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I do not know. You will have to look at the CFA website (or email them).
However, having studied P4 you will already have covered most of what is needed for the CFA exams.
There is no ‘best’ choice.
It really depends on whether you want to specialise in anything after you qualify (for example if you intend to be an auditor, then yes – it makes sense to choose P7. However if you want to become a tax specialist, then P6 is better 🙂 )
It also depends on how easy or difficult you found earlier papers.
An awful lot of P4 is a repeat of what you learned for F9; similarly, P7 follows on from F8.Provided that you were happy enough with F9 and with F8, the P4 and P7 are fine choices.
Hope that helps 🙂
Hi Mr John,
I kind of already know the answer to my question, but I thought there is no harm of asking!
I am planning on giving CFA exam in June 15 (provided I pass P4 in February 8 of course! – I am crossing my fingers) and I was wondering if you teach CFA and provide any online courses for CFA? Paid courses are fine with me. I can see that the subjects you teach of the ACCA qualifications are the ones that relate to CFA such as F9, P4, P5 so I thought maybe this is your area of specialty and that perhaps you provide CFA courses.
I think you are a great teacher, so I didn’t want to miss my chance by not checking before starting my CFA journey! 🙂
Maha
Sorry, but I do not teach CFA. However, the topics covered in P4 do cover a lot of the CFA syllabus and so you will not have so much extra studying to do 🙂
I think it likely that the original poster has found out by now,but for anyone else coming across this thread,it is my understanding that no exemptions are awarded in Chartered Financial Analyst examinations- each level must be passed regardless of previous qualifications.However,as has been stated,knowledge of P4 will be decidedly helpful.
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I have written the CFA level 1, no exemptions are granted for ACCA qualifications. All 3 levels must be passed. The thought that P4 will be very helpful is a common misconception however. While ACCA knowledge is very helpful, one should not get complacent as I learned the hard way when starting CFA. The CFA curriculum is very broad (6 textbooks for the level 1 exam) and the format and style is very different from ACCA. Previous knowledge such as ACCA studies is helpful, but be prepared to sweat with their curriculum no matter what.
Yes, for anyone passing by the posts, I confirm that no exemption are given, regardless of your background. Even if you have a degree in finance or whatever, you will have to sit the three levels. I know that as I already researched the CFA qualification.
@ Mr John,
It is a shame, I would have loved to study CFA with you too! 🙂
Thank you for your response, and yes, as I was going through level one curriculum , I was familiar with the subjects, I can understand what they are talking about and it is all knowledge gained from my P4 study.
Thank you
Maha
The CFA is a very challenging qualification to obtain.People would be wise to heed dirkalish’s words.The completion rate for qualification seems to be low.However,it is a very prestigious and respected qualification,perhaps in large part because it is not easy to obtain- is anything truly worthwhile in life simple?I hope people do not interpret my comments that P4 would be very useful in having prior to taking CFA the wrong way.It will still be a very tough process to obtain the qualification.The following wikipedia article gives further details-
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartered_Financial_AnalystI think P4 is useful in the sense that it gives you a REALLY good introduction to the CFA level one exam, it is the reason why I opted for P4, because I was planning to go for CFA after I am done. It is not a requirement btw to have finance background in order to register for CFA, yet I think it would have been very difficult for me if I didn’t have that background, it is certainly an advantage. Further more, a big chunk of the level one syllabus is financial reporting, so having ACCA is also an advantage.
As for the qualification being ‘VERY’ challenging, I sometimes feel there is some exaggeration around CFA. Yeah, I do think it is gonna be more challenging than ACCA (I found P4 more challenging than the other ACCA papers) but I don’t believe that CFA is THAT dificult, I think it all boils down to hard work, if you put in the required efforts, you will pass.
A large part of my coming to the conclusion that the qualification is very challenging was the wikipedia article which stated an overall completion rate of around fourteen per cent for the qualification.That together with other assorted comments I have read over time was my reason for writing very challenging.However, I know that is a raw figure and the completion rate is likely higher for people with background in finance.I also accept,Mahoysam,that you are more knowledgeable about the qualification and process than I am.
Hi mrjonbain – I certainly don’t claim to be the CFA expert or anything, I have just bought the books and I am only starting now to study for it, however, I work in an audit firm and I know a couple of CFAs, and to be honest, they are not the brightest people in the world lol 😛 I don’t mean to underestimate them, but i just don’t think there is anything special about them, they are as intelligent as my other colleagues, and two of them have passed level one and two on first attempt! I know they didn’t study much for level three and that’s why they failed!
Every time I tell anyone I am starting CFA, their first response is, it is very difficult!!! Although some of them have no idea what CFA contains in the first place (being in the audit department, their background is mostly accounting really, specifically the people who are not ACCAs, because other accounting qualifications are mostly all accounting/audit, not as diverse as ACCA), I just feel that people exaggerate or just repeat what they hear.
If I pass on 8th of Feb, i will be able to say that I passed 14 exams in less than two years while I am a full time employee too, and I am sure if someone hears me saying that, they will get the idea that ACCA is absolutely easy when this is not true, however, I know other people who spent like 6 years doing ACCA and I am sure if others hear their experience they will get the impression that ACCA is too damn difficult while this is also not true!
To be honest, it is not a matter of difficulty or being a genius, it is just a matter of being a dedicated person, focused and just have a little bit of intelligence of course 😉 That’s all!
I always say these words to every person starting such qualification, it is all about the hard work and efforts and I hope i will be able to do the needful, as I feel too lazy!
Thank you all, and wish you the best of luck!
i am also planning to sit CFA Level 1 in June 2015 provided i pass P4 offcourse.
How did you get your hands on the CFA curriculum ? Did you get yourself registered at the CFA ? Just curious.
BTW, passing P4 by just relying on opentuition would be hell of an achievement. Good Luck.
There is a lot of wisdom in what you are saying,Mahoysam.I hope you continue to use these forums when possible as you continue with your CFA and career.You have a good strategy and outlook when it comes to how to handle studying advanced qualifications.I am sure you are going to achieve a lot in your life and career.
Hi Umair – I realise my response is late, I am not sure how I totally forgot about this post. I passed P4 and P7 in February 2015 so I sat for CFA in June 15, did you sit for the exam too?
I am currently waiting for my results and I couldn’t be more pessimistic lol but still have a hope to pass! The way I prepared is that I self-studied Schweser 5 books, I watched some lectures online but I didn’t register for any classes or had an instructor, and finally I solved a lot of questions from Schweser Q bank and some mock exams.How did it go with you?
Maha
Hi mrjonbain – Thank you, I appreciate it. The thing is, when I started ACCA, I was very excited but a lot of people tried to put me down talking about failing as if it is inevitable, quite annoying! I didn’t find many people with positive attitude and now that I have done it without a single fail, I know for sure that it is all about the hard work and I keep telling this to everyone starting such qualifications.
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Can a person who has completed the fundamental level in ACCA appear for the Level 1 CFA exam?
@mahosyam
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