The guide to exemptions in other finance courses if you are a CA student or CA qualified.

Before we begin, if you haven't read my blog on the top 5 finance degrees, I highly insist you guys to read it and then proceed reading this blog. I've outlined the best finance degrees which are well paying and have global recognition. 

The CA exams, being one of the toughest courses in the country is not definitely easy to crack but one of the most welcomed and respectable professions. 

If you are a CA student or completed the course, you've landed at the right place. 

In order to expand your skillset and explore opportunities globally, you can prefer to add up additional finance courses to your profile. 

A lot of global institutions offer wide exemptions to Indian CAs and these courses are heavy in demand in India and abroad. 

1. ACCA 

    ACCA can be the best global course to pursue, in addition to CA. The course also recognises Indian CA greatly and offers a number of exemptions if you have completed CA IPCC\INTER or CA in full. 

The course has totally 14papers to be attempted. 

EXEMPTIONS:

If you have completed CA IPCC\INTER you get a total of 5papers exempted, but if you are a fully qualified CA, then you get 9papers exempted. 

FEES FOR EXEMPTIONS:
Exemptions are not offered free, you will have to pay fees for each exemption to avail them. 
 For the knowledge level you pay GBP 80 and for the skill level, it's GBP 106 per exemption. 
Apart from the exemption, you'll have to pay initial registration fees of GBP 79 and an annual subscription of GBP 112 to keep the registration active. 
You can find answers to all FAQs here. 

2. CFP
    As I mentioned in my earlier blog , CFP requires CA IPCC\INTER students as well as qualified CAs to appear for just 1 paper which is Advanced Financial Planning. 

FPSB requires you to register as a challenge status candidate first, and then asks you to attest certain documents for the board to verify. 

Once your registration is verified by the board, you'll be required to pay US$300 as registration fee after which you can apply and write the exam. 

3. CPA(US)
    Now this course is specifically popular amongst the CA fraternity, as many students consider it to be easy after qualifying CA. Students who have written CPA and CA claim that CPA after CA was easier than the 3 levels in CA. 

 Since 2012, the AICPA has stopped giving direct exemptions to CAs since it has changed the interpretation of the CA qualification. But still this course is in more demand to be pursued after CA. 

Unlike CA, CPA doesn't have any extrance exams. All the 4 exams are MCQ based with no negative marking. Ofcourse you require some industry exposure as the pass mark itself is 75. It roughly takes about 18months to complete the course fully. 
The cost to complete the course comes to $4400 approx. 

4. CS & CMA(India)

    CS with CA is extremely popular among Indian students and mainly because of the ease of study. Very recently ICSI has made a change in the entrance to the CS executive course by including CSEET(CS executive entrance test).

ICSI no longer provides exemption to entry into CS executive to CA CPT\Foundation\Inter cleared students. CSEET is a complete replacement to the foundation course. It is mandatory to even graduates to take up CSEET. 

The good news is that, ICSI offers exemption from CSEET to a fully qualified CA\CMA on payment of a fees of ₹5000. 

  On the other hand , the ICWAI doesn't offer entry to the CMA INTER exams on completion of the CA CPT\Foundation. One has to appear for the CMA foundation exams as well. But if a student has qualified the CA IPCC\INTER, CMA offers direct entry into CMA INTER exams. 

5. MOUs with various countries. 
     ICAI has signed many MOUs with alot of different countries which are already listed in the institute's website. To list a few, ICAI has signed MOUs with The Institute of England and Wales, Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, South African Institute of chartered accountants (SAICA) and more. 

Note: 

If you are undergoing your CA articleship and pursuing any other course in addition during that period, ICAI requires you to fill in FORM 112 with the supporting documents. 

This is compulsory and not optional. Failing to upload Form 112 may lead to future consequences. 

All the courses that I've mentioned above are a few to name, but there are a wide arena of courses which you can take up.

Be it any professional course you pursue, gain maximum field exposure as possible, develop greater skills and then monetary credits are sure to follow :)

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