Entrepreneurship, Technology & Trending - How to

A BUSINESS ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
1. The business organisation and its structure
a) Identify the different types of organisation:[1]
i) Commercial
ii) Not-for-profit
iii) Public sector
iv) Non-governmental organisations
v) Cooperatives
b) Describe the different ways in which organisations may be structured: entrepreneurial, functional, matrix, divisional, departmental, by geographical area and by product.[1]
c) Describe the roles and functions of the main departments in a business organisation: [1]
i) research and development
ii) purchasing
iii) production
iv) direct service provision
v) marketing
vi) administration
vii) finance.
d) Explain the characteristics of the strategic, tactical and operational levels in the organisation in the context of the Anthony hierarchy.[1]
e) Explain the role of marketing in an organisation: [1]
i) the definition of marketing
ii) the marketing mix
iii) the relationship of the marketing plan to the strategic plan
f) Explain basic organisational structure
concepts: [2]
i) separation of direction and management
ii) span of control and scalar chain
iii) tall and flat organisations
g) Explain centralisation and decentralisation and list their advantages and disadvantages.[1]
2. The formal and informal business organisation
a) Explain the informal organisation and its relationship with the formal organisation.[1]
b) Describe the impact of the informal organisation on the business.[2]
3. Organisational culture in business
a) Define organisational culture.[1]
b) Describe the factors that shape the culture of the organisation.[1]
c) Explain the contribution made by writers on culture:[1]
i) Schein – determinants of organisational culture
ii) Handy – four cultural stereotypes
iii) Hofstede – international perspectives on culture
4. Stakeholders of business organisations
a) Define the internal stakeholder and list the different categories of internal stakeholder.[1]
b) Define connected and external stakeholders and explain their impact on the organisation.[1]
c) Identify the main stakeholder groups and the objectives of each group.[1]
d) Explain how the different stakeholder groups interact and how their objectives may conflict with one another.[1]
5. Information technology and information systems in business
a) Discuss the types of information technology and information systems used by the business organisation.[1]
b) List the attributes of good quality information.[1]
c) Explain how the type of information differs and the purposes for which it is applied at different levels of the organisation: strategic, tactical and operational.[1]

d) Identify the different sources of internal and external information.[1]
e) Describe the main features of information systems used within the organisation.[1]
6. Committees in the business organisation
a) Explain the purposes of committees.[1]
b) Describe the types of committee used by business organisations.[1]
c) List the advantages and disadvantages of committees.[1]
d) Explain the roles of the Chair and Secretary of a committee.[1]
7. Business ethics and ethical behaviour
a) Define business ethics and explain the importance of ethics to the organisation and to the individual.[1]
b) Identify influences that determine whether behaviour and decisions are ethical or unethical.[1]
c) Identify the factors that distinguish a profession from other types of occupation.[1]
d) Explain the role of the accountant in promoting ethical behaviour.[1]
e) Recognise the purpose of international and organisational codes of ethics and codes of conduct, IFAC, ACCA etc.[1]
8. Governance and social responsibility in business
a) Recognise the concept of separation between ownership and control.[1]
b) Define corporate governance and social responsibility and explain their importance in contemporary organisations.[1]
c) Explain the responsibility of organisations to maintain appropriate standards of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility.[1]
d) Briefly explain the main recommendations of best practice in effective corporate governance:[1]
i) Non-executive directors
ii) Remuneration committees
iii) Audit committees
iv) Public oversight
e) Explain how organisations take account of their social responsibility objectives through analysis of the needs of internal, connected and external stakeholders.[1]
f) Identify the social and environmental responsibilities of business organisations to internal, connected and external
stakeholders. [1]
B KEY ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES AND CONSTRAINTS ON BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTING
1. Political and legal factors
a) Define environmental forces in terms of political, legal, economic, social and technological factors.[1]
b) Explain how the political system and government policy affect the organisation.[1]
c) Describe the sources of legal authority, including supra-national bodies, national and regional governments.[1]
d) Explain how the law protects the employee and the implications of employment legislation for the manager and the organisation.[1]
e) Identify the principles of data protection and security.[1]
f) Explain how the law promotes and protects health and safety in the workplace.[1]
g) Recognise the responsibility of the individual and organisation for compliance with laws on data protection, security and health and safety.[1]

2. Macro-economic factors
a) Define macro-economic policy.[1]
b) Explain the main determinants of the level of business activity in the economy and how variations in the level of business activity affect individuals, households and businesses.[1]
c) Explain the impact of economic issues on the individual, the household and the business: [1]
i) inflation
ii) unemployment
iii) stagnation
iv) international payments disequilibrium.
d) Describe the main types of economic policy that may be implemented by government and supra-national bodies to maximise economic welfare.[1]
e) Recognise the impact of fiscal and monetary policy measures on the individual, the household and businesses.[1]
3. Social and demographic factors
a) Explain the medium and long-term effects of social and demographic trends on business outcomes and the economy.[1]
b) Describe the impact of changes in social structure, values, attitudes and tastes on the organisation.[2]
c) Identify and explain the measures that governments may take in response to the medium and long-term impact of demographic change.[2]
4. Technological factors
a) Explain the effects of technological change on the organisation structure and strategy:[1]
i) Downsizing
ii) Delayering
iii) Outsourcing
b) Describe the impact of information technology and information systems development on business processes.[1]
5. Competitive factors
a) Explain the factors that influence the level of competitiveness in an industry or sector.[1]
b) Describe the activities of an organisation that affect its competitiveness:[1]
i) purchasing
ii) production
iii) marketing
iv) service
C HISTORY AND ROLE OF ACCOUNTING IN BUSINESS
1. The history and function of accounting in business
a) Briefly explain the history and development of the accounting and finance role in business.[1]
b) Explain the overall role and separate functions of the accounting department.[1]
2. Law and regulation governing accounting
a) Explain basic legal requirements in relation to keeping and submitting proper records and preparing financial accounts.[1]
b) Explain the broad consequences of failing to comply with the legal requirements for maintaining accounting records.[1]
c) Explain how the international accountancy profession regulates itself through the establishment of reporting standards and their monitoring.[1]
3. Financial systems, procedures and IT applications
a) Explain how business and financial systems and procedures are formulated and implemented to reflect the objectives and policies of the organisation.[1]
b) Describe the main financial systems used within an organisation:[1]
i) purchases and sales invoicing
ii) payroll
iii) credit control
iv) cash and working capital management.

c) Explain why appropriate controls are necessary in relation to business and IT systems and procedures.[2]
d) Understand business uses of computers and IT software applications:[1]
i) Spreadsheet applications
ii) Database systems
e) Describe and compare the relative benefits and limitations of manual and automated financial systems that may be used in an organisation.[2]
4. The relationship between accounting and other business functions
a) Explain the relationship between accounting and purchasing/procurement.[1]
b) Explain financial considerations in production and production planning.[1]
c) Identify the financial issues associated with marketing.[1]
d) Identify the financial costs and benefits of effective service provision.[1]
D SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS OF ACCOUNTING AND INTERNAL FINANCIAL CONTROL
1. Accounting and finance functions within business
a) Explain the contribution of the accounting function to the formulation, implementation, and control of the organisation’s policies, procedures, and performance.[2]
b) Identify and describe the main accounting and reporting functions in business:[1]
i) recording financial information
ii) codifying and processing financial information
iii) preparing financial statements
c) Identify and describe the main management accounting and performance management functions in business:[1]
i) recording and analysing costs and revenues
ii) providing management accounting information for decision-making
iii) planning and preparing budgets and exercising budgetary control.
d) Identify and describe the main finance and treasury functions:[1]
i) calculating and mitigating business tax liabilities
ii) evaluating and obtaining finance
iii) managing working capital
iv) treasury and risk management.
2. Internal and external auditing and their functions
a) Define internal and external audit.[1]
b) Explain the main functions of the internal auditor and the external auditor.[1]
3. Internal financial control and security within business organisations
a) Explain internal control and internal check.[1]
b) Explain the importance of internal financial controls in an organisation.[2]
c) Describe the responsibilities of management for internal financial control.[1]
d) Describe the features of effective internal financial control procedures in an organisation.[2]
e) Identify and describe features for protecting the security of IT systems and software within business.[1]
f) Describe general and application systems controls in business.[1]
4. Fraud and fraudulent behaviour and their prevention in business.
a) Explain the circumstances under which fraud is likely to arise.[1]
b) Identify different types of fraud in the organisation.[1]
c) Explain the implications of fraud for the organisation.[2]

