Left school with middling A-levels a few years ago (slight dyslexia), took a Level 3 apprenticeship in software development, interested in accounting, finance, economics and other subjects. I know people who work as either FMAAT or ACA accountants, interested in learning more about how Big 4 accountants work etc. Keen on learning how to better read financial statements so I can better understand how to gauge a company's profitability versus actual cash flow etc.

What is the difference between ICAEW and ACCA fundamentally? Is qualifying as a chartered accountant through ICAEW (I know a chartered accountant who joined Deloitte, where he still works, as part of an early years graduate cohort, and he qualified as an ACA through ICAEW, so I don't know whether you get a choice of qualifying via ACCA or ICAEW through the Big Four) more advantageous to qualifying through ACCA, or does it depend on the work you want to do? Is ICAEW better suited to UK GAAP for instance, or is ICAEW better for CPD purposes? I believe that if the majority of directors in your company are ACCA qualified and hold licensing certificates, then your company is duly regulated by the ACCA versus say ICAEW. CIMA seems better suited to those who want to work in industry, as that's more management accounting, is it just the case then that ICAEW is typically on offer by the likes of the Big Four, as opposed to ACCA, or is ICAEW better suited to those wishing to work in audit than ACCA? Are there more firms with audit practicing certificates from the likes of the ICAEW perhaps, and is it cheaper for incorporated firms to acquire audit practicing certificates from ICAEW versus ACCA? Also, if you're in Big 4 auditing and you wish to work in say the US on secondment, do you need to train for the CPA qualifications or do they recognise your chartered accounting qualifications from the UK?