You’re looking to start an accounting qualification that you hope will boost your career in the Asian financial services sector, either at the Big Four or a bank. Which one should you choose?
We’ve trawled through our candidate database for CVs in Singapore and Hong Kong that include a mainstream accounting designation, then we’ve worked out the proportion of those holding each qualification. The charts below show which qualifications are the most popular in the two cities.
The Certified Public Accountant (CPA) qualification is a common route into the Big Four in Singapore and accountants based there hold CPAs from a number of markets, in particular Australia (11.8% of the overall total), a country that is both a source of expat talent and a popular destination for Singaporean students. “Many Singaporeans study overseas and the trend now is that you complete an accounting qualification in the country you graduate in and get your first job in,” says Bien Law, a senior consultant at recruiters Marks Sattin Banking in Singapore.
If you start your accounting career in Singapore, however, you will most likely obtain the CA Singapore, run by the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA). The qualification – rebranded from the Singapore CFA in 2013, with holders of the previous designation automatically given the new one – is held by 11% of Singapore accountants on our database. ISCA membership increased by 12% between 2012 and 2014 to reach 28,530, according to figures from the institute. “Singapore CA candidates are very transferable across all accounting functions in banking in Singapore – as are people with international CPAs,” says Law.
At 36%, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) qualification is also popular in Singapore. ACCA works with 170 “approved employers” in the city state, including the Big Four and banks such as Barclays, Credit Suisse, DBS, HSBC and UOB, says Reuter Chua, head of ACCA Singapore. In January ACCA signed an agreement with Nanyang Polytechnic to allow accountancy diploma students to obtain the qualification before they graduate. “It’s such a global qualification and Singapore is such a melting pot of nationalities – we have accountants here from all over the world, especially in banking and finance – so its popularity makes sense,” adds Law.
Only 4.8% and 4.0% of accountants in Singapore and Hong Kong respectively have the ACA, the qualification awarded by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). “In Asia it’s not seen as so international as the ACCA and is mainly held by people who studied in the UK,” says a Singapore-based finance recruiter who asked not to be named. The ICAEW would not comment on its plans for the Asian market.
The number of accountants with both local and global qualifications in Singapore looks set to rise, however. Over the past 18 months ISCA has signed agreements with ICAEW, ACCA and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) to give its members fast-track access to international qualifications in addition to their CA Singapore. “The varied partnerships will contribute to the Singapore government’s effort to transform the Singapore into a leading global accountancy hub in the Asia-Pacific by 2020,” says Goh Puay Cheh, chief operating officer of ISCA.
Right now the percentages of CVs on our database with the CIMA professional qualification remain low – 4.2% in Singapore and 5% in Hong Kong – reflecting the more specialised nature of management accounting. But student numbers are on the rise – last year 230 people took the CIMA course in Singapore, up from just 50 in 2009, Andrew Harding, CIMA’s managing director, told us in January.
Hong Kong accountants show a greater preference for their local qualification than their counterparts in Singapore. At 37.3%, the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) is the most common designation, according to our database. “Most local candidates go for the HKICPA and the Big Four encourage employees to pursue the HKICPA by sponsoring study leave because the HKICPA is required for auditors to sign off on clients’ audit reports,” says Tracy Tam, associate director, banking and financial services, at recruiters Ambition in Hong Kong.
By contrast, the ACCA (22.7%) isn’t as popular in Hong Kong as it is in Singapore. “Five years ago, more accounting job seekers in Hong Kong were pursuing ACCA as non-degree holders are allowed to enter the exams,” says Tam. “But these days more and more candidates are degree holders and the HKICPA designation is a more straight-forward option for them. At banks, both an undergraduate degree and an accounting designation are now essential for any accounting positions.”
The CPA, especially from Australia (12.9%), is also an important designation in Hong Kong, although (as with all overseas qualifications) CPA holders will need to take HKICPA conversion courses if they want to work as Big Four auditors. “In the banking sector, we’ve seen some European firms prefer the ACA and Australian banks prefer the CPA Australia, especially if the hiring managers share the same designations,” says Tam.
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