d) Explain the role and duties of individual managers in the fraud detection and prevention process.[1]
E LEADING AND MANAGING INDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS
1. Leadership, management and supervision
a) Define leadership, management and supervision and the distinction between these terms.[1]
b) Explain the nature of management:[1]
i) scientific/classical theories of management Fayol, Taylor
ii) the human relations school – Mayo
iii) the functions of a manager – Mintzberg, Drucker
c) Explain the areas of managerial authority and responsibility.[2]
d) Explain the qualities, situational, functional and contingency approaches to leadership with reference to the theories of Adair, Fiedler, Bennis, Kotter and Heifetz.[2]
e) Explain leadership styles and contexts: using the models of Ashridge, and Blake and Mouton.[2]
2. Individual and group behaviour in business organisations
a) Describe the main characteristics of individual and group behaviour.[1]
b) Outline the contributions of individuals and teams to organisational success.[1]
c) Identify individual and team approaches to work.[1]
3. Team formation, development and management
a) Explain the differences between a group and a team.[1]
b) Define the purposes of a team.[1]
c) Explain the role of the manager in building the team and developing individuals within the team.[1]
i) Belbin’s team roles theory
ii) Tuckman’s theory of team development
d) List the characteristics of effective and ineffective teams.[1]
e) Describe tools and techniques that can be used to build the team and improve team effectiveness.[1]
4. Motivating individuals and groups
a) Define motivation and explain its importance to the organisation, teams and individuals.[1]
b) Explain content and process theories of motivation: Maslow, Herzberg, McGregor, and Vroom.[2]
c) Explain and identify types of intrinsic and extrinsic reward.[1]
d) Explain how reward systems can be designed and implemented to motivate teams and individuals.[1]
F. RECRUITING AND DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE EMPLOYEES
1. Recruitment and selection, managing diversity and equal opportunity
a) Explain the importance of effective recruitment and selection to the organisation.[1]
b) Describe the recruitment and selection processes and explain the stages in these processes.[1]
c) Describe the roles of those involved in the recruitment and selection processes.[1]
d) Describe the methods through which organisations seek to meet their recruitment needs.[1]
e) Explain the advantages and disadvantages of different recruitment and selection methods.[1]

f) Explain the purposes of a diversity policy within the human resources plan.[2]
g) Explain the purpose and benefits of an equal opportunities policy within human resource planning.[2]
h) Explain the practical steps that an organisation may take to ensure the effectiveness of its diversity and equal opportunities policy.[1]
2. Techniques for improving personal effectiveness at work and their benefits
a) Explain the purposes of personal development plans.[1]
b) Describe how a personal development plan should be formulated, implemented, monitored and reviewed by the individual.[1]
c) Explain the importance of effective time management.[1]
d) Describe the barriers to effective time management and how they may be overcome.[1]
e) Describe the role of information technology in improving personal effectiveness.[1]
f) Explain the purposes and processes of coaching, mentoring and counselling and their benefits.[1]
3. Features of effective communication
a) Define communications.[1]
b) Explain a simple communication model: sender, message, receiver, feedback, noise.[1]
c) Explain formal and informal communication and their importance in the workplace.[1]
d) Identify the consequences of ineffective communication.[1]
e) Describe the attributes of effective communication.[1]
f) Describe the barriers to effective communication and identify practical steps that may be taken to overcome them.[1]
g) Describe the main methods and patterns of communication.[1]
4. Training, development and learning in the maintenance and improvement of business performance
a) Explain the importance of learning in the workplace.[2]
b) Describe the learning process: Honey and Mumford, Kolb.[1]
c) Describe the role of the human resources department and individual managers in the learning process.[1]
d) Describe the training and development process: identifying needs, setting objectives, programme design, delivery and validation.[1]
e) Explain the terms ‘training’, ‘development’ and ‘education’ and the characteristics of each.[1]
f) List the benefits of effective training and development in the workplace.[1]
5. Review and appraisal of individual performance
a) Explain the importance of performance assessment.[1]
b) Explain how organisations assess the performance of human resources.[1]
c) Define performance appraisal and describe its purposes.[1]
d) Describe the performance appraisal process.[1]
e) Explain the benefits of effective appraisal.[2]
f) Identify the barriers to effective appraisal and how these may be overcome.[1]
g) Explain how the effectiveness of performance appraisal may be evaluated.[2]

How to Pass ACCA exams!!!

Attempt every question

Help the marker – start each new question on a new sheet of paper

Be neat

Never write nothing!

Allocate your time – between questions and parts of questions.

Don't spend too long on one figure

Help the marker

Read the requirements first

Remember the pass mark is 50%

Allocate your time and attempt every part of every question.

Study tips for ACCA exams
Do you know why we often forget what we
have learnt? When we are preparing for our
ACCA exams, some of us might spoon-feed all
the materials so as to memorise all the stuff for
the exams. Some of us may just read through
the past papers in the hope that some of the
questions might re-appear in the real exams.
However, sometimes we still cannot manage
to answer the questions well. Even worse, we
can hardly retain much from what we have
memorised throughout and after the exam?
Why is that the case?
The answer is that we do not understand
the knowledge and are thus unable to apply
it to answer the questions. There is an old
Chinese proverb which states, “Tell me and
I will forget; show me and I will remember;
involve me and I will understand.” Another
version is from Native American proverb which
states, “Tell me and I will forget; show me and
I may not remember; involve me and I will
understand.” Someone said this quote was
from Mr Benjamin Franklin.
No matter what the origin of the proverb
is, it shows us an important philosophy - we
need to be involved in order to make us fully
understand.
How to get involved?
In accordance with the Cambridge
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, “involve”
means “to include someone or something in
something, or make them take part in or feel
part of it”. As an ACCA student, that means to
include us in the ACCA exams, make us take
part in or feel part of the exams.
To be part of the exams, first of all, we
should not be afraid of them. We need to
make friends with them. One of my friends
said, “ACCA exam is just like my husband,
I have already engaged with it.” Thus we
need to face the exams whole-heartedly
every day. In addition, we need to have an
active participation in studying for the exams.
Moreover, we need to have a proper plan and
strategy with good resources for our study.
Which study method is more effective?
Researches showed that just listening to
lectures and reading books are not sufficient for
us to understand the knowledge. The retention
rate for these learning methods is extremely
low, just around 5 to 10%. In order to have a
better understanding and higher retention rate,
we need to have discussion and practice by
doing. The retention rate can then be increased
to 50% and 75% respectively. These are the
examples of getting involved:
Forming a study group of 2 to 4 people
is helpful for learning. The group should
have the same goal which is to pass ACCA
exams. More than 4 people will make the
group ineffective. Periodically, the group can
meet and discuss some difficult topics and
questions. I still remember when I prepared for
the A-level exams, I formed a study group with
my classmates. We met every day and then
challenged each other with difficult questions.
We then discussed and resolved them. One
day our chemistry teacher gave us a difficult
chemistry question that he could not find
out the answer. We managed to discuss and
resolve that quickly within the study group,
and afterwards we all achieved very good
results in the A-level exams.
Once I attended a seminar conducted by
Dr Stephen Covey, one of the world’s leading
business and management gurus and the
international best selling author of The 7
Habits of Highly Effective People. He asked
the participants to teach in turn what they
have just learnt to the participants of their
table. From our observation, we found that
those participants who were required to teach
would concentrate more. Thus, they learnt a
lot. This proves that if we teach others, we
learn the most. Why not start taking turn to
teach difficult topics in your study group? You
may find it enhancing you extent of retention
up to more than 90%.
Practice by doing past papers and revision
questions is a must. This could contribute to
our understanding and let us experience the
style of and approach to the questions. It is
great that ACCA provides marking schemes
for all the past papers. These give us a clear
indication of what the examiners need and
how we should perform in order to score the
marks. Realistically, ACCA exams are not easy.
Without practice, we could not achieve good
marks. Please don’t just read the past papers.
As we have mentioned before, the retention
rate of reading is much lower than that of
practice by doing.
Thus, in order to study effectively amid
our busy life, we should use wise learning
methods.
How to plan our study?
To learn how to plan, there is a great book
called The Art of War (􀢑􀉿􀐶􀘬) which is
written by Sun Tzu. In the first chapter “Laying
Plans”, Sun Tzu said, “Now the General who
wins a battle makes many calculations in his
temple where the battle is fought. A General
who loses a battle makes but few calculations
beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead
to victory, and few calculations to defeat:
how much more no calculation at all!. It is by
attention to this point that I can foresee who is
likely to win or lose.”
To win, we need to lay a detail as early
as possible. We will soon receive the ACCA.

exam results. Afterwards, we need to decide
how many papers and which papers we will
attempt in June 2008. It depends on how
much study time we could allocate from now
on to early June.
To achieve the best results, we need to
have a SMART goal. That means we should
have a right state of mind and determine a
Specific, Measurable, Achievable and Realistic
goal after considering the Time element. No
matter how many papers we will attempt,
we need to commit to the goal we have
set. In addition, we need to review our goal
periodically to see how it goes.
Every good plan needs a proper timetable.
We need to mark down the dates of exams
and schedule, the time for working, training,
dining out, relaxing, networking, etc. in our
calendars. All the remaining time can then be
used for studying. We then allocate the topics
to study and the questions to attempt in our
timetables. Please remember to allocate some
time for our revision because it acts as a bridge
between study and exams. This could refresh
our memory and help us synthesise what we
have learnt for application in the exams.
What are the other study tips?
When studying, it is better to cover more
difficult topics first. Otherwise, you will have
little time to tackle them when exams are
approaching. However, we may easily get
exhausted if we just focus on difficult topics.
Thus, we may choose to study some easier
topics amongst difficult ones.
Concentration during studying is a key
factor in effective learning. Please study at the
right time in the right place. When studying,
we must have an inquiring mind. The great
scientist, Mr Albert Einstein said, “The
important thing is not to stop asking questions”
I am not sure whether you have a habit
of making notes. When preparing for ACCA
exams, making notes can enhance our
understanding and also gives you an excellent
revision before the exams. The use of mind
maps can let us have a good summary and
logic of the topics we have studied.
If you have not yet read my articles on
study and exam techniques in the four issues
of the News Update in 2007, I hope you will
do so as these articles will suggest you more
skills to succeed in ACCA exams. Please also
attend my workshop on Strategy to Tackle the
New ACCA Exams to be held on 26 April 2008
(please refer to the enclosed enrolment form
for details)

What should I do now?
ACCA exams are not easy. They are challenging, professional and practical exams. Please start
your study now. The earlier you plan and start, the more the likelihood of passing the exams. Please
act now.
May I take this opportunity to wish you a joyful, healthy and fruitful Year of the Rat! Good luck
to your exams!




