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
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