What's the difference between AICPA and CPA: the difference between Chinese and American accounting applications

CPA is a certified public accountant in China, and GAAP in China is applicable. Generally engaged in senior financial accounting, independent auditing, tax consulting, financial planning and other occupations. Certified public accountants are widely distributed in China, and they can be seen in enterprises, government agencies, institutions and accounting firms.

USCPA is a registered accountant in the United States and applies American GAAP. Holders of certified public accountants in China can work as internal auditors, compliance managers, financial analysts and external auditors. USCPA studies USGAAP (American Accounting Standards), so the main employment direction is the four major accounting firms, American enterprises, joint ventures, and China enterprises listed in the United States; The positions include top positions such as USGAAP Financial Reporting Manager/Financial Manager of American-funded enterprises, Senior Financial Manager/Senior Internal Audit Manager, Chief Financial Officer/Vice President of Finance/Senior Mangerucpa. Many CFOs are holders of USCPA, such as Baidu, Sina, JD.COM and so on.

In addition, each has its own examination content and system:

The CPA examination is divided into professional stage examination and comprehensive stage examination. Candidates can only take the comprehensive stage exam after passing all the subjects in the professional stage exam. There are six specialized courses: financial cost management, auditing, tax law, economic law, accounting and strategy and risk management. The comprehensive stage examination subject is the comprehensive test of professional ability (paper 1 and paper 2). Once a year, the pass rate is about 15%.

USCPA only takes four courses, which are divided into Regulations (REG), Business Environment and Theory (BEC), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) and Audit (AUD). Using computer examination, you can take the exam in 1 year1February, and you can take the exam four times a year for a single subject, with a global pass rate of about 50%.

As for whether CPA is suitable for you or USCPA is suitable for you, it depends on your career planning, and the certificate that suits you is the best certificate. But in short, with the increasingly fierce competition among financiers and the development of economic globalization, it is necessary to learn international financial knowledge. If you want to develop better in the workplace and become an international financial person, you can't stop learning.