailed me about the absence of the list of participating companies but after I made an indirect enquiry it will be the usual career fair not just career talks as highlighted in emails.

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Added on July 20, 2009, 3:15 pmOnly BDO I think for cat. If you have degree & the employer likes you then most organization are "willing" to offer training (depends on loyalty issue). However the rule strictly states that "working & studying" together. Life in Hell for 5 long years.

This post has been edited by Topace111: Jul 20 2009, 03:15 PM

So which is better? The Malaysia or the International variant? Any advice?

I guess it will be suitable thread for me to post something here regarding a student from University of Nottingham,Malaysia.I met a friend of mine and he is a student from Nottingham,and he just graduated from the uni as an E&E first class honours student.Can you imagine what did he critize on?He said that ACCA papers are so easy which everyone should score on the paper and should not fail it.I would like mentioned,ACCA is a professional paper and qualification.Just wondering that does he qualify as an first class honours from Nottingham University?

This post has been edited by joyago: Jul 22 2009, 04:33 PM

ACCA can be easy to anyone & difficult for everyone. It just depend on how you looks at it.
There are many level / part of acca which is different from one another. Maybe your friend only looks at the fundamental & intermediate level & assume a similar upward slope for advance level.

There is a debate of ACCA difficulty but when you look at stats, facts dont lie :
Lets take IVY league at America pass rates for undergraduate degree studies : its 50% (likes of Harvard, MIT, Yale.......)
Compared to acca :
Level 1 : 60% to 70%
Level 2 : 40% to 50%
Level 3 : 30% to 40%

Of course its easy to some while its difficult for most isn't it ?
Why not ask your friend to try & see

Your friend is, with due respect, still immature despite having 1st class hons. I am a UK grad who became a member of the ICAEW and lecture ACCA part time and I can tell you, it is not easy. Becoming an professional accountant is much more difficult now because the scope is so much broader now and issues complex. I have also noticed that some university graduates suffer when they take the P levels subjects as their university did not give them as good a foundation as the fundamentals level in sitting for the P papers. A mature person should hv more humility, seems yr friend has some growing up to do.

Or alternatively, he's bloody brilliant.