People doing their CGA

[brknhorn]

Just wondering if your doing it through the organization online, or going the classroom route, and how you like it (the pros and cons of both methods). I'm starting in december and I dont know anyone else in the program, so any feedback would be helpful.

[R-Audi]

Got a couple friends doing it through various companies. (Not all are CGA, some are CA) It sounds like a good route, since they ended up getting their last semster paid for, and a free laptop. (They are committed to returning after graduation, but it is a job!)

[brknhorn]

True, a lot of companies pay for your courses and what not, which is a bonus. Im wondering how intense the courses are, say compared to Univ courses?

[R-Audi]

Dont you have to have your degree to take the course? As far as I know, it is mostly just working for the company, then the odd test. I havent heard from any of those friends that they are failing, so I guess take that for what its worth

[Shaolin]

i'm pretty sure with CGA you can take it while you're doing your degree.. it's the only Acct. Designation that lets you do that though i believe.

[t-im]

I'm not sure about CGA

but CA and CMA have to be done after grad, and you have to have an accounting job..bla bla bla...and hopefully you can find a CA firm who will pay for you to get your CA..that's a pretty basic explanation of it

[Mckenzie]

I got on with a CA firm called Ernst & Young next summer articling for a CA designation. They are one of the big four firms in the world.

For a CA, you have to do 30 months of full time articling under CA supervision, i.e. a CA firm. You can use the summer months towards your time requirements, ex. 4 months for 2 summers leaves only 22 months left.

Most firms will pay for your CA course which is called the CASB (Casby) program. You can also do the MPacc program at the UofS, which is a masters of professional accounting science. They may also help subsidize this program.

It involves 12 modules of part time study while you work.

Currently, they are thinking of joining the CA and the CMA programs.

As for the CGA route, I am not really sure, but I beleive you can do it while you do your degree as well.

[nickyh]

I'm in the CGA right now.

I take my degree/CGA classes though SAIT (they have a partnership). You can only enroll in the degree program once you've completed Level 3.

You enrol for your classes though SAIT, buy your books and enrol in the CGA through CGA. Kinda messed up that you can't just do it all on the CGA website.
Just so you know - you need to enrol every year. My co-worker did not relaize that and had to pay a penalty.

Only 9 classes to go

I would highly recommend the class room education rather than distance. With online it's all or nothing. With classroom - you write a mid-term and a final and you are done (except for your PACE classes)

[Shaolin]

hey McKenzie, got any hookups for E&Y? I'm tryin to get into a CA firm and I graduate next August.

[Mckenzie]

Originally posted by Shaolin
hey McKenzie, got any hookups for E&Y? I'm tryin to get into a CA firm and I graduate next August.

I would suggest contacting their HR department and seeing if they would hire you on full time in September. Usually they do January starts or September starts, but september starts ONLY after you have spent the summer doing your CASB modules (ex you get hired full time for graduation in June, but you spend the summer doing your first few modules, and then you start working in september).

I guess I could find out a bit more when I actually start working there in the summer.

But usually, they hire the top quartile students (3.6 and above) in September for full time positions the following year. So you will probably have to do some investigating to see where you could fit in. PM me if you have any more questions so we dont whore this thread do death.

[brknhorn]

Thanks for the responses. Just to clarify, for the CGA program, you have to have a degree by the time you finish, so its an exit requirement, not an entrance requirement. You have to work in the finance industry for a certain time period as well.

From what I've seen so far, to do the CA (and lesser extent the CMA) you pretty much have to do a degree in accounting first. I'll be finishing up my Econ (and probably Engg) degrees this year, so spending another 2+ years doing an acct degree isn't very appealing when I could be working.

Hey Nickyh, good stuff on having nine left, I gotta take sixteen . How many courses do u take per semester?

[in*10*se]

meh... pwc 4 life....LOL hahaha

[a1jatt]

does anybody know what are the chances of getting jobs after cga as compared to computer science?

[Chandler_Racing]

Originally posted by a1jatt
does anybody know what are the chances of getting jobs after cga as compared to computer science?

Right now accountants are in high demand, accounting is recognized as one of the top 10 fields to work in. Although, job availibility is also dependant on your desgination CGAs are less pristege then CAs and CMAs and will likely will be considered for less jobs.

[nickyh]

That may be your opinion, but there are more CGA students than there are CMA students.

According to a CA who is VP of Finance, the only difference between the three designations is ego.
I just hate it when people talk down about the program I've been in since 2001.
Each designation has there own area of specialty. You'll see more CA and CGAs in oil & gas than CMA's.

[Shaolin]

i think the CA program is the biggest ego trip.. but like you said, each designation has their own speciality..

it's pretty pointless to have 3 designations.. have 1 designation, multiple specialty areas and leave it at that.

[saiyajin]

so what is the difference between CA, CGA, and CMA which is low level which is high?

[silvercivicsir]

CA's are the Cream of the Crop, Then Cma's and then Cga. anybody who is a Cma/Cga are people who can't Hack it to become Ca's or couldn't get a job with one of the Big 4 Firms!!

[brknhorn]

^^ Thats probably the stupidest opinion I've heard regarding the designations. You really know your stuff. Each designation has their strengths. CGA's are more adept at running companies, tend to be controllers, etc. They usually compete with CMA's more often. However, the latest numbers favour the CGA in terms of their numbers in upper management (ratio, not aggregate numbers).
The CA designation is arguably the hardest, since its 3 years of articling (ie. long hours and shit pay). If you stick it out, the pay is pretty good in the end. Thats a big IF, since CA's tend to freak out and suddenly quit their profession a lot (I know several). The turn-over rate for CA's is surprinsingly high. Also, ff you don't do accounting in Univ, forget about being a CA.
I spent a lot of time researching all 3 before deciding on the CGA, hope this helps.

[Shaolin]

remember when i said CA's the biggest ego trip? thanx for proving me correct. Keep up the good work..