Does anyone here have both certifications? I am a lvl1 canditdate and hope to take lvl 2 in June depending on whether or not I passed the dec exam. I am an accountant and I have not sat for any parts of the cpa. I would however like to take a part or two of the cpa after the June exam. Can someone here let me know how they felt the cpa was relative to the cfa exam?
Im a CPA (can you guess by my name?) I took level 2 last summer, but unfortunatly failed, oh audit busy season 
What part were you thinking about taking after level 2? BEC would be good. Prob the most overlap I think FAR would be good, since there is a lot of overlap, but this is a hard exam, you might want to concentrate specifically for this. anything in specific? you have sometype of gameplan in place?
I am a CPA - and at the very minimum CPA will help in FSA(But you will still need to think from a users perspective as opposed to a preparers perspective - which is what accountants are trained to do) - CFA is much harder.
^In your professional opinion, would a CFA charterholder finding preparing CPA exam to be challenging?
I would say yes and no. Its a hard set of exams, but being a charterholder shows more evidence that it is doable. I guess as a side note, this argument also goes to ask, can anyone pass the CFA exam if they prep long enough? maybe yes, maybe no? I think if you put in the same effort into the CFA as you would for the CPA you should be fine. I took the FRM a couple of months ago, and looking back, I feel like these exams are all similar in difficulty and the level of stress I feel. So, not sure WS if I answered your question. I would say, that if you have taken the beating from all three levels you would be a good test taker, so challenging yes. How challenging, this will depend on your history with accounting, audit, tax.
From CFA to CPA (and that includes CA, ACCA, CIMA) - I think its pretty easy if you love accounting - and the accounting exams are abit more flexible.
I planned on taking BEC or FAR in July/Auguust. I am not going to even start studying until after June because I know that L2 is a huge commitment. Im glad to hear that the CPA is not as difficult as the CFA. Do you think I can prepare for one of these parts in a month or two?
egomez83 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I planned on taking BEC or FAR in July/Auguust. I > am not going to even start studying until after > June because I know that L2 is a huge commitment. > Im glad to hear that the CPA is not as difficult > as the CFA. Do you think I can prepare for one of > these parts in a month or two? I am not able to answer that question without further information about you. But I know its possible if you are pretty descent academically. It never took me more than a month for these exams.
ok great. I would consider myself a reasonably intelligent person so I guess i can do it with a month or so study time.
ws Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ^In your professional opinion, would a CFA > charterholder finding preparing CPA exam to be > challenging? I’m a CPA and a Level III candidate. I felt that the CPA = CFA level I in difficulty. So yeah if your a charter holder or level II candidate I’d say you would been fine when sitting for the CPA. The method of study is similar, that being said you’ll still have to study hard and put in your time for each section. As far as study material I would recomend Becker (Peter Olinto is a lecturer). Becker is the same company as Stalla.
Thanks. I actually planend on taking the Stalla Lv 2 course with Olinto so thats good to know he also does CPA review
The CFA Program is much more challenging than the CPA Exam. Especially today when the candidates can sit for individual parts. When I took the exams we had to sit for all parts at one time in addition to having minimum scores in all sections. I took Level 1 in June and passed. I’d say that Level 1 would be on par to taking all four parts at one time. With the option of taking individual parts today, you shouldn’t have any problems.
I have a question for CPAs or CAs CAs/CPAs work is very different from CFAs work. How do you transfer or combine your accounting experience into finance world? Thanks.
^ Jobs like Corporate Finance Analyst, Investment Banks(M&A) and Corporate Finance Divisions of Big Four firms are suitable for CFA/CA/CPA. However, I am of the view that CFA covers more details than such positions entail and many people take the exam with a view to changing their careers to finance careers like ER, PE and Hedge Funds.
I’m a CPA and am currently studying for Level 1. I work as a Senior Accountant in an Investment Reporting and Analysis group. It’s a good blend of investment and accounting work.
JOE2010 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > From CFA to CPA (and that includes CA, ACCA, CIMA) > - I think its pretty easy if you love accounting - > and the accounting exams are abit more flexible. Comparing the CPA and ACCA designations to the CA is an insult. The CPA is a joke compared to the Canadian CA. ACCA is an inferior accounting designation at best. I find the CFA to be more flexible than the Canadian CA.
delero Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > JOE2010 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > From CFA to CPA (and that includes CA, ACCA, > CIMA) > > - I think its pretty easy if you love accounting > - > > and the accounting exams are abit more > flexible. > > > Comparing the CPA and ACCA designations to the CA > is an insult. The CPA is a joke compared to the > Canadian CA. ACCA is an inferior accounting > designation at best. I find the CFA to be more > flexible than the Canadian CA. why would you say that?
delero Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > JOE2010 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > From CFA to CPA (and that includes CA, ACCA, > CIMA) > > - I think its pretty easy if you love accounting > - > > and the accounting exams are abit more > flexible. > > > Comparing the CPA and ACCA designations to the CA > is an insult. The CPA is a joke compared to the > Canadian CA. ACCA is an inferior accounting > designation at best. I find the CFA to be more > flexible than the Canadian CA. I occassionally meet idiots from commonwealth countries with such a silly attitude such as yours. There is no accounting qualification comparable to CFA(but if thats the only thing you have studied I can excuse you). For your information, accountants(and that includes your canadian CA) understand only the top part of the balance sheet - accounts payables and accounts receivables. You need to go back to finance to understand the bottom part.
JOE2010 Wrote: > I occassionally meet idiots from commonwealth > countries with such a silly attitude such as > yours. There is no accounting qualification > comparable to CFA(but if thats the only thing you > have studied I can excuse you). I never mentioned the UFE exam (Canadian equivalent of the CPA exam) is harder than the CFA exams. I stated that the CFA program is more flexible than the Canadian CA. Unlike the CFA, you can’t just wake up one day and decide to register for the UFE exam with a Bachelor’s in History. To qualify for the UFE exam, a candidate must have 51 credit hours in certain subjects as well as obtain a position with an approved audit firm.
As a CPA, CFA, and maybe soon to be FRM (o.k. probably not… since I didn’t study): FRM>CFA>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>CPA CPA is cake. However, if you are in audit, you will have a challenge studying for both the CFA and CPA. Since busy seasons are now almost year round, you aren’t going to be able to sleep or have relationships with anybody while accomplishing the feat of CFA/CPA. Completing the CFA, meeting your firm’s mandatory CPA policy, and professionally complete workpapers won’t leave you with much of a life…but the future will be bright (pending the resurrection of the financial industry). However, acccounting sucks, if you are a CPA who is persuing the CFA, you are probably already aware of this fact. Get the hell out!