NEXT SECTION

Book Review
leadership & self deception:
getting out of the box
I knew that this book was likely to be
worthwhile when the publisher sent me not one
but two copies for review in two consecutive
weeks…. intriguing! Well, this excellent
pocket-sized paperback came with its praises
being sung out on the front cover by none less
than Stephen R Covey, classic business guru
and author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People; “profound..engaging...packed with
insight. I couldn’t recommend it more highly.
“OK Steve” I thought, “I’ll give it a go” and
sure enough, I couldn’t put it down.
First of all, The Arbinger Institute
www.arbinger.com, who has synthesised
this case study from actual experiences in
their training work, describes itself as a
“forerunner (cf harbinger) of change”. They
aim to help people see in a different way,
to see differently the problems, conflicts,
challenges and opportunities faced in life.
Their philosophy is that until someone begins
to see differently, old problems remain. The
Institute is fundamentally about helping
people to conceive and bring about lasting
solutions and real change, especially where
such changes have proved difficult to effect or
maintain before. Their approach results from
decades-long exploration into the problem of
self-deception attempting to find the solution
to the three-fold question: how can people
simultaneously 1) create their own problems
2) be unable to see that they are creating their
own problems and yet 3) resist any attempts
to help them stop creating those problems?
The book is written in the first person, as
the experience of a bright new recruit, Tom,
entering employment as a team manager in
a large organisation, admired as a market
leader in its field. ( He has been recruited from
a competitor organisation). This young man
is married with a young family; he is highly
ambitious and quietly confident in his ability
to put in long hours and prove himself as a
worthy man for the job to his new bosses. His
work ethic is strong but is having an effect on
his personal family life and his relationship
with his wife. There is a smack of arrogance in
his self-confidence and a lack of team cohesion
in his department, so, after a couple of months
he finds himself in the position of being called
in for appraisal in person by none other than
the Executive VP of the organisation, Bud
Jefferson, a highly respected and revered
member of the senior management team
and right hand man to the President, Kate
Stenarude. Together they help Tom discover,
through some very intense discussions and real
life scenarios, some important issues about
himself and his self-deception in his approach
to his work and his team and his wife.
The ensuing chapters, written in
conversational style between Bud and our
protagonist, Tom, lead us through a series of
entertaining “stories” which bring out Tom’s
realisation and understanding of how he is not
fulfilling his potential because he is suffering
from the problem of self-deception (which you
will soon realise we probably all do from time
to time), how that undermines his ability to
lead his team effectively, how he gets “in the
Box” or the trap of listening and believing in
his own self-deception and self-betrayal, how
he can learn to get “out of the Box” and what
will happens if and when he does.
All this in 170 easy flowing pages. Itis truly easy to read and really enlightening
when you yourself gain the insight of why
things go wrong with your relationships with
people at work, in your team and indeed in
your personal life. This is a first class lesson
in life skills and offers fundamental pointers
to good communication – which is becoming
an increasingly pertinent issue in management
today. With an upcoming generation of young
people who are communicating more by text
and email using online short-form language,
entertaining themselves with electronic
gadgets, chat rooms, online dating and so on,
in contrast to traditional social skills involving
face to face and person to person interactions,
these human skills need more than ever to be
taught, learned, implemented and practised!
Looking back on the slightly contrived
stage-setting of the book, you could criticise
the presentation of Bud, the senior VP, and
indeed Kate, the CEO, for being perhaps
slightly unlikely iconoclastic figures – polished
yet real, mysterious yet open, driven yet
humane and amazingly available for and
eloquent at training their junior staff on a oneto-
one level! Oh that we all had that privilege
and insight from our superiors.
However it also reminded me that all the
great management gurus point us towards
looking at our own behaviour and example as
leaders in business and honing our listening
skills so we effectively keep ourselves out of
what the Arbinger Institute call The Box of
Self-Deception. And not just the management
gurus – it was Charles Kingsley who famously
brought us in his children’s classic The Water
Babies, the character Mrs Do-As-You-Would-
Be-Done-By, an epithet one too often finds
oneself thinking about after an unfortunate
event at work which we really should have
handled better.
It is a couple of months since I read this
little gem of a book and I find I can still quote
stories and examples from it, without needing
to look them up, to encourage my friends
and colleagues to pick this book up and find
enlightenment for themselves. For me that is a
sign of a really useful tool – and I recommend
it most highly for your bookshelf for that reason
alone.
NEXT SECTION

take control
of your future
Professional development is often a
function associated with the human resources
department. But taking personal responsibility
for your professional development is crucial in
the current competitive employment market
and ever changing workplace.
So what can you do to keep up with
new technologies and trends and remain at
the forefront of industry best practice in your
profession? A professional development plan
is a great place to start and the beginning of a
new year is the ideal time to put your plan into
action.
Steps for creating a professional development
plan
A professional development plan can
provide you with the necessary tools to
evaluate, select and review your career
direction. First you need to reflect on what you
already know including formal qualifications,
self-taught skills and life experiences, and
use these as the foundation to build your
professional development plan.
There are four main steps to consider
which will provide the framework for your
professional development plan:
1. Set goals
Let’s start with the basics. Begin by
developing a roadmap to keep yourself on track
with your professional development. Include
long-term goals but be sure to incorporate
short-term goals and monthly targets as
practical stepping stones along the way.
Write down personal, professional and career
goals that are specific, measurable and can
realistically be achieved. It is generally best
to focus on a few goals each year so you will
need to decide which goals are most important
for the current year.
2. Identify opportunities
Now it’s time to identify any additional
training, educational requirements or skills you
need to meet your goals. It pays to do your
research and be prepared to put forward a case
to your manager if you are seeking support for
a course or study from your employer. Some
examples of professional development activities
include:
® Formal training e.g. study
® Self-directed learning e.g. reading industry
publications, research
® Networking
® On-the-job training or coaching by a senior
colleague
® Adding new work or increasing your
current level of responsibility
® Joining professional associations and/or
committees
Once you have decided on the professional
development activities you wish to pursue and
have set your goals for the current year, you
will need to decide how you wish to proceed.
3. Put your plan into action
To ensure the success of your professional
development plan, you must decide what
actions you will take to accomplish your goals
and when you will do each step. The best
way to do this is to record the information
in a written professional development plan.
You might like to create a spreadsheet with
columns to record goals you will address this
year. Sample headings may include goals;
strategies; timeline; evidence of progress; date
goal is met and future goals/plans.
If a professional development plan is not
a formal part of your annual review as an
employee, you should take the time to discuss
your plan with your manager so they are aware
of your personal and professional goals and
can play an active role in helping you achieve
them.
4. Review progress
The final step in your professional
development plan is to schedule time for
review. Re-evaluating your goals and actions
allows you to make adjustments and to see
if your desired outcomes are being achieved.
Break down your areas of development for a
calendar year into sections, then nominate a
day each month to review your progress and
make adjustments as necessary. This will
ensure you keep on track and achieve your
career goals.
Benefits of planning
A professional development plan can help
give you the direction and focus you need.
Implementing the framework outlined above
will help give you personal ownership of your
career direction and achieve your professional
goals.
Not only will a professional development
plan help you clarify your personal and
professional goals and objectives, it will
also help you identify your competencies,
interests and abilities. It may require some
self-discipline but those who make the effort
and take ownership for their professional
development will reap the rewards!

Most people want to be successful in life. But what is the definition of success? What means to succeed in life? If you ask enough people they will tell you that "success" is different. The most common theme around success is power, money, happiness, love etc. From person to person this will vary. It always depends on what you are looking for in your personal and also in your business life.
There are some key factors that lead to a successful life:

• Dream - You have to have a personal dream to follow.
• Action - It is equally important to take the necissary actions in order to fulfill your dreams, because without action, nothing happens.
• Faith - This is said to be the key factor that drives one towards success.
• Lack of faith would only lead to failure.
• • You must be enthusiastic even if you fail, over and over again. You should be willing to let your ships parish in order to WIN, WIN, WIN and never quit! write out a plan of action for steps and methods you would pursue to achieve y
  • Positive attitude - Positive attitude guarantees success. With positive attitude nothing is impossible. Thus, you are able to take dedicated action and follow certain plans, systems, which guarantee success in life.
  Most people say that it's enough with "motivation", the "right attitude" and a lot of other hokey stuff, in order for you to succeed, but in reality, success is an ongoing achievements that we contantly focus on and take action on in our personal and professional life.
  
  Some guidance here: Here are 6 secrets to success which have been advised and practiced by motivational gurus around the world:
  1. Accept 100 percent accountability for your life - You are responsible for what happens with YOUR life. It's NOT ok to blame the media, government or your parents for your mistakes and failures. If you keep blaming people you'll soon learn that you in fact let them control you and when you realize this you'll start take responsibility for your own life and work towards your own success.
  2. Live your life with purpose - When you live your life with a purpose, your main concern would be to do everything right. Your purpose would help you put your best efforts in everything you do.
  3. Be Daring to take risk - It's true what they say.. nothing comes truly easy in this world, because in order to succeed there is almost always an equal or greater risk. So, be willing to take these risks and have faith that one day you'll succeed!
  
