ACCA Course: Full Form, Fees, Career Options and Job Roles

ACCA is short for Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. It is a UK based body and the qualification is taken in many countries. Exams are on a computer at approved centres and many Indian cities have one so you do not need to travel abroad to finish it.

Some students mix ACCA up with the certified public accountant certification from the US. They are two different bodies with two different licences. ACCA is not a US state licence and the CPA is not a UK qualification.

Most students begin straight after class 12 and school level English and maths are needed. The score you need changes with your background. Read the entry page on the ACCA website before you register. Based on your degree you may also get exemptions from a few early papers. Each exemption saves you an exam but ACCA charges a smaller fee for the exemption itself.

There are three levels. Applied Knowledge has three papers. Applied Skills has six papers. Strategic Professional has two compulsory papers and two optional ones that you pick from a short list. That makes thirteen papers in all when you have no exemptions. Alongside the papers you complete an Ethics and Professional Skills module and you need 36 months of approved practical experience before you become a member. Each paper needs 50 to pass.

ACCA charges in British pounds and the fees come in parts. You pay a one time registration fee first. After that comes a yearly subscription of around £140 and then a fee for each exam you sit. An exam costs about £119 at the first level. The top Strategic Professional papers go up to about £268. An exemption costs roughly £86 to £114 for each paper. Booking late costs a lot more and every resit means paying the full exam fee again.

Registration has been listed at £30 for India in some periods and at £89 in others so look at the current ACCA page. Add coaching and study material and the total usually lands between ₹3 lakh and ₹4.5 lakh. Sources do not agree on one number so take it as a rough range and not a fixed quote.

Most students need three to four years after class 12. Graduates with exemptions can finish sooner. Exams run four times a year in March and June and September and December.

ACCA opens doors in audit and tax and corporate finance and management accounting and risk. Big 4 firms and banks and multinational finance teams hire ACCA holders. The qualification is also well known in the UK and the Middle East and parts of Asia which helps if you plan to work abroad.

• Audit associate or senior auditor at an audit firm
• Tax consultant for companies and individuals
• Financial analyst in a company finance team
• Internal auditor who checks risk and controls
• Financial controller after several years of experience

The US CPA certification is a licence and not a university degree. Many people in India call it the certified public accountant certification and that name has stuck even though a state board issues the licence. If you are weighing it against ACCA then start with how to become a CPA from India. You pick a state board and get your degree checked by an evaluation agency like WES. Then you clear four exam sections and meet the experience rules. That is also how to get CPA certification when you live outside the US. Taking CPA certification in India is possible because Prometric centres here host the exam. The CPA course details are simple. The exam has four sections of four hours each and you need about 300 to 400 hours of study and the time limit to pass all four is 30 months in most states.

Each state sets its own rules so CPA certification eligibility is never the same everywhere. Most boards want 150 credit hours for the licence and many let you sit the exam at 120. A three year Indian degree can fall short so students add credits through a bridge course or a master’s degree. On CPA course eligibility B.Com and M.Com and MBA and CA holders can all apply once the evaluation shows enough accounting and business subjects. CPA exam eligibility is where states differ the most. Some accept international candidates and some do not and a few ask for a Social Security Number. The CPA eligibility check goes subject by subject. Put together these are the CPA certification requirements and the CPA requirements in India that you should read on your board’s page before spending any money.

Everybody takes three core sections. They are AUD and FAR and REG. Then you pick one discipline from BAR or ISC or TCP. Each section runs four hours and a score of 75 on a 0 to 99 scale is a pass. That is the CPA exam pattern in short. Under the CPA exam syllabus you study audit and US GAAP and US federal tax and business law and IT controls. Coaching institutes teach the CPA course syllabus along the same sections and give you practice sets and mock tests. The CPA certification exam is computer based. If you plan to sit for the CPA exam 2026 then note this. The current format started with CPA Evolution in 2024 and a new testing platform comes in July 2027.

Most candidates need 6 to 18 months to clear the four sections. The CPA course duration depends on your work hours and on how much you can study each week.

The base exam fee is about $263 per section and candidates in India add an international testing fee. That puts CPA exam fees at roughly $650 to $870 per section depending on the source. Degree evaluation and the board’s own charges come on top. CPA certification fees for a typical Indian candidate therefore reach several lakh rupees and one source puts the full CPA certification cost at about ₹3.5 to ₹5 lakh with coaching. A CPA certification course can be classroom or live online or recorded and CPA course fees differ a lot from one institute to another so ask each for a written breakdown.

CPA career opportunities cover audit and tax and reporting and internal audit and FP&A. CPA jobs in India cluster in Bangalore and Mumbai and Hyderabad and Delhi NCR and Pune. Freshers are often quoted a CPA salary in India of ₹6 to ₹12 lakh a year and senior roles go higher. Most of those figures come from coaching sites and they tend to lean high so check AmbitionBox and live job posts. CPA scope in India is strongest in US facing work because employers want people who know US GAAP and US tax. The licence does not replace the CA for statutory audit inside India.

Entry and eligibility

ACCA lets you begin right after class 12 and the US route does not. CPA certification eligibility starts from a degree that the board can read in credit hours. On CPA course eligibility a B.Com or M.Com or MBA or CA background works for most states. CPA exam eligibility is looser than the licence rules since many states let you sit at 120 credit hours. CPA eligibility for the final licence still means 150 hours. A school leaver finds ACCA easier to enter and a graduate can look at both.

Exam structure

ACCA has thirteen papers across three levels plus an ethics module. The CPA exam pattern is much shorter at four sections. A CPA exam syllabus leans on US GAAP and US tax and audit standards while ACCA papers lean on international standards and UK style tax and business. Your CPA course syllabus at an institute will be narrower but deeper on the US side. Passing the CPA certification exam needs 75 in each section and ACCA asks for 50 in each paper.

Time and cost

ACCA usually takes three to four years from class 12. CPA course duration is shorter for the exams but the licence also needs credit hours and experience. If you plan to sit during CPA exam 2026 keep in mind the platform change in July 2027.

ACCA fees are paid in pounds and CPA exam fees are paid in dollars so the rupee rate matters either way. After evaluation and coaching the CPA certification cost lands around ₹3.5 to ₹5 lakh and that is close to ACCA. CPA certification fees alone can look small until the international testing fee is added. CPA course fees change a lot from one institute to another so look at what each one actually includes.

Careers and pay

Both open global finance roles. CPA career opportunities lean toward US audit and tax and reporting while ACCA roles lean toward UK and Middle East style finance. CPA jobs in India sit mostly in US facing teams in the big cities. The CPA salary in India for freshers is often quoted at ₹6 to ₹12 lakh though coaching sites lean high. CPA scope in India depends on how much US work moves offshore.

ACCA is the better pick if you are finishing class 12 or you want a name that carries weight in the UK and the Middle East. The US CPA certification fits you better if you already hold a degree and want to work on US audit and tax. Whichever you lean towards read how to become a CPA on a state board page before you decide. Another common worry is how to get CPA certification without moving abroad and the answer is that Prometric centres in India host the exam. Anyone looking at CPA certification in India should also compare two states since the CPA certification requirements and the CPA requirements in India change with the board. A CPA certification course gives you structure but some people manage with self study.

The ACCA course suits students who want a long and steady path that starts early and is accepted in many countries. The US route suits graduates who want a shorter exam stretch and work that faces US clients. Put the CPA course details beside the ACCA papers and read a few real job posts before you pay for either. If you want help working out which one suits you then the team at NorthStar Academy is happy to talk it through.