CPA

Certified Public Accountant CPA is a license issued in 55 states or territories of the United States that authorizes the holder to practice as a CPA in that jurisdiction. To earn the prestige associated with the CPA license, an individual is required to demonstrate knowledge and competence by meeting high educational standards, passing the CPA exam and completing a specific amount of general accounting experience. The two most important aspects of becoming a CPA are passing the Uniform CPA Exam and meeting licensing requirements in the state where you want to practice. As for CPA eligibility, you need 120 credits to appear for CPA exam and 150 credits for CPA license. General rule: Every year of university education in India is equivalent to 30 semester credits of US education. Some state boards award credit for international professional qualifications like CA. For international CPA candidates from India, generally 3-year commerce graduates from NAAC A universities who have scored a 1 st division are awarded 120 credits.

CA Vs CPA
The Chartered Accountant course is conducted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) whereas CPA is an exam conducted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountant (AICPA). CPA course requires anywhere from 7 months to 1 year to complete. On the other hand, you need to spend at least 4 to 5 years to complete your Chartered Accountant course. CA is a reputed qualification in India. It covers the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles prevalent in India, known as IND-AS. CA license holders have good career prospects in India. Comparatively, CPA is a global qualification that covers International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the US (USGAAP). CPA provides accounting professionals with a wide range of career opportunities in the US and various other major countries of the world especially in multi-national companies that originate or operate from the US soil. To take the CPA exam, you need to have a B.Com degree with 1st class or a B.Com degree along with a postgraduate degree. You can also appear for the exam if you have a B.Com degree and an Indian CA qualification. Further, you need to have at least one years experience of working in the Accounting and Finance industry to apply for a CPA license. For pursuing CA course, you need to take the Common Proficiency Test (CPT) after completing your senior secondary education, and there is no mandatory requirement of a degree. However, to apply for a CA license, one needs to have at least three years of article-ship experience in an accounting firm. CPA is an online exam with 4 sections which are Auditing and Attestation, Business Environment and Concepts, Financial Accounting and Reporting and Regulation. However, after you pass the first exam a time limit of 18 months applies to pass the other three exams. The CA has a three-stage exam process with 21 subjects overall. The first stage is the Common Proficiency Test which has 6 exams. Second stage is known as the Integrated Professional Competence Course with 7 exams and the third stage is Final examination which has 8 exams to clear. To clear each CPA exam, you need to score above the 75th Percentile to pass the exam. On the other hand, you can clear a CA exam if you score 40% or more in it with a cumulative average of 50% or more during IPCC or Final Exam stages.

Both CPA and ACCA are premier accounting degrees from the USA and UK, respectively. Both are equivalent to the CA qualification in India. The Key difference between CPA and ACCA is the GAAP they specialize in. CPAs are considered experts in USGAAP (used by companies listed on NYSE), while ACCAs work with UK GAAP (used by companies listed on LSE). Both accountants are considered equally well versed with IFRS (widely used in Europe). Another major comparison point is the number of exams, while ACCA has up to 16 subjective style exams, CPA only has 4 objective style exams. ACCA may take multiple years to complete, whereas most people can complete CPA in one year. However, this difference in style of testing doesn't result in a difference in salary. Both accountants get paid comparably and being a CA on top, surely adds value.