  4. Stay focused - It's easy to get distracted when you are working towards a goal, so it's important that you don't let simple things distract you. Always keep an eye on the goal and visualize what you want and it will eventually manifest.
  5. Draw a Plan of action - our goals. You need a map to reach your destination, right?
  6. Stay committed - It's not enough to say "one day I'll be a millionaire" and they just let things "happen to you", you MUST go out there and take affirmative action on an ongoing basis in order to fully achieve. So stop procrastinating and become an action taker who is persistent and use this powerful force to allow yourself to have constantly committed actions manifested in you. Repeat, "Never give up, just one more time, one more time and I'll be there... just one more time, come on, I can do it!"
  Many of us give up when we fail the first or second time in our attempts. But do you know the biggest secret of success in life?
  Here is the big secret: It's impossible to get it right 100% of the time and it's because you fail that you'll learn what works and what doesn't. If you wait to get things right all the time you will be procrastinating for life. Perfection kills you. Instead, just keep going and succeed in everything you do.

The means and types of businesses have transformed with advent of era of e-commerce, resulting in global seller and buyer. The Internet offers consumer choice, business efficiency and recreation.
As a means of global communication it is so powerful in operation, yet so simple to use. Coupled by these benefit, there have emerged legal issues e.g. conflict of laws, consumer protection, securities and privacy, etc and to address these issues, we have to make amendments in substantive and procedural laws for providing legal framework for collection of taxes generated by e-commerce activities.
The tax statutes have provided us the details of sources of source of income but these vary according to the particular category of income in question. The critical question for electronic commerce taxation is how to analogize those transactions to the transactions in conventional commerce that are addressed in the tax statutes.
The determination of question of issue of territorial jurisdiction is also a crucial concern in e-commerce taxation. Rather the e-businesses which are falling in Pakistani tax jurisdiction for purposes of imposition of taxes or not.
The CBR can tax only Pakistani source of trade or business income of foreign individuals and corporations only when such income is attributable to a "fixed base" but the jurisdiction in cyber space is multi-dimensional, it could be at the residence of the seller or buyer or data encryption place. These are many tricky questions of jurisdiction which our existing tax statutes are ineffective to address them. We need here to make amendment in our tax statute for extension of Pakistani jurisdiction in cyberspace.
The record can be hosting at any jurisdiction, and application of retention and maintenance of record often arise legal issues which could only be solved according prevailing laws of the web hosting state. Legal issues arise when sellers or services providers choose to share the data with remote web server whose whereabouts is not known.
In current conditions, there is need for the CBR approval for keeping, maintenance, destruction and production of the storage of records electronically in prescribed manner and to have confidence in the processes and methodology used to store records electronically.
The CBR could simply retain the power to promulgate acceptable standards of electronic record keeping for tax purposes and to produce these records before court opens many legal questions. We don't have any extrinsic resources available for auditing, verifying and authenticating these records. Here we need reconstruction of statute for removal of inadequacy of tax laws. The booking requirement is useless unless the records are not accessed for the purposes of verification.
How to access the e-records hosted at a remote place? Rather the CBR have the administrative facility to access, verify, authenticate and provide the certified copies to court of law of these records. There are many advance devices with revenue authorities in advanced states like computer forensic, encryption and clipper chip for accessing these states but our tax statutes is silent on the establishment of these modern devices. What is recommended here that we should make these modern devices the part of tax statute for smooth and efficient running of tax administration.
Self-assessment relies on taxpayers voluntarily meeting their tax obligations. The self-assessment environment in the light of electronic commerce is causing the emergence of legal issues of compliance of tax return.
In e-commerce, deduction and location of the identity of persons behind the e-business is most crucial issues in tax compliance and electronic cash and e-money is accentuating existing problems. Here we need to redefine our tax statute in order to enhance the administrative requirement for meeting the statutory inadequacy.
The growing menace of tax evasion, mitigation and avoidance is too easy in electronic commerce technology and to curb this aggravating problem, the modern technologies are employed for the purpose of eliminating tendencies of avoidance but no anti-avoidance devices are used e.g. digital discovery authorities, computer forensic and surveillance authorities etc. These modern impartial authorities are often made part of the tax administration for the purpose of enhancing their efficiency and reducing tax avoidance.
We have legged behind in regulation of e-commerce taxation in the world. We need to reconstruct our tax statute at par with other countries within the framework defined by the UNICITRAL, the WTO, the OECD and the EU. UNICITRAL has provided the model laws for member states for avoidance of conflict of laws among them.

The writer is an advocate of High Court and practicing immigration and corporate laws in Pakistan since September 2001. Author can be contacted by Adil Law Company (Advocates and Immigration lawyers) Office No.3 2nd Flr Hafeez Chambers 85 The Mall Rd Lahore Pakistan Telephone: +9242-6306195 +9242- 6360108 Fax: + 9242 6360108 Cell: +92300 4254910 E-mail: adil.waseem@lawyer.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adil_Waseem

ACCA Pakistan Discussion Forum 2009: Looking Beyond Audit Committees
Posted by HuSni | 8:38 AM | acca, acca pakistan, discussion forum
ACCA Pakistan Discussion Forum 2009: Looking Beyond Audit Committees

29 September 2009: Many of the causal factors of the current economic conditions seem to be inextricably linked to a failure in corporate governance. Regulatory boxes may have been ticked but fundamental principles of good governance were breached. Board of directors needs to emphasis more on the performance of corporate governance than with its regulatory compliance. Boards should set clear goals, accountabilities, appropriate structures and committees, delegated authorities and policies. They should provide sufficient resources to enable executive management to achieve the goals of the organisation through effective management of day-to-day operations and monitor management’s progress towards the achievement of these goals. Board performance may be enhanced by setting up business useful board committees.
ACCA Pakistan is holding a discussion forum in Karachi on 1 October 2009 to deliberate upon best Corporate Governance practices in the current challenging economic conditions. The aim of this discussion forum is to initiate a discussion on the business case for board committees other than the audit committees.
Discussion forum will be featuring top management executives from banking and business community to share their views and reflections on the topic. It will also be attended by members and approved employers of ACCA Pakistan.
Signs of recovery based on fragile evidence, says ACCA survey
Posted by HuSni | 4:17 AM | acca, acca pakistan, ACCA Survey, fragile evidence,Pakistan Survey, research acca | 0 comments »
Signs of recovery based on fragile evidence, says ACCA survey

Claims that the world’s economy is recovering is based on fragile evidence, according to the latest Global Economic Conditions Survey by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).It has repeated its warning that world economic leaders should guard against complacency - and not confuse less panic over the crisis with strong evidence that the recession is over everywhere.

ACCA’s third quarter survey of 1,200 finance professionals in 92 countries has shown that while more finance professionals now believe the downturn has ‘bottomed out’ they also believe that a reliable recovery is still unlikely to return before late 2010 - more than a year away. Although business confidence continued to recover in the third quarter of 2009, those who saw improvements in conditions (31%) were still outnumbered by those who had lost confidence (33%).

While increasing percentage of members (34%) now believe that global economic conditions are either about to improve or already improving, the emerging consensus, expressed by 44% of respondents, appears to be that current conditions mark the bottom of the downturn and will persist for some time. Nearly 40% are reporting that their organisations’ income is unlikely to change over the next 3 months, with an equal number anticipating further losses of income, while only 22% have seen their prospects improve.

The survey also shows that as business incomes continued to decrease in the third quarter of 2009, there was a rise in late payment as well as supplier and customer bankruptcies. Investment in staff fell at an accelerated rate in the third quarter and investment in capital projects, which had previously shown signs of stabilising, seems to be weakening further.

The figures also revealed dramatic differences in how finance professionals thought government would react to the situation, with 77% of respondents in Africa and 60% in the Asia-Pacific region expecting increases in public spending, while 68% of Western European respondents expecting spending cuts. Western Europe was the only region in which public spending was, on balance, expected to fall over the next five years.
Online career planning for finance professionals
Posted by HuSni | 7:42 AM | acca, acca pakistan, finance planning, online carreer
Online career planning for finance professionals

A new online training resource – developed by accountants for accountants - is launched today by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).Called ACCA COMPASS, the resource assesses core competencies and abilities online. It is unique to ACCA and developed for accountants by finance professionals.
The resources allow members to benchmark their skills against a given role at various levels of experience. It also allows them to create a development pathway on the same career trajectory or into a parallel track. This is complimented by a guide book, also available online, "ACCA guide to career pathways in public practice".
Mr Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCA Pakistan, commented: “Our career pathways guide offers advice on working in areas such as audit, taxation and advisory work. It can help people answer the tough career questions like ‘Is this role right for me? How do I progress? Where do I go next?’ “Some may think they are locked into a particular role - but external moves are possible with careful career planning. For instance some public practice audit professionals can and do move into the corporate sector.”
“Continuing professional development (CPD) is integral to any credible profession - legal, medical and financial. When it comes to accountancy, to add value to their clients, all accounting professionals must remain competent and up to date throughout their careers - and with ACCA this is done through our dedicated CPD scheme calledACCA Realise. Together with ACCA Compass, accountants can be assured that they will be bringing benefit to business, that they'll be pointed in the right direction and that they will be taking an active role in their own careers.
ACCA Partners with OMV
Posted by HuSni | 7:28 AM | acca, acca pakistan, arif, Masud mirza, omv, partner
ACCA partners with OMV
ACCA Pakistan has awarded Platinum Approved Employer Status to OMV. This award is the highest level recognition in the Approved Employer Scheme and symbolizes OMV’s achievement of attaining best practice standards relating to the support of ACCA trainees and members in the workplace.
Mr Markus Turczyn, Head of Finance, OMV, commended ACCA Pakistan as their Professional Development and Training Partner andsaid that, “OMV will achieve new horizons of best practice standards through this partnership of professional excellence, which will develop our Finance Team to meet the challenges of Exploration & ProductionAccounting”.
Congratulating, OMV on this occasion, Mr Arif Masud Mirza, Head ofACCA Pakistan lauded OMV’s dedication towards employee retention and talent cultivation and said that this strategic partnership will indeed have a remarkable impact on their business value.
Also present at the ceremony were, Mr Syed Raza Haider – Financial Controller, Mr Naveed Akhtar – Manager JV Accounts and Mr Adeel Rahmani – HR Manager from OMV and Mr Haroon A Jan, Head of Business Development, ACCA Pakistan.
Paper 1.1 Chapter 2
Posted by HuSni | 8:50 AM | acca, acca pakistan, acca papers, chap2, chapter 2, paper 1.1
Paper 1.1
Chapter 2


The Accounting Concepts – Part 1 (The Summary)

Just a basic summary of those little things that we always tend to forget.
The Going Concern Concept implies that a business is a going concern, i.e. that
there is no reason to expect the liquidation of assets. Thus, the business may be
valued at its historical, or current cost, rather than its break-up or replacement
value. A further example to illustrate the application of the Going Concern concept,
may be clearly seen, when stock is valued. It is a practice to value stock at the lower
of its net realizable value or cost of purchase, this is because the going concern
concept implies that the stock is held to be sold at a future date.

