GLOBAL CAREERS FOR COMERCE GRADUATES CPA

and CMA THE ALTERNATIVE PATH!

From an Indian perspective, starting from the high school level, commerce is
arguably one of the most popular choice of academic streams the other two
being humanities and science. A graduate in commerce primarily deals in
areas like banking, marketing, accounting, corporate finance, stock markets
and the whole lot! A commerce specialist, in very simple terms, gets to
understand the inner functioning of an industry and how a specific
organization deals with money.
While pursuing commerce and accounting as a career option, an
undergraduate student comes across two primary career paths (1)
Professional qualifications in India including Chartered Accountant (CA), Cost
and Works Accountant (CWA/CMA) or Company Secretary (CS), and (2) High
education options like Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with
specialization in finance.
However, a commerce undergraduate remains rather confused and at
crossroads, at large, at this point firstly, he/she is left only with the
aforesaid two broad career options and secondly, both the choices take a
student an average of 2-4 years even beyond under-graduation to be
employable. The Indian professional qualifications have an enormous amount
of academic content, a lot of which might not be needed by a professional
and with single-digit pass rates, they can be very difficult to achieve at one
shot. The MBA path again is not advisable for an undergraduate without
having at least 3-4 years of work experience, and to have the right credibility
and exposure from MBA, the reputation of the B-school really matters.
So, the question lingers whether there are only the above two traditional
paths or can we find the third path which could be achieved faster and
which would, at the same time, provide the commerce undergraduates an
edge in the global job market?
Bingo! The solution to all these questions lies right here with US
professional qualifications like CPA (Certified Public Accountant) and
CMA (Certified Management Accountant)!
In todays world, a crucial objective of education is to be able to change not
just ones local markets, but to influence the entire world. CPAs and CMAs are
equipped with this aptitude and ability to create a difference to their
respective industries and thereby the international economy as a whole.

Thus, a commerce graduate from India can now explore US professional

certifications while taking classes from test-prep providers in India. For CPA,
candidates can take training with Indian-providers like Miles CPA Review or
franchisees of US-based providers like Becker Professional Education. For
CMA, Wiley is the global publisher for official IMA-licensed study materials.
Miles CMA Review is the official partner for IMA and Wiley for CMA training in
India.

CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT (CPA):

CPA (Certified Public Accountant) is the highest accounting qualification in
the US and is the reigning profession for public accountants all over the
world. The Uniform CPA examinations are conducted by the AICPA (American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants). In very simple terms, CPA is the US
equivalent of the Indian CA qualification.
Most Indian commerce undergraduates are eligible to take the Uniform CPA
examinations which comprises of just 4 exam parts:
(1)Financial Accounting and Regulation (FAR) covering both US
GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and IFRS
(International Financial Reporting Standards)
(2)Auditing (AUD) covering US and International Standards for Auditing
(3)Regulation (REG) covering taxation and business laws
(4)Business Environment & Concepts (BEC) covering the areas of
management accounting, financial management and other key
financial areas
The CPA exams are online exams with objective testing (multiple choice
questions and task based simulations) conducted across 8 months every
year. Indian CPA candidates need to travel to the US for a recommended
period of about 15 days to take the CPA exams. The best news here is that a
commerce student, given his dedication and commitment, can finish his CPA
coursework within a time span of one year.
Career opportunities for CPAs are far and widespread in all dimensions of the
economy. CPAs can be employed in the areas of Financial/international
accounting, Mergers & Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Assurance Services,
Financial Analysis, Taxation Planning and Control, Auditing, Governmental
Accounting, Corporate Governance et al. A CPAs starting salary in India
ranges anywhere between INR 600,000 to INR 800,000 per annum, and there
is certainly no upper limit for experienced CPAs. The Big 4 accounting firms
(which include Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PWC), financial services or consulting
firms and multinational corporations look forward to have CPAs on-board
their accounting and finance teams.

To summarize, CPA from an career perspective means 4 exams, 8001000 hours of study over 12 months, exams conducted in the US
and extensive opportunities with the Big 4 and MNCs.

CERTIFIED MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANT (CMA):

The other course that has a global advantage, ease of entry and ensures
completion within quite a short timeframe and focuses mainly on the
managerial side of an organization is CMA.
CMA (Certified Management Accountant) is the highest management
accounting qualification in the US offered by the Institute of Management
Accountants (IMA), US. CMA is the US equivalent of CMA/CWA in India and
CIMA in the UK (See table for a comparison). The CMA certification provides
students, accountants and financial professionals with an edge in the area of
management accounting and financial management. A Certified
Management Accountant is highly sought after in roles like financial analyst,
costing controller, costs and variance analyst, planning and budgeting
specialist et al
The CMA coursework is one of the easiest options available, equally to
students and working professionals. The CMA Exam is broken down into 2
exam parts:
(1)Part I Financial Planning, Performance and Control, which
includes coverage of cost and management accounting and related
topics, and
(2)Part II Financial Decision Making, which includes coverage of
financial management and related topics
The CMA exams are online exams with predominantly objective testing (75%
multiple choice questions and 25% essays) conducted across 6 months every
year. Taking the CMA pathway is very convenient for Indian candidates as the
exams can be taken in Prometric centres across India, and there is no need
to travel to the US as in case of the CPA exams. Further, the CMA coursework
may be completed in a time span of 6 months to a year.
A comparison chart as presented below helps one understand the relative
inherent merits of the CMA coursework:
CMA (US)
Credentials offered by
Institute of
Management
Accountants (IMA), US

CMA (India)
Credentials offered by
Institute of Cost
Accountants of India
(formerly ICWAI)

2 papers, single level

exams
6-12 months
Recognized in the US
and globally

20 papers, 3 level
exams
3-4 years
Recognized in India
and Middle East

CIMA (UK)
Credentials offered
by Chartered Institute
of Management
Accountants (CIMA),
UK
16 papers, 5 level
exams
3-4 years
Recognized in UK &
commonwealth

countries
Further, there is a Memorandum of Understanding between IMA, US, and
Institute of Cost Accountants of India whereby both the institutes mutually
recognize US and Indian CMAs.
Fresh CMAs earnings range between INR 400,000 to INR 600,000 per annum,
and with experienced CMAs in top management and finance positions in
companies, there is certainly no upper limit to their pay packages. Most of
the cream job opportunities for CMAs are with multi-national corporations.
To summarize, CMA from a career perspective means 2 exams, 300400 hours of study over 6 months, exams conducted in India and
extensive opportunities with MNCs.