CA vs CPA (US) vs CPA (Canada)

CPA means Certified Public Accountant. In countries such as USA, Canada, Australia, the accountants are known as a CPA. The US CPA qualification allows a professional to become a CPA who can practice in their state in USA and work as a CPA professional across the world.

Every company requiring to comply with the rules and regulations set by authorities in the USA, which is basically every MNC hailing from the US, needs US CPAs in their company to do the same. CPA scope in India and across the world is increasing as long as US companies keep expanding. A US CPA can practice in their US state and work as a CPA professional across the world in the domains of Tax, audit, finance, accounting advisory, business consulting and much more.

One of the biggest advantages of CPA is global mobility. CPA allows a professional to work across the world in any company requiring to follow US GAAP. 

The choice between which course to do simply depends upon the career path for any professional. The accounting world has two main pillars having international acceptance, IFRS (ACCA) which is followed by more than 180 countries and US GAAP (CPA) which is followed by every company having to comply with US Regulations. The scope for both is tremendously high in both India and internationally. CPA is better if a professional wants to upskill on their existing qualifications with something of a global pedigree. 

CA consists of 3 levels with over 20 papers to be completed over the course of 5 years. On the other hand, CPA has 4 levels that can be completed within a year.

Unfortunately, ACCA, CFA and CMA do not provide any credit for CPA eligibility.

CPA In India has seen a growing scope over the last few years with several US-based multinational companies setting shop in India.

B. Com gives you a total of 90 credits and to qualify for the CPA exam you need 120 credits but there are certain states which allow you to sit for CPA exam even with 90 credits provided you sign an undertaking that you will meet the balance credits within 18 months of appearing for the first paper. 

Considering that a candidate has an 18 month window to complete all 4 parts of the exam, CPA can generally be completed within one year.

The average salary for a CPA fresher in India begins from 7 lakhs per annum.

The CPA exam requirements vary by state jurisdiction. Every state board of accountancy has a different set of requirements, but most states have a core set of qualifications for a candidate to be eligible for the CPA exam.

Below are the requirements to obtain CPA license:

• • In general, many states ask for 150 credit hours in some specific courses from a university or an accredited institute under NASBA.
• • The candidate should pass the Ethics exam.
• • Must have 2,000 hours of work experience in taxation, auditing, accounting and management consultancy.
• • Age limit: 18+ years.

As a rule of thumb, you need a graduation degree to pursue CPA. Thereby, CPA cannot be pursued after 12th. 

This decision majorly depends upon where you are in your academic journey, as the eligibility criteria for both are very different. If you have are fresh out of School (XII) & you wish to pursue a career in an accounting career in India then a CA is ideal. But, if you are someone who is already in your undergraduate/postgraduate or are a working professional, a CPA is definitely the better option where you just need to invest 1 year in completing 4 Papers & gain global opportunities as well!

The CPA designation is the apex F&A designation. You will be an in-demand professional in countries such as the USA, Canada, Middle-East & now even in India as most of the top American MNCs have their operations & clientele in India now!

A three-year undergraduate degree will give you a total of 90 credits which is sufficient to sit for the CPA exams provided you sign an undertaking stating that you will be completing the remaining 30 credits (with an M.Com/MBA) within 18 months of appearing for the first CPA exam. 

With training with top-quality exclusive CPA-qualified faculty, you can complete your CPA exams within 12 months at Zell!

A CPA license is the final step in your CPA journey, after which you can start practicing & even operate your own accountancy/audit/consulting firm.

• The Candidate should be 18+ Years
• The Candidate should have cleared all 4 CPA Papers
• The candidate should have met the 120 Hour Academic Credits requirement (150 Credits in a few states)
• The Candidate should clear an Ethics exam held by AICPA
• Lastly, the candidate should have 12 months of work experience in Accounting/Auditing/Management Consulting which should be signed off by a licensed CPA
  

*Fun Fact: At Zell, we have licensed CPA faculty & alumnus, who would be more than happy to sign you off as a CPA!

A fresher CPA can expect anywhere between ₹ 6-7 Lakhs as a starting salary & abroad, the global average salary of a fresh CPA is $66,000!! 
And of course, these numbers are just to start with & as you progress in your career, the sky’s the limit!

Unfortunately, the AICPA requires you to be a graduate to pursue CPA!
But if you are keen on pursuing accounting & finance qualifications you should definitely consider an ACCA or a CMA, both of which can be pursued after 12th & are top international accounting & finance qualifications!

The exams are conducted 8 out of 12 months in a year, whereby a student can schedule the exam at their convenience in advance and appear for them. The exam months are: January, February, April, May, July, August, October, November.

CPA enjoys a high passing rate, with the 2020 pass rates ranging from 49-52% for papers like FAR and AUD and 65% for BEC and REG.

You can write all 4 CPA exams in any attempt, provided you have registered for them and have received the notice to schedule (NTS).

CPA exams are 4-hour long computer-based exams consisting of various MCQ Based Simulation.

CPA exams have a 50-50 weightage of MCQ Based Simulation. The no. of MCQ Based Simulation is informed and is variable per paper, but there is no specific marking per question. You need to score more than 75 in order to consider the paper cleared.