The Accruals Concept is based on several ‘ideas’ or practices, which may be clearly
illustrated, if summarized in the following form:

1. Revenue and Costs must be recognized as they are earned or incurred.
2. Revenues must be matched with costs, and vice versa, and dealt with in the profit
and loss account of the period to which they relate.

It is for this reason, that we actually disclose the value of the creditors in the Balance
Sheet, and the value of debtors. Furthermore, although we may have paid rent of
BD 1000, for the next two years for example, we may only note the amount relevant
to this year’s profit and loss account, and the remaining balance, as a prepayment in
the Balance Sheet.

Furthermore, this is the reason why it is required to account for sales and purchases
when made, even though on credit, rather than when they are paid for.

As well as this, the figure for closing stock is also deducted from the figure of
purchases because the figure of closing stock relates to the opening stock figure of
next year’s accounts.

The Prudence Concept

1. a) Where there are alternative procedures
b) Or alternative valuations
c) The one selected should be the one which gives the most cautious
presentation of the business’s financial position or results.

2. a) Revenues and profits are not anticipated but are related to the period in
which they occur. E.g. when a sale is made.
b) Provision is made for all known expenses or losses whether these are known
for certain or just estimates.

What definition means in layman’s terms is simply, if the company is in doubt about
an expense or a liability that it may have, it should create a provision for it
immediately, and if the company anticipates any future gains or profits, from a future
sale for example, it should ignore it, unless realized.

Examples:

1. Provisions for Bad & Doubtful Debts
2. Stock should be valued at the lower of net realizable value or cost

Sales Revenue could be realized, if the following circumstances apply:

1. The transaction is for a specific quantity of goods at a known price.
2. The sales transaction is completed or it is known for certain that it will be
completed.
3. Cash is received for a purchase, or it is virtually certain that cash will eventually be
received.

Consistency Concept states that similar items within a single set of accounts, should
be similarly accounted for, and that they are treated the same from one period to
another.

The Entity concept states that a business must be regarded as a separate entity
distinct from its owners or managers.

Money Measurement, states that accounts will only deal with those items to which a
monetary value can be attributed, which means that subject matter such as staff is
ignored.

Separate Valuation Principle refers to the amount/cost attributable to an asset /
liability, since the valuation should deal with each component separately. E.g. an
independent valuation should be obtained for each item of stock, and their net
realizable values should then be aggregated to obtain the total value of stock.

The Materiality Concept refers to the following:

Only items material in amount or in their nature affect the true & fair view given by a
set of accounts. In other words, immaterial items are not paid that much attention.
But this is obviously based on a subjective judgment in deciding whether an item is
immaterial or not. Either way, the amount of the item and its context must be
considered.

Historical Cost Convention states that transactions should be recorded at their cost.

Stable Monetary Unit states that the Financial Statements must be expressed in
terms of a monetary unit, e.g. $.

Objectivity Concept states that accounts must be free from bias or subjectivity as
much as possible.

Time Interval, states that the activities of an entity must be split up into blocks of time,
e.g. daily, monthly or annually.

Substance Over Form, refers to a transaction in two distinct ways, ‘subject’ and
‘form’. Thus, the transaction should be accounted for and presented in accordance
with their economic ‘substance’ not their legal ‘form’. E.g. assets required on a hire
purchase are not legally owned by the buyer even though the substance of the
transaction refers to the buyer as the owner.

The Realization Concept states that revenues and profits are recognized when they
are realized. Basically the Realization Concept refers the question of when does an
entity realize a profit or a gain?
Simply, revenue may be recognized at the point of sale, when the following
conditions are satisfied:

1. The product or service has been provided to the buyer
2. The buyer recognized his liability to pay for the goods
3. The ownership of the goods has passed from the seller to the buyer.
4. The buyer has indicated his willingness to pay.
5. The monetary value of the goods has been established.

Revenue or profits may also be recognized at other situations even if a sale hasn’t
been established, such as:

1. Longterm Contracts, where profits/revenues are recognized when the production
on a section of the total contract is complete, rather than when the entire project is
complete.
2. Retail & Hire Purchase, where an actual sale isn’t made unless the buyer finishes
all of his installments. In this case, profit would be the interest added to the cost of
the asset sold.
Paper 1.1 Chapter 1
Posted by HuSni | 8:45 AM | 1.1, acca pakistan, acca papers, f1, paper 1.1, papers
Paper 1.1
Chapter 1

The Definition, Purpose, and the Regulatory Framework of Accounting

Well, this report isn’t an introduction to accounting as it may seem to be. It’s more like
a summary to the purpose of studying paper 1.1 .

Accounting is a way of recording, analyzing, and summarizing transactions of a
business.

Transactions are recorded in books of prime entry, and then analyzed and posted to
the ledgers and finally they are summarized in the financial statements.

Yet, the term ‘Accounting’ not only refers to Financial Accounting, but moreover,

a) Management Accounting
b) Financial Management
c) Auditing

The Purpose, of going through the process of preparing financial statements, may not
be required or needed by most companies, yet some must comply to do so by law.
Nonetheless, they are prepared so that owners, managers, lenders and other
interested parties can see how the business is doing. In other words, to provide
information about the financial position, performance and financial adaptability of an
enterprise that is useful to a wide range of users.

Depending on the users of financial statements, many may require access to different
information, but all share some basic needs. Some of the basic users of financial and
accounting information are:

a) Managers
b) Shareholders
c) Trade contacts
d) Providers of Finance
e) Governments and their Agencies, e.g. Inland Revenue and Registrar of
Companies
f) Employees
g) Financial Analysts and Advisors
h) Investors/ Public

As one may imagine, it may be very hard to satisfy all of the different users, yet, the
basic financial statements at the end of the day, are:

a) The Profit and Loss Account
b) The Balance Sheet

Furthermore, some companies may be required to produce annual reports, which
contain :

Non-Financial Statements, such as:
a) Director’s Report
b) Auditors’ Report
c) Chairman’s Report

Limited companies are required by law to prepare and publish accounts annually. The
form and content of the accounts are regulated primarily by the Companies Act 1985,
but must also comply with accounting standards.

The Regulatory System

Basically the Company Law requires that all companies must comply with the
Companies Act. Of the many requirements and regulations, it must be brought to one’
s attention, that the Financial Statements are required to represent a True and Fair
view of the state of affairs and Profit and Loss.

The Accounting Standard’s Board, previously known as the Accounting Standard’s
Committee, has issued the Accounting Standards, such as FRS’s and SSAP’s. The
accounting standards were developed with the aim of narrowing the areas of
difference and variety in accounting practice.

The Urgent Issues task force is an important part of the ASB in that it is required to
tackle urgent matters not covered by existing standards. The review panel, is
concerned with the examination and questioning of departures from accounting
standards by large companies.

Furthermore, the companies are required to follow the Accounting Policies, set out in
FRS 18 and the Companies’ Act. Those policies, are summarized in the diagram
above, but it must be noted that there is a distinction between the accounting policies
and accounting estimates.

The accounting policy is concerned with:

a) the recognition
b) Selection of measurement base and
c) Presentation

Of assets, liabilities, gains and losses of an entity. E.g. ‘Prudence or Accruals’? The
choice must be based on which may provide the most true and fair view.

The accounting estimate is the method used to establish the monetary value of
assets, liabilities, gains and losses using the measurement base selected by the
accounting policy,
e.g. depreciation (straight line or reducing balance?)

The ASB also developed a Statement of Principles, which is concerned by:

a) the objective of financial statements
b) the reporting entity
c) The qualitative characteristics of financial information.

Basically the statement of principles provided a Conceptual Framework, which forms
the theoretical basis for determining which events should be accounted for, how they
should be measured and how they should be communicated to the user. A conceptual
framework is a statement of generally accepted theoretical principles, which form the
frame of reference for financial reporting. These theoretical principles provide the
basis for the development of new reporting standards and the evaluation of those
already in existence. In other words, they are there to provide consistency, clarity and
information.

Furthermore, companies are required to comply with the regulations of the European
union, and various international bodies, and any stock exchange requirements
depending on their circumstances.

