What are advantages of doing CFA (earlier people use to do CA and now most of them are doing CFA) | Why so many accountants are going for CFA? Isn’t CA sufficient? Is there any advantage of CFA?

One of the biggest problems in the accountant community of India is not the lack of job opportunities but the lack of required skill to fit in a good profile adequately. There are so many CAs in the country who are jobless or have settled in another industry.

So these days, to counter this problem, more and more accountants are going for CFA to enhance their Resume and edge the competition, which is extremely high. A CA with CFA degree has higher chance of getting a job in top company with flexible opportunities and higher pay.

So if you’re planning to for CA, you can do CFA to improve the chance of success. One of the biggest benefits of doing CFA is, unlike CA that is restrictive just to India, it also opens gates to international opportunities. So if you have plans to settle to some other country in the coming years, being a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst will seemingly help you here.

But here are few things you should note:

CA and CFA are nowhere closely related to each other. While the former one talks about auditing and taxation, the latter one is more related to investment banks, equity research, hedge funds and more. So they are not complementary—meaning, you don’t need to do one just because you have completed the other. They have distinct and individual career scopes. One of the only reasons why many CAs are also going for CFA is to décor their CV, which can ultimately bring them more opportunities.

You are not bound to do CFA if you have done CA. You can still be successful if you’re very good. One or two years experience would easily outweigh the decoration that CFA brings. Standalone though, CFA is a great path itself that can make you a good career in the investment sector.

So before you decide anything and follow others, think thoroughly—what exactly you want, where you want to go, do you need to add more weight to your CV and so forth. Good Luck!