₦airaland Forum

optimusmind:
There have been much discussion on which professional qualifications a person seeking a career path in accounting and finance should have.
While the ACCA is an international body with more recognition, there are certain reasons while one may chose to write ICAN over ACCA.
I hope to shed some light why it may be better to write ICAN instead ACCA.

1. Cost of examination.
The ACCA exams has always been more expensive than the ICAN exams, however with the recent increase in Dollars against naira, the fee is even higher than ever.
Currently the average price per course is £80 oughly N35000 and you may have to write up-to 3 courses per diet if you want to finish on time. ICAN, the maximum you'd ever pay is N70,000 and that is for the maximum number of courses ( 6 courses),other times you'd pay N40,000 to N55000 for all your courses. So if you have a slim budget, it may be in your advantage to write the ICAN exams.

2. Availability of Resources
For the ACCA exams, the resources at your disposal is someworth limited. Firstly, only few tuition houses are accredited to prepare students for the exams. Also, the study material has to be purchased online and paid for in pounds, another additional cost. For ICAN however, the resources needed are readily available online and offline. And there are a lot of books for purchase to make studies easier.

3. Statutory recognition.
In Nigeria presently, only ICAN and ANAN has been given the charter to audit reports. So despite having the ACCA qualification, you still cannot sign and approve financial statements unless you are a member of ICAN, which would mean you coming back to write the ICAN exams. I know there are a lot of exemptions. However, isn't it double cost if you still come back and pay for the same ICAN exams again? The basic advantage of ACCA is the recognition in the private sector. But in term of statutory audit, or even public sector, you still need ICAN to climb higher

4. Easier to pass
It is generally easier to sit for and pass ICAN. It is common to see individuals who seat for the ICAN exams and pass every thing in one sitting. Truth be told, ACCA is setting the standard which ICAN follow. So if your goal is to become a chartered accountant as soon as possible with lesser stress you are better of writing ICAN instead of ACCA.

5. Patriotism
We always complain our county is bad and not progressing, yet we constantly leave our home made things and go for foreign ones. These two bodies are serving the same purpose. Therefore, there's no need leaving the one of our mother land for preference for a foreign body. It pays to be patriotic and promote the affairs of our own country.

Conclusion
With the harmonization of accounting standard and Nigeria adopting IFRS, there is no difference between the two bodies. Basically they have Very similar course outline cutting through virtually the same area. The gap between the two bodies have greatly been closed. Also, ICAN is an international qualification and recognized in a lot of other countries.

Good luck in your career

Perfectdanny:
I'm an undergraduate geography student. Can i write ICAN or ACCA after i graduate?

optimusmind:
There have been much discussion on which professional qualifications a person seeking a career path in accounting and finance should have.
While the ACCA is an international body with more recognition, there are certain reasons while one may chose to write ICAN over ACCA.
I hope to shed some light why it may be better to write ICAN instead ACCA.

1. Cost of examination.
The ACCA exams has always been more expensive than the ICAN exams, however with the recent increase in Dollars against naira, the fee is even higher than ever.
Currently the average price per course is £80 oughly N35000 and you may have to write up-to 3 courses per diet if you want to finish on time. ICAN, the maximum you'd ever pay is N70,000 and that is for the maximum number of courses ( 6 courses),other times you'd pay N40,000 to N55000 for all your courses. So if you have a slim budget, it may be in your advantage to write the ICAN exams.

2. Availability of Resources
For the ACCA exams, the resources at your disposal is someworth limited. Firstly, only few tuition houses are accredited to prepare students for the exams. Also, the study material has to be purchased online and paid for in pounds, another additional cost. For ICAN however, the resources needed are readily available online and offline. And there are a lot of books for purchase to make studies easier.

3. Statutory recognition.
In Nigeria presently, only ICAN and ANAN has been given the charter to audit reports. So despite having the ACCA qualification, you still cannot sign and approve financial statements unless you are a member of ICAN, which would mean you coming back to write the ICAN exams. I know there are a lot of exemptions. However, isn't it double cost if you still come back and pay for the same ICAN exams again? The basic advantage of ACCA is the recognition in the private sector. But in term of statutory audit, or even public sector, you still need ICAN to climb higher

4. Easier to pass
It is generally easier to sit for and pass ICAN. It is common to see individuals who seat for the ICAN exams and pass every thing in one sitting. Truth be told, ACCA is setting the standard which ICAN follow. So if your goal is to become a chartered accountant as soon as possible with lesser stress you are better of writing ICAN instead of ACCA.

5. Patriotism
We always complain our county is bad and not progressing, yet we constantly leave our home made things and go for foreign ones. These two bodies are serving the same purpose. Therefore, there's no need leaving the one of our mother land for preference for a foreign body. It pays to be patriotic and promote the affairs of our own country.

Conclusion
With the harmonization of accounting standard and Nigeria adopting IFRS, there is no difference between the two bodies. Basically they have Very similar course outline cutting through virtually the same area. The gap between the two bodies have greatly been closed. Also, ICAN is an international qualification and recognized in a lot of other countries.

Good luck in your career

kunlexyfred:
U will be writing the last stage that comprises 5papers....... If an ACCA member wants to go for ICAN too, he/she has just 3papers to write

ebonyeyes88:
happy birthday dear

kunlexyfred:
Thanks so much for the message.. I really appreciate.
Hope u wrote d last diet ..

ebonyeyes88:
diet how you mean?

kunlexyfred:
Oh.... Sorry... I suppose u are a student of ACCA or ICAN , considering d section u posted ur goodwill message.

ebonyeyes88:
no sir, I was just scrolling down the page n saw all the birthdays for today and decided to give random people with birthdays a shout out...