In addition to the Financial Statements, limited companies are required to provide
certain notes and disclosures to the accounts, such as:

1. Statement of movements in reserves
2. Details of Fixed Assets
3. Details of post balance sheet events
4. Details of contingent liabilities and contingent assets
5. Details of research and development expenditure.
6. Statement of total recognized gains and losses.
7. Note on historical cost profits and losses.

The following are the important features of Financial Statements

1- Relevance 3-Reliability 5-Objectivity 7-Comparability
2-Comprehensibility 4-Completeness 6-Timeliness

The Qualitative Characteristics of Financial Statements

Content
a) Relevance – Info that has the ability to influence decisions, Predictive Value,
Confirmatory Value.
b) Reliability – Info that is complete and faithful representation. Free from material
error, faithful representation, neutral, complete, and prudence.

Presentation
a) Comparability – similarities and differences can be discerned and evaluated.
Consistency and Disclosure.
b) Understandability – the significance of the information can be perceived. Users’
abilities, Aggregation and classification.
ACCA Pakistan organising ICFE week
Posted by HuSni | 9:39 AM | acca, acca pakistan, ICFE, P and G, pakistan, shamez mukhi, UK

ACCA Pakistan is launching International Certificate in Financial English (ICFE) Qualification in Pakistan this week (20 – 27 July 2009). During the week, ACCA will undertake a series of activities including presentations to well-known organisations in the IT, telecom, banking and FMGG sector and educational institutions. Other activities include radio show, free pre-testing for ICFE exams and seminars at ICFE tuition providers including SBS, CAMS, CFTR and Berlitz in Karachi. (pls change as per region)
The ICFE Qualification is jointly conceived by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and University of Cambridge ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) Examinations. It comprehensively develops ability across the four skill areas of reading, writing, listening and speaking. ICFE is particularly relevant for finance and accountancy professionals needing to perfect their financial English skills or for finance and accountancy students preparing for professional exams or individuals required to present and interpret financial information.
We take pride in sharing with you that Cambridge ESOL examinations are recognised by over 50 well reputed organizations in UK including Pricewaterhouse Cooper, World Bank, KPMG and Procter & Gamble. According to Ms Zainab Khan, Recruitment Manager ICI Pakistan, "Business success is inseparable from successful communication. Our businesses constantly demand excellence in communication, internally and externally. The English language is the the most widely used business language and is a tool we cannot do without. Therefore the Cambridge ICFE may well be an ideal solution to prepare our employees to deliver to our requirements. We certainly see it as a valuable addition to an ambitious accountant’s CV which may well improve his or her career ".

Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCA Pakistan says: "Being the international language of finance and accountancy, it is vital for professionals to have first-rate financial English language skills and the ability to communicate confidently with colleagues from the international business community".
Shamez Mukhi, Head of Marketing, Communications and Media Relations, ACCA Pakistan, said that, "Activities of the ICFE week are aimed at creating awareness about need of financial English skills. In the global economic scenario, finance professionals can not afford to have mediocre financial English skills."

For further information please contact:
Mr Shamez Mukhi- tel: +92 21 111 22 22 75
shamez.mukhi@pk.accaglobal.com

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)


Type
British chartered accountancy body

Founded [England, UK] (1904)

Headquarters London, [England, UK]

Industry
Accountancy and Finance

Subsidiaries
The Association of Authorised Public Accountants (AAPA)

Website
www.accaglobal.com



Its outdoor introduction
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is a British accountancy body which offers the Chartered Certified Accountant (Designatory letters ACCA or FCCA) qualification worldwide. It is one of the world's largest and fastest-growing accountancy bodies with 131,500 members and 362,000 affiliates and students in 170 countries (as at February 2009). The Institute's headquarters are in London with the principal administrative office being based in Glasgow. In addition the ACCA has a network of nearly 80 staffed offices and other centres around the world.
The ACCA is a founding member body of the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB) and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).
The term 'Chartered' in ACCA qualification refers to the Royal Charter granted in 1974 by Her Majesty the Queen in the United Kingdom.
Since Chartered Certified Accountant is a legally protected term, individuals who describe themselves as Chartered Certified Accountants must be members of ACCA and, if they carry out public practice engagements, must comply with additional regulations such as holding a practising certificate, being insured against any possible liability claims and submitting to inspections.
The Association of Authorised Public Accountants (AAPA), one of the British professional bodies for public accountants, has been a subsidiary of ACCA since 1996.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 History
• 2 Qualifications
o 2.1 Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) - Professional Scheme
o 2.2 Certified Accounting Technician (CAT)
o 2.3 Other qualifications
• 3 Membership
o 3.1 ACCA Affiliate versus Members
o 3.2 Fellowship
o 3.3 Continual Professional Development
• 4 Legal & Mutual Recognition
o 4.1 Europe
 4.1.1 United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland
 4.1.2 European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) & Switzerland
 4.1.3 Turkey
 4.1.4 Others
o 4.2 North America
 4.2.1 United States
 4.2.2 Canada
o 4.3 Oceania
 4.3.1 Australia
 4.3.2 New Zealand
o 4.4 Caribbean, Central & South America
o 4.5 Africa
 4.5.1 South Africa
 4.5.2 Zimbabwe
 4.5.3 Others
o 4.6 Asia
 4.6.1 China
 4.6.1.1 Hong Kong SAR
 4.6.1.2 Macau SAR
 4.6.1.3 Taiwan
 4.6.2 Singapore
 4.6.3 Malaysia
 4.6.4 Pakistan
 4.6.5 Others
• 5 Global Partnership
o 5.1 Professional Partners
o 5.2 University Links
o 5.3 Representation worldwide
• 6 See also
• 7 Notes and references
• 8 External links

