What it takes to achieve ACCA success

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is one of the leading international accounting bodies, and their esteemed ACCA qualification is highly sought after by aspiring accountants and future leaders in finance all around the world.

Comprising of 14 examination papers, it takes a hardworking, dedicated and passionate individual to successfully pass all of the ACCA exams. One of these individuals is Daniel Jheeta, 26, who studied and passed ACCA at LSBF, studying part time through both weekend and evening classes. 

He spoke to us about his time studying ACCA, the methods of learning that worked for him and the impact that the qualification has had on his life.

Flexible teaching styles

As much as revision is a huge part of exam success, the way you initially learn - through lectures and seminars - has a great impact on your ability to retain information at the revision stage. On teaching styles, Daniel commented:

“A more flexible teaching style and the ability to explain points is crucial at the higher ACCA levels, where your opinion on topics is equally as important as your ability to recite information and perform calculations.”

Time investment

Anyone thinking of pursuing the ACCA qualification should bear in mind that it is a huge time investment. It is also important to remember that it may take a toll on your social life! Daniel told us about the impact that the course had on him, saying:

“It just takes so much time! But it becomes part of your life, in the same way that I suppose going to work and other routine activities do, and in many ways this is a good thing because the more exams you do (and hopefully pass!), then the less worried you become about the remainder.”

“This in turn is good because you should become a bit less worried about the harder ones, and take them in your stride!”

Ways to learn

With so many different options on how to learn; whether it’s through traditional revision methods like note taking and question practice, more modern techniques like online quizzes and forum discussions, or hours of library study, it may take a while to figure out what works best for you.

Daniel, who is now working in Financial Services in London, offered some advice to future ACCA students, saying:

“The clichés for any voluntary course such as ACCA are probably ‘you get out what you put in’, ‘the more you do, the better you get, and the more you enjoy’ etc. And I’d say that they are all true!”

“Also, I know it’s an old chestnut, but question practice all the time – as that’s what you’ll be doing in the exam!”