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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 reputation, influence and 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
1984 Association of Certified Accountants renamed Chartered Association of Certified Accountants
1998 United Nations recommended ACCA's Professional Scheme as the global benchmark of professional accountant training contents to all countries in this world.
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Qualifications
The ACCA offers the following qualifications:
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A. 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 the 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) and three core papers (which must be sat and passed together, subject to the referral rules).
A new ACCA qualification will start 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.
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B. 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.
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C. Other qualifications
The ACCA offers other qualifications:
Diploma in Financial Management (DipFM). Introduced in the mid-1980s as the Certified Diploma in Accounting and Finance this is a financial qualification designed for non-finance managers.
Diploma in International Financial Reporting (DipIFR)
Diploma in Corporate Governance
Certificate in International Auditing (CertIA)
Certificate in International Financial Reporting (CertIFR)
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Associateship
In the first instance, individuals register as student members to undertake the Professional Scheme qualification.
Upon completion of the examinations, student members are automatically transferred to Affiliate status. To become a Chartered Certified Accountant, or a full member of the Association, affiliates must have three years of supervised, relevant accountancy experience and must have documentary evidence of this in the form of the Student Training Records. In common with many United Kingdom professional bodies, full membership of ACCA is known as Associateship, which are entitled to describe themselves as Chartered Certified Accountant and carries the designatory letters ACCA.
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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.
Fellowship, or fellow members of ACCA are entitled to use the designatory letters FCCA in place of ACCA.
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Continuing Professional Education
Before 2005, Continuing Professional Education (CPE) was mandatory only for holders of practising certificates and insolvency licences. From 2005, ACCA is extending mandatory CPE 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 permissable for a member to adopt CPE earlier than the deadline.
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(A.)United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland
Under the Royal Charter granted by Her Majesty the Queen, ACCA works in the public interest.
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.
ACCA is a Recognised Professional Body under the Insolvency Act to issue permits to individual Chartered Certified Accountants to conduct insolvency appointments.
ACCA is also a Recognised Qualifying Body and Recognised Supervisory Body in relation to company auditing under the Companies Act 1989.
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.
Full members of CCAB organisations including ACCA can apply for ICAEW membership subject to certain criteria. Details
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 bachelor degree in accountancy, for the purpose of obtaining credit to acquire a local bachelors degree or enter an advanced study program.
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(B.)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.
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(C.)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.
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(D.)Others
The ACCA currently is recognized by the national accounting institutes with the joint scheme relationships in:
Cyprus (Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus);
Malta (Malta Institute of Accountants );
Armenia (Association of Accountants and Auditors in Armenia);
Georgia (Georgian Federation of Professional Accountants and Auditors).
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(A.)United States (US)
A mutual recognition between ACCA and AICPA/NASBA does not exist, but is under negotiation as of July 2006.
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 or providing evidence of one year's public accounting work experience.
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(B.)Canada
There is no mutual recognition agreement between ACCA and CICA or CGA Canada. However, as of June 2006:
ACCA is recognized by Canadian government as an eligible qualification to audit federal government institutions in Canada *
ACCA members may obtain advanced standing in the examinations to become a Certified General Accountant, subject to meeting certain criteria. ACCA members can obtain CICA membership subject to passing Canadian's Uniform Evaluation (UFE). Since not all provinces including Quebec recognize Certified General Accountant (CGA) qualification, the best way for ACCA members to practise in anywhere of Canada is to obtain CICA membership.
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
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(A.)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.
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.
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(B.)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.
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Caribbean, Central & South America
The ACCA qualification currently is legally recognized by the national accounting institutes with the joint scheme relationships in:
Belize (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Belize);
Dominica (Recognized by Companies Act 1994 in the Commonwealth of Dominica);
Saint Lucia (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Saint Lucia);
The ACCA qualification is legally recognized in the following jurisdictions:
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(A.)South Africa
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.
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(B.)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.
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(C.)Others
The ACCA qualification currently is legally recognized by the national accounting institutes with the joint scheme relationships in:
Egypt (The Egyptian Society of Accountants & Auditors);
Ethiopia (The Ethiopian Professional Association of Accountants and Auditors);
Lesotho (Lesotho Institute of Accountants);
Malawi (The Society of Accountants in Malawi);
Mauritius (The National Equivalence Council of Mauritius);
Swaziland (Swaziland Institute of Accountants);
Zambia (Zambia Institute of Chartered Public Accountants).
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1. 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.
Moreover, the ACCA qualification is highly recognized by the Hong Kong employment market due to international and historical influences.
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2. 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.
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3. Taiwan
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(B.)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.
Singapore government recognizes ACCA qualification to meet her migration skills assessment to immigrate in Singapore.
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(C.)Malaysia
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(D.)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.
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(E.)Others
The ACCA currently is legally recognized by the national accounting institutes with the joint scheme relationships in:
Vietnam (The Ministry of Finance of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam);
Brunei (Brunei Institute of Certified Public Accountants);
Cambodia (The Ministry of Economy and Finance Kampuchea Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Auditors);
Laos (The Ministry of Finance of the Lao People's Democratic Republic).
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Professional Partners
Through a range of partnerships with professional institutions, ACCA offers students and members access to other related professionals.
ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) 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.
ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) 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).
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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See also
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