[edit] History
ACCA can trace its history back to 1904 when eight people formed the London Association of Accountants. This was done in order to allow more open access to the profession than was available through the existing accounting bodies at the time, notably the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. As of 2006, the goal of ACCA is to become the world’s leading global professional body by size.
A timeline of key dates in the history of ACCA and its predecessor bodies is:
• 1930 : London Association of Accountants successfully campaigns for the right to audit companies
• 1933 : London Association of Accountants renamed London Association of Certified Accountants
• 1939 : Corporation of Accountants (Scottish body, founded 1891) merges with London Association of Certified Accountants to become the Association of Certified and Corporate Accountants
• 1941 : Institution of Certified Public Accountants (founded 1903, and incorporating the Central Association of Accountants from 1933) merges with Association of Certified and Corporate Accountants
• 1971 : Association of Certified and Corporate Accountants renamed Association of Certified Accountants
• 1974 : Royal Charter received from Her Majesty the Queen.
• 1974 : ACCA becomes one of the six founding members of the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB).
• 1977 : ACCA becomes a founding member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).
• 1984 : Association of Certified Accountants renamed Chartered Association of Certified Accountants
• 1995 : ACCA members vote at an extraordinary general meeting to amend the name of the body to the Association of Chartered Public Accountants and to introduce the designation Chartered Public Accountant. The Privy Council subsequently rejected this proposal as it was concerned about the inclusion of the term public. It did however agree that any accountancy body that had a royal charter could be granted the right to use chartered as part of the members’ designation.
• 1996 : Chartered Association of Certified Accountants renamed Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Members become entitled to use the title Chartered Certified Accountant (Designatory letters ACCA or FCCA). The Association of Authorised Public Accountants becomes a subsidiary of ACCA.
• 1998 : ACCA's syllabus formed the basis of the United Nations' global accountancy curriculum titled Guideline on National Requirements for the Qualification of Professional Accountants published in 1999. ACCA was a participant in the consultative group, which devised this global Benchmark, and reference to ACCA's role is included throughout the publication.
• 2001 : ACCA received a Queens Award for Enterprise in International Trade, recognising the growth of ACCA and its role in160 countries worldwide.
• 2002 : ACCA received its second Queens Award for Enterprise in the space of 12 months, honouring its continuing work on social and environmental issues with the confirmation of the Queens Award for Enterprise in the Sustainable Development category. ACCA's first Queens Award, for Export Achievement, was presented in 1996.
• 2009 : ACCA members allowed to provide and to charge for probate services with effect from 1 August 2009 under The Probate Services (Approved Bodies) Order 2009 Number 1588.
[edit] Qualifications
The ACCA offers the following qualifications:
[edit] Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) - Professional Scheme
The Professional Scheme is the primary qualification of the ACCA and, following completion of up to 14 professional examinations and three years of supervised, relevant accountancy experience, enables an individual to become a Chartered Certified Accountant.
• In accordance with ACCA's traditions, there is open access to its examinations.
• As part of the Professional Scheme, a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Applied Accounting (after completing Part 2 of the Professional Scheme and submitting a Research project), is offered in association with Oxford Brookes University)
• The current syllabus is made up of 14 examinations, although some exemptions are available. The papers are split into three parts. Within Part 3, there are four optional papers (of which two must be selected).
• Subjects examined include financial accounting, management accounting, financial reporting, taxation , company law, financial management, audit and assurance and corporate reporting.
• A new ACCA qualification started from the December 2007 examination sitting. The new syllabus updates the qualification for recent developments in the accountancy profession and reorganises the papers within the qualification. It is ACCA policy to update the examination syllabus on a regular basis. Changes were made previously in 2001 and 1994.
The ACCA Professional examinations are offered worldwide twice yearly, in June and December.
[edit] Certified Accounting Technician (CAT)
This is an introductory accounting technician qualification. Although CAT can be obtained as a standalone qualification, it is often the case that individuals study for CAT as an introduction to accountancy prior to starting the Professional Scheme. It usually takes 1.5 years to complete the Certified Accounting Technician exams. However, there is no restriction on the number of papers that can be attempted in one attempt.
Alternatives to the CAT qualification include the Association of Accounting Technicians qualification. ACCA was a sponsor of the AAT before breaking its links in favour of the CAT qualification in the mid 1990s.
Currently, the Certified Accounting Technician qualification (CAT) has been placed on the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) National Qualifications Framework and publicly funded educational institutions are now eligible for funding to train towards the qualification in United Kingdom.
[edit] Other qualifications
The ACCA offers other qualifications:
• MBA (for ACCA full members, offered in association with Oxford Brookes University)
• BSc(Hons) in Applied Accounting, offered in association with Oxford Brookes University
• MSc in Financial Management, offered in association with Heriot Watt University
• Diploma in Financial Management (DipFM). Introduced in the mid-1980s as the Certified Diploma in Accounting and Finance, a financial qualification designed for non-finance managers.
• Diploma in International Financial Reporting (DipIFR)
• Diploma in Financial Management
• Certificate in International Auditing (CertIA)
• Certificate in International Financial Reporting (CertIFR)
[edit] Membership
[edit] ACCA Affiliate versus Members
In the first instance, individuals register as student members to undertake the Professional Scheme qualification.
Upon successful completion of the examinations, student members are automatically transferred to Affiliate status.
"For ACCA affiliates to gain admission to full membership, they must demonstrate, on the application form, that they have obtained a minimum of three years of acceptable, supervised, practical experience in an accountancy role (or roles) and have reached the required standard of competence".[1]
[edit] Fellowship
Fellowship, or senior membership of ACCA, or being Chartered Certified Accountants above 3 years or 5 years(According to the new rules), is awarded on the following bases:
• after 3 years continuous membership, upon application, with documented Continuing Professional Education; or
• for members admitted to Associateship before 2002, automatically after five years continuous membership.
ACCA has decided that from 1 January 2008, Fellowship will be awarded based on 5 years continuous membership, with compliance with Continuing Professional Education requirements. Advancement to Fellowship will be automatic provided the member has not breached CPE requirements. Members admitted before 2005 may still apply for Fellowship under the 3 year rule before 1 January 2008.
Fellow members of ACCA use the designatory letters FCCA in place of ACCA.
As of 2006, there are 115,345 members and 296,000 affiliates & students in 170 countries.[1]
[edit] Continual Professional Development
Before 2005, Continual Professional Development (CPD) was mandatory only for holders of practising certificates and insolvency licences. From 2005, ACCA is extending mandatory CPD to all members on a phased basis:
• Phase 1: Effective 1 January 2005, for members admitted to Associateship on or after 1 January 2001 (plus all practising certificate and insolvency licence holders)
• Phase 2: Effective 1 January 2006, for members admitted to Associateship 1 January 1995 and 31 December 2000
• Phase 3: Effective 1 January 2007, for members admitted to Associateship on or before 31 December 1994.
It is permissible for a member to adopt CPD earlier than the deadline.
[edit] Legal & Mutual Recognition
[edit] Europe
[edit] United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland
• The ACCA or Chartered Certified Accountant qualification is fully recognised in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.
o Under the Royal Charter granted by Her Majesty the Queen, ACCA works in the public interest.
o ACCA is a Designated Professional Body under the Financial Services and Markets Act, licensing firms of Chartered Certified Accountants to conduct a range of incidental investment business activities.
o ACCA is a Recognised Professional Body under the Insolvency Act to issue permits to individual Chartered Certified Accountants to conduct insolvency appointments.
o ACCA is also a Recognised Qualifying Body and Recognised Supervisory Body in relation to company auditing under the Companies Act 1989.
o ACCA is a member of the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB). Members of these bodies are deemed to hold equivalent-level qualifications and advertisements for jobs often state that an organisation is looking for a CCAB-qualified individual.
o Full members of CCAB organisations including ACCA can apply for ICAEW membership subject to certain criteria. Details
o Only ACCA, ICAEW, ICAI and ICAS are able to authorise members to conduct audit, insolvency and investment business work in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.
• Outside these countries, legal recognition by government authorities, and mutual recognition by equivalent overseas institutes, varies from country to country. Even where full legal or mutual recognition is not available, ACCA members can sometimes obtain advanced standing in terms of sitting local accountancy examinations. Additionally, in many instances, ACCA's strong global reputation may obviate the need to acquire a local designation.
• Similarly, many (although not all) universities and educational providers will recognise ACCA as equivalent to at least a Masters degree in accountancy, for the purpose of obtaining credit to acquire a local Masters degree or enter an advanced study program.
The Irish educational regulatory authorities - Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC) has assigned ACCA Qualification to Level 9 of the Irish National Qualifications Framework (NQF) in 2008. Level 9 holds Irish postgraduate qualifications, such as postgraduate diplomas and masters degrees.
[edit] European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) & Switzerland
• The ACCA qualification is legally recognized by all member countries of the European Union under the Mutual Recognition Directive. This recognition extends to the European Economic Area nations and Switzerland. For example a holder of the ACCA or Chartered Certified Accountant qualification could practice as an accountant in all member countries of the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland, but could only describe him/herself as ACCA or Chartered Certified Accountant rather than local professional accountant qualification. Access to local professional qualifications is based on an aptitude test. However, it is necessary to be a citizen of one of the EEA states or Switzerland to benefit from this Directive.
[edit] Turkey
• ACCA and TÜRMOB (The Union of Chambers of Certified Public Accountants of Turkey) at Turkey signed a partnership agreement in 2004 which enables TÜRMOB members resident in Turkey to follow the ACCA Professional Scheme qualification and achieve ACCA membership.
[edit] Others
• The ACCA currently is recognized by the national accounting institutes with the joint scheme relationships in:
•
o Armenia (Association of Accountants and Auditors in Armenia);
o Georgia (Georgian Federation of Professional Accountants and Auditors).
As of end of 2006, there are 64,574 members and 91,379 students/affiliates in Western Europe, UK and Ireland, as well as 3,279 members and 17,273 students/affiliates in Central/Eastern Europe respectively.
[edit] North America
[edit] United States
• A mutual recognition between ACCA and AICPA/NASBA does not exist, but is under negotiation as of December 2006. However, it has effectively been put on hold pending a decision by the UK regulatory body, the Professional Oversight Board of Accountancy (POBA). It should also be noted that even if ACCA gained statutory recognition, it would still be up to the individual states to grant reciprocity within their state. [2]
• Currently ACCA membership is recognised by the Colorado State Board of Accountancy as meeting the educational requirements to sit for the US Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination. The majority of ACCA members who pass the CPA exam may apply for licensing as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the state of Colorado, USA after completing a qualifications evaluation.
• As of 2002, World Education Services (WES) indicated that the evaluation awarded 9 U.S. semester credits for every subject passed in ACCA exams resulting in a total of 126 U.S. semester credits based on ACCA studies, so it allows ACCA associate members to sit for uniform CPA examination at the states with 120 U.S. semester credits requirements. [3]
As of end of 2005, there are 1,315 members in USA.
[edit] Canada
• ACCA announced a Mutual Recognition Agreement with CGA Canada effective from 1 January 2007.[2]
• ACCA is recognized by Canadian government as an eligible qualification to audit federal government institutions in Canada [3]
• As of 2006, Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, World Education Services (WES) and the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor indicated that the evaluation recognized ACCA as having the Canadian equivalence of a Bachelor's Degree (four years) in Accounting.[4]
• The Canadian branch of ACCA is pursuing recognition for statutory audit purposes in the province of Ontario under the province's Public Accounting Act of 2004