The CPA Exams are administered by AICPA, the world's largest accounting body. AICPA offers membership to all the aspirants successfully clearing all 4 CPA exams. CPA license, however, is issued by the 55 state boards of accountancy of the US that are part of NASBA. Each state board has different eligibility criteria that the aspirant needs to meet to take the US CPA exams.

• • Master's Degree in any of the streams of Commerce, Accounting or Finance
• • An aspirant needs 120 credits to take the US CPA exams and 150 credits to get his CPA license
• • It's considered that one year of university education in India is equal to 30 credits of US education
• • In some cases, first division graduates of a three-year degree from NAAC-A accredited universities of India are qualified to take the US CPA exams too.
  

There is no score set by the board to pass CPA. However, as a rule of the thumb, it is advised to score above 75 or higher in each subject to have a better chance of passing CPA.

There is no negative marking for CPA examinations.

There are 4 sections of the CPA exam and each of these 4 sections are tested for 4 hours each.

Unfortunately, there are no exemptions available for CAs.

Yes, a candidate must complete all the 4 parts of the CPA exam within 18 months of appearing in the first paper that the candidate has passed.

The Notice to Schedule (NTS) is your notification that you may begin scheduling your examination with Prometric. It is a Hall ticket. NTS is issued in 2-4 weeks of exam application at the CPA Central.

The NTS is valid for 6 months.

Yes, if you have appeared for the exams outside the USA you will have to take your CPA license within 3 years from the date of clearing your last CPA exam, or else your credits will lapse!
If you are appearing for the CPA exam within the USA, you have 10 years to do the same. 

Yes, a candidate needs to complete all CPA papers within 18 months after appearing for the first exam. Failing which, the result of the first exam will lapse & candidate will have to reappear for the lapsed exam.

An NTS (Notice To Schedule) is basically a notification that states that you may now begin to schedule your examination. It is basically like a hall ticket that we use to get for our board exams & the NTS will be issued in 2-4 weeks after your application on CPA Central. Your NTS will be valid for 6 months.

No! There are no negative markings for wrong answers in the CPA exam!

There is no official passing score set by the AICPA, however, with our experience, we can tell you that as a rule of thumb, a 75+ score in every exam would be ideal to pass the CPA exams!

Let us make it extremely simple for all of you future CPAs!
To be eligible for CPA a candidate needs a total of 120 Academic Credits in graduation
To put that into perspective for Indian Candidates, a candidate must’ve completed/ pursuing:

B.Com/BAF/BBI/BFM/BBA/BMS (90 Credits)
                                          +
An M.Com/MBA/ CA (Making up for the remaining 30 Credits!

Get in touch with our CPA experts to get personalized solutions for your eligibility!

4 Hour Exam (50% MCQ - 50% Simulation): FAR, AUD, REG
4 Hour Exam (50% MCQ, 35% Simulation & 15% Written) : BEC

You can give as many papers as you want to & that too in any order! This ensures & gives the candidate a lot of flexibility to prepare according to your strengths!
*At Zell we recommend you to give 1 exam each at a time & give your 100% effort on each paper, this will ensure that you complete all 4 papers within 12 months!

The best part about CPA exams is that they are on-demand exams that can be given in 8 out of the 12 months in a year (Jan, Feb, Apr, May, Jul, Aug, Oct, Nov) giving the candidates the required flexibility!

At Zell, we boast a CPA pass rate of more than 80!, which compared to the global average  (50% for FAR & AUD) & (60% for REG & BEC) is much higher!

CPA fees vary based on location of exam. If you’re giving the exam in US, you have to pay $250 for Evaluation and $238 per exam for 4 exams. If you are giving the exam outside the US, there is an additional fee of $1486 which is payable to facilitate the exam coming to your country. On top of this, the fee payable to a tutor is also to be considered. For Indian students, the overall fee can range from 3.2-3.6 lakh rupees.

CPA fees vary based on the location of the exam. If you're giving the exam in the US, you have to pay $250 for Evaluation and $238 per exam for 4 exams.
If you are giving the exam outside the US, there is an additional fee of $1486 which is payable to facilitate the exam coming to your country. On top of this, the fee payable to a tutor is also to be considered. 
For Indian students, the overall investment would be ₹ 3,20,000, which can be recovered in less than a year post successful completion of CPA with starting salaries of CPAs ranging from ₹ 6,00,000- ₹ 7,00,000 per annum in India itself! 

None! The AICPA has a Mutual Recognition Agreement with the Canadian CPA body, through which a licensed US CPA can also get their CPA Canada without any additional exams! 

Through a mutual recognition agreement (MRA), qualified professional accountants from another country can practice in the United States without having to completely re-credential. Similar recognition is given to U.S. CPAs who wish to practice in that same country.

To obtain the Canadian CPA designation, eligible U.S. CPAs must register with the appropriate provincial/regional CPA Canada body by:

• Completing the International Candidate Application Form and sending it to the provincial/regional CPA Canada body to which you intend to apply;
• Completing the Certification of Membership with US State Board form;
• Providing confirmation that you are a U.S. CPA in good standing with your Home Institute; such confirmation must be provided by the Home Institute directly to the provincial/regional CPA Canada body;
• Providing proof of your legal name as evidenced by acceptable government-issued documentation;
• Providing a detailed chronological resume listing all relevant work experience;
• paying the appropriate fee as determined by the applicable provincial/regional CPA Canada body;
• Completing any additional requirements as prescribed by the applicable provincial/regional CPA Canada body.