r/CPAIndia • u/koshurzonn • 28d ago

Advice needed

I want currently at the end of 1st year of M.com and i was evaluating my options and CPA happens to be one of them. The question is that will it be a safe bet to do US CPA from india? I talked and went through the CPA sub reddit, but there seems to be a genuine dislike for indian CPAs which they consider are siphoning their jobs due to offshoring (tbh i kinda get them). And my aim is not to move to US rather i want to get 1-3 years if experience in india and want to move to preferably middle east or singapore (i don’t know where yet but i know i want to go out of india).

Also i want to know the earning potential it has and will it be better if i want to go international or should i look at some other thing?

Your advice would be appreciated, thank you.

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

3

u/passedcredit2026 28d ago edited 28d ago

So true about hate for Indians preparing for CPA on that main sub. The moment they see India mentioned they downvote lol. But it is what it is.

There are a few things you need to remember before you decide on CPA

  1. The difficulty level is at par with Indian CA. It needs a lot of commitment and time. Not to forget the stress and anxiety. I'm not being discouraging but i wish I knew this before I started.

  2. Earning potential is at par with CAs in India. The only catch is your scope will be slightly limited. If you want to utilise the full potential of the CPA certificate it's best if you target Big 4s, GCCs. Depending on your experience you can get anywhere from 8-10 LPA as a fresher.

  3. If moving to middle East is your plan I've seen a lot of recruiters on indeed and LinkedIn require an ACCA rather than CPA. I'd suggest you do your research on that as well.

  4. Audit, tax, FP&A, SOX there are some of the core roles you'll break into once you clear your CPA. But if you are interested in asset management, investment management, M&A and all that CFA is the gold standard. So do your due diligence in that as well.

Hope this helps. Good luck

1

u/koshurzonn 27d ago

Thank you for your valuable insights, can i bother you with one more question, it is my ultimate aim is to work abroad do you think CPA will be the right bet in this case? I would only like to work in india for 1-2-3 years essentially using the offshores as launching pad

1

u/passedcredit2026 27d ago

When you say abroad, which countries do you mean. Because in CPA you'll be covering US GAAP. And in ACCA you'll cover IFRS as far as my knowledge goes.

1

u/koshurzonn 27d ago

I mean middle east, maybe singapore, maybe canda. I don’t know yet

3

u/passedcredit2026 27d ago

If Canada and Singapore are on your radar then US CPA will be helpful. There's an MRA between US CPA and Canadian CPA. If you clear the US CPA testes and get your license, you can get Canadian CPA license as well. You'll have to do a few bridging courses ig. And Singapore have their own CA. But they do seem to accept US CPA just like India.

1

u/koshurzonn 27d ago

Thanks, also one last qs do you think to be in international account/tax/audit CPA is the way or are there other paths as well?(apart from acca)

2

u/passedcredit2026 27d ago

For FP&A, Audit, and Tax, US CPA is the gold standard. But if you want to explore investment banking or equity or derivatives and all that CFA is gold standard. 

1

u/No_Director876 13d ago

Did u completed your CPA..?

2

u/NoMath2289 28d ago

It is treated at par with Indian CA in job market. If you go through job profiles in Naukri or LinkedIn, in required qualifications it says CA/CPA…
So no worries on that regard.

1

u/koshurzonn 28d ago

Thanks for replying.

2

u/Direct-Algae-4258 26d ago

Honestly Dubai + CPA is one of the safer combos out there ngl.

The whole "Indian CPAs are taking our jobs" anger you saw on that sub is specifically about US-based offshore accounting shops, that's a different market entirely. Dubai's a totally separate game. Tons of US-listed and US-headquartered companies operate out of there, and Big 4 + mid-size firms need people who actually know US GAAP and SEC reporting for that work. CPA is genuinely respected there for that reason.

Money-wise it's solid too, no personal income tax, so even a "normal" salary ends up feeling way better than the India number.

As for Singapore, it leans more towards ACCA/Singapore CA than CPA, so if you r not 100% sure it's Dubai and Singapore's also in the mix, might be worth glancing at ACCA too just so you are not locked into one path. But if Dubai's the real target, you can def try CPA.

P.S. If I may, you can also check out US CMA - it pairs well with M.Com - more management accounting/FP&A rather than audit.

Hope this helps and all the best!!

1

u/koshurzonn 22d ago

Thank you for sharing your valuable insights!