As of 2006, ACCA has 1,100 members and over 400 students residing in Canada, the largest concentration of which live in Ontario.
[edit] Oceania
[edit] Australia
• The ACCA qualification is statutory recognised as a prescribed body for insolvency purposes under the Corporation Act 2001, section 1282 and for audit purposes by ASIC under Practice Statement 180 Auditor recognition in Australia.
• For migration purposes, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia and National Institute of Accountants recognise the ACCA qualification as sufficient to obtain a skill assessment as an Accountant for the purpose of migration to Australia.
• There is no mutual recognition agreement in place with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia (ICAA) or CPA Australia (CPAA).
• The ACCA qualification is recognised as at least equivalent to an Australian bachelors degree in accountancy (although not by CPA Australia). This allows ACCA members to obtain a direct entry to the examinations or advanced standing from Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia or National Institute of Accountants.
• Subject to passing exams in Australian tax and law, ACCA members may obtain the Professional National Accountant (PNA) designation from the National Institute of Accountants. On the same basis, ACCA members can obtain direct entry to the CA Program of the ICAA.
As of end of 2007, there are 1,817 members in Australia.
[edit] New Zealand
• The ACCA qualification is statutory recognised in New Zealand legislation for registration to perform statutory audit work. ACCA is gazetted under the relevant act (Under Section 199 of the Companies Act 1993: Qualifications of Auditors) in New Zealand. An ACCA member can practice as long as they hold an ACCA public practice certificate (with audit qualification) in their country of origin.
• A mutual recognition agreement existed between ACCA and the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA). This was terminated by NZICA on 1 January 2003 and replaced with a new limited recognition of the ACCA qualification. Details (MS Word)
[edit] Caribbean, Central & South America
• The ACCA qualification currently is legally recognized by the national accounting institutes with the joint scheme relationships in:
o Barbados (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados);
o Bahamas (Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants);
o Belize (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Belize);
o Dominica (Recognized by Companies Act 1994 in the Commonwealth of Dominica);
o Guyana (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana);
o Jamaica (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica);
o Trinidad and Tobago (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Trinidad and Tobago);
o Saint Lucia (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Saint Lucia);
• The ACCA qualification is legally recognized in the following jurisdictions:
o French Guiana (Part of France and hence subject to European Union regulations).
[edit] Africa
[edit] South Africa
• The ACCA qualification currently is recognized by the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA).
• The ACCA Professional Scheme has been registered at Level 7 (equivalent to master degree level) on the South African National Qualifications Framework (NQF)in South Africa.
[edit] Zimbabwe
• ACCA Zimbabwe is one of the constituent bodies of the Public Accountants and Auditors Board (PAAB). The PAAB is a statutory body established in 1996, to oversee the regulation of the profession and maintain a register of persons entitled to work or practise as public accountants or public auditors in Zimbabwe. Only members in good standing of ACCA and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe register as auditors.
[edit] Others
• The ACCA qualification currently is legally recognized by the national accounting institutes with the joint scheme relationships in:
o Ghana ([Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ghana])
o Botswana (Botswana Institute of Accountants);
o Egypt (The Egyptian Society of Accountants & Auditors);
o Ethiopia (The Ethiopian Professional Association of Accountants and Auditors);
o Lesotho (Lesotho Institute of Accountants);
o Malawi (The Society of Accountants in Malawi);
o Mauritius (The National Equivalence Council of Mauritius);
o Nigeria (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria);
o Sierra Leone (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sierra Leone);
o Swaziland (Swaziland Institute of Accountants);
o Zambia (Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants);
o Tanzania (National Board of Accountants and Auditors).
[edit] Asia
[edit] China
[edit] Hong Kong SAR
• A new Agreement of Recognition Arrangement (ARA) between ACCA and HKICPA (Local statutory accountancy body) was put in place on 22 August 2006, backdated to 1 July 2005. Details.
This replaced the old Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) that was terminated by HKICPA on 30 June 2005. It was a disaster for ACCA members when they had to go through so called "8 unfair terms" e.g.holding a degree recognized by HKICPA (ACCA degree offered by OUB was failed in the test), worked under HKICPA authorized employers,attend workshop, passed Final Professional Examination (FPE) etc.
On the contrary, HKICPA members could join in ACCA without any further requirement.
• However, ACCA qualification is highly recognized by the Hong Kong employment market due to international and historical influences. Most HKICPA members qualified through HKSA-ACCA joint scheme which was operated for more than 20 years. HKSA (Hong Kong Society of Accountants) was the old name of HKICPA.
As of end of 2005, there are 16,609 members in Hong Kong SAR
[edit] Macau SAR
• The ACCA currently is legally recognized with the joint scheme relationships by Macau Society of Certified Practising Accountants (Local statutory accountancy body) in Macau.
[edit] Taiwan
• According to the rules 6(iii) & 9 of accountancy examiniation published by Taiwan government, the British qualified accountants - ACCA members or Chartered Certified Accountants are entitled to obtain advanced standing in the examinations to become a Certified Public Accountant in Taiwan. （Details）
[edit] Singapore
• ACCA and national accountancy body, Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (ICPAS), have operated a Joint Scheme of Examinations since 1983. The Joint Scheme is based on ACCA's examinations and allows students to sit papers in Singapore law and tax. All students who successfully complete the Joint Scheme examinations satisfy the examination requirements of both ACCA and ICPAS and are eligible to apply for membership of both bodies. ACCA's student numbers in Singapore for the Joint Scheme have topped 11,000.
• A blog has been set up at www.acclawsg.wordpress.com to assist those preparing for the Singapore variant law paper.
• Singapore government recognizes ACCA qualification to meet her migration skills assessment to immigrate in Singapore.
As of end of 2005, there are 5,161 members in Singapore.
[edit] Malaysia
• On the 13th August 2007 ACCA and the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) signed a mutual recognition agreement (MRA), providing a route for members of both accountancy bodies to join the other body and to enjoy the benefits which both respected designations have to offer.
• The ACCA or Chartered Certified Accountant qualification currently is recognized by the Malaysian Institute of Accountants, non MIA member will not be considered as qualified accountant in Malaysia.
• ACCA is statutory recognised in Part II of the First Schedule of the Accountants Act, 1967.
As of end of 2005, there are 7,417 members in Malaysia
[edit] Pakistan
• The ACCA qualification is legally recognised as Qualified Company Secretary in Pakistan, and there is partial recognition between ACCA and the local statutory accounting body (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan). ACCA affiliates are exempted first four modules (A-D) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan qualification.
• ACCA in Pakistan has seen tremendous growth during the last five years with thousands of students enrolling every year into ACCA programs. Various local colleges and universities are also now offering ACCA programs in all major cities of the country.
[edit] Others
• The ACCA currently is legally recognized by the national accounting institutes with the joint scheme relationships in:
o Vietnam (The Ministry of Finance of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam);
o Brunei (Brunei Institute of Certified Public Accountants);
o Cambodia (The Ministry of Economy and Finance Kampuchea Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Auditors);
o Laos (The Ministry of Finance of the Lao People's Democratic Republic).
o Bangladesh(The Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh)
[edit] Global Partnership
[edit] Professional Partners
• Through a range of partnerships with professional institutions, ACCA offers students and members access to other related professionals.
o The full members of ACCA are one of two professional bodies' members (Another is the charterholders of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)) to be recognized by UK's Securities & Investment Institute (SII) as the equivalent level of SII full membership (MSI). (Details) Full membership of SII is recognized by several national investment professional bodies such as in Australia (Financial Services Institute of Australasia (Finsia), formerly the Australian Institute of Banking and Finance) and Hong Kong (Hong Kong Securities Institute (HKSI).
o ACCA and Financial Services Institute of Australasia (Finsia), formerly the Australian Institute of Banking and Finance) have signed a global partnership agreement. Under the agreement, students and members of ACCA may obtain advanced standing in the Institute examinations.
o ACCA and the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) have signed a global partnership agreement. Under the agreement, the two organisations will co-operate, collaborate and share resources across their global networks of offices and affiliate bodies.
o ACCA and the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) have signed a global partnership agreement to enable ACCA’s members worldwide to take the CIOT’s Advanced Diploma in International Taxation (ADIT).
o ACCA members may access an accelerated route to Associate membership of the UK Association of Corporate Treasurers(ACT).
o ACCA and Investors in People (IIP) have signed an agreement that will enable IIP recognised organisations in the UK and Ireland to apply directly for the award of ACCA Approved Employer (professional developments stream), that means ACCA members working in IIP recognised organisations will benefit from the recognition of the work-related learning they obtain and will be able to take advantage of simplified CPD reporting.
o Institute of Directors (IoD) and ACCA are working on a number of initiatives to promote an agenda of good governance and high standards in learning and development. From 2007, ACCA members seeking to enhance their skills and improve the performance of their organisation will be able to undertake the Chartered Director qualification – a professional qualification for directors.[5]
o Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) in United States has agreed that Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) only have to pass four-papers final examination to get the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designation. This is not based on a specific agreement but is the result of IMA's policy and similar accreditation is given to many other IFAC bodies, as well as to others with the equivalent of a U.S. bachelors degree (any discipline).
[edit] University Links
• Through a range of partnerships with several amounts of universities in this world, ACCA offers students and members access to graduate and postgraduate level accountancy education.
o The relationship between ACCA and the UK's Oxford Brookes University, has offered ACCA students and members to the Oxford Brookes BSc (Honours) in Applied Accounting, and the online supported MBA.
o According to the agreements between ACCA and Tsinghua University in Beijing (China), Tsinghua will recognise the Oxford Brookes University BSc(Hons) Applied Accounting degree stated as the above, and will accept the graduates from this BSc(Hons) degree program to further study Tsinghua's master degree programs [4].
o ACCA and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London have signed a global partnership agreement to enable ACCA’s members and affliates worldwide to take the SOAS's Postgraduate Diploma in Public Financial Management [6].
o ACCA has signed the agreement with the University of Cambridge ESOL examinations (English for Speakers of Other Languages) to result in the launch of the International Certificate in Financial English (Cambridge ICFE), a new financial English exam.
o Together with the Said Business School, at the University of Oxford, ACCA offers the Diploma in Financial Strategy, a Masters-level course that provides the essential elements of an MBA for qualified accountants, and is designed to extend knowledge and develop senior management skills.
o ACCA and Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University have signed a joint agreement to enable ACCA Part 3 students, affiliates and members to gain a fast track entry through free-of-charge credit transfer and exemption when they matriculate for the MSc in Financial Management by distance learning or face-to-face study at a global network of centres.[7][8]
o ACCA partners Exeter University to offer members postgraduate qualifications in leadership (MA degree in leadership). [5] [6]
o Through a range of recognitions by many universities in this world including UK, Hong Kong and Universitas 21 Global, there are the accelerated routes for ACCA members to their master degree programmes.[9]
[edit] Representation worldwide
• ACCA is represented on many committees and bodies around the world.[10]
o ASEAN Federation of Accountants (AFA)
o Confederation of Asia Pacific Accountants (CAPA)
o Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB)
o Eastern, Central and Southern African Federation of Accountants (ECSAFA)
o European Financial Reporting Advisory Group
o Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens (FEE)
o Fédération des Experts Comptables Méditerranéens (FCM)
o Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
o IFAC
o Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean (ICAC)
o Inter-American Accounting Association (IAA)
o South Eastern European Partnership on Accountancy Development (SEEPAD)