Mustay:
I initially did not want to respond to this thread but just so you do not misinform people, I have decided to login on a PC to clarify:




True, with the FX instability, ICAN is the cheaper option. Even ACCA recognises this as they have a special rate for the Nigerian students. Students from other countries (particularly African and Asian) too also complain about FX and its effect on writing the examinations.

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This is totally false. First, you digress when you move from availability of resources to availability of tuition houses. Compared to about ten (10) years ago, the tuition houses you have for ACCA have improved. With the exams getting more popular and Nigerians dissing ICAN for ACCA, ICAN had to change their policy on exemptions etc. There are sites when you can get resources for ACCA online free ( and I am not referring to hacking or pirated materials). True that the fact that it is in pounds affects the cost of buying original study materials but there are definitely MUCH MORE resources online (videos, discussion forums, tutor support, revision notes and audio lectures) than ICAN. A google search will easily discard this point as irrelevant. More so, I know some ICAN students who could not afford materials and had to photocopy - everyone's situation is different. The most important thing is to maximise the resources you have - eg borrow materials from those who wrote a previous diet and the likes.

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You are right here; I stated this previously but like I also mentioned, if you think of migrating abroad, don't make this mistake. If ICAN learns from the likes of the Pakistani body, you would see much recognition internationally. I will just ask you to do a simple search online on international job boards or recruitment agencies and you'd easily see ACCA there. Though North America usually has its own specifics, this is where conversion and exemption makes sense. When you know what CPA students for example go through, you will appreciate the cost of exemptions. I guess you are yet to really ask yourself why "the basic advantage of ACCA is the recognition in the private sector" exists.

When you refer to 'climbing higher' in the public sector, ANAN is the easy way out. That's why you find public officials choosing the route and still achieving career growth in the public sector.

As far as I am concerned, what you do with your certificate is the most important. Most times, people who have all these certifications earn it for a particular purpose, after two - three years without relevant practise or continuous professional development, you are as good as a novice.

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This is one fallacy accountancy students fall for. In reality, no one cares how hard your exam although there is a notion that the harder the exam, the more respected it is but what is the purpose of an exam? Knowledge is not meant to be for a select few even though we need regulations for members. I see students from India, Pakistan etc too argue about this too - they even venture into CFA being less harder than the equivalent they have. Guy, everyone has his or her own story - something about professional examinations students fail to realise is this, EXECUTION takes precedence over PREPARATION. Sounds funny right Most times, students read and even cram the study material but their delivery during the examination often fails them. So you can have an average student passing at one sitting and an exceptionally brilliant student stumbling.

I also do not support this ASAP ideology of yours. At the end, you will get the designation but like I wrote earlier, it is what you do with any certification or knowledge that matters the most. We are certificate crazy in this country because it seems to boost our profile whereas globally, people seek competency. A situation where ICAN examiners will set examination questions from topics not in a syllabus or where they do not do thorough review of questions (e.g MCQ questions) leaves a lot to be desired.

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Nothing to say here. I believe in options anyway and once again, it is not about sentiments. The Pakistani and Indian accountancy bodies are very strong, we can learn from them too. I'd support the Nigerians bodies over any foreign body if we ensure quality and standards.




Can we have a list of these countries and the idea of how easy it is to convert a foreign CA to the countries? Let's start with W.Africa first.

The edge ACCA has here even in territories where they are less popular is PARTNERSHIP, Without that, the members are as good as 'abandoned'.

destinel:
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scobaba:
I agree with you on Number 1. With the foreign exchange hike, ACCA is not an exam you want to writr and fail.

You are not Correct about no 2. You can buy materials from tuition houses, also ACCA is one exam you can get complete free text and hand outs on line. I wrote and passed P1 n P3 with just the free online material from opentuition.com

Statutory Recognition... You are correct if you want to go into full time audit. However most firms with International affiliation will always give kudos to those wih ACCA. I have ICAN, after i got my recent job with it, my finance manager ( a white) still advised me to go for ACCA as it would afford me the chance of Cross Country posting when there is space.

No 4: Easier to pass.... Is relative. In both exams, if you dont read hard and well, you will fail. I have friends who left Ican for Acca after failing Ican but still dint pass Acca and vice versa. Hard work is a factor common to both.

Finally Patriotism.... whateva that means when academics is concerned.
Its like telling me to choose between a scholarship to do masters in Harvard and another scholarship to do in UNiversity of Nigeria... Oga check am.

EyinjuGod:
Hello all...
Please is ACCA recognised in US?
And for Nigeria,what's the cost of registering for ACCA, plus the cost of foundational exam.
And lastly, who knows a good ICAN/ACCA tutorial centre at yaba, Sabo area.
Thanks

tunlex01:
Yes, ACCA is recognised but may not the best for US.
Check ACCA website for registration fees for Nigeria.
For ACCA center, check Ivy league at Birrel Avenue, Sabo, Yaba (behind Fidelity Bank).

See images before for US

Karac:
Ican na scam abeg. They are after what they can get from members and not what they can offer. They offer nothing. a lot of members are unemployed or underpaid, and yet ican threaten them on delisting because of non-payment of annual subscription fee. They do not think of how to protect the interests of their members but their own. Generally, Nigeria na scam. So pathetic!