Qualifications

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Qualifications

The ACCA offers the following qualifications:

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 two parts, the fundamental level (9 examinations consisting of F1 Accountant in Business, F2 Management Accounting, F3 Financial Accounting,F4 Corporate and Business Law, F5 Performance Management, F6 Taxation, F7 Financial Reporting, F8 Audit and Assurance, and F9 Financial Management) and the Professional level (5 examinations). Within the professional level there are three compulsory papers (P1 Governance, Risk & Ethics, P2 Corporate Reporting, P3 Business Analysis) and four optional papers (P4 Advanced Financial Management, P5 Advanced Performance Management, P6 Advanced Taxation and P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance, of which two must be selected).

    Subjects examined include financial accounting, management accounting, financial reporting, taxation, company law, audit and assurance and financial management.

It is ACCA policy to update the examination syllabus on a regular basis. Changes were most recently made in 1994, 2001 and 2007. The revised syllabus updated the qualification for recent developments in the accountancy profession and reorganised the papers within the examination.

The ACCA professional examinations are offered worldwide twice yearly, in June and December.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Chartered_Certified_Accountants#Qualifications

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Certified Accounting Technician (CAT)

This is an introductory qualification for accounting technicians. 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?3 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 National Qualifications Framework of the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCA), and publicly-funded educational institutions are now eligible for funding to train towards the qualification in United Kingdom.

Under a recent re-structure of its courses, the ACCA has placed the CAT as part of the Foundations in Accountancy suite of qualifications.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Chartered_Certified_Accountants#Certified_Accounting_Technician_.28CAT.29

[Badshah Mamun]

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 (CDipAF), a financial qualification designed for non-finance managers. This qualification was withdrawn for new registrants at the end of 2010 and will be replaced with Foundations in Accountancy awards at the end of 2011

    Diploma in International Financial Reporting (DipIFR)

    Certificate in International Auditing (CertIA)

    Certificate in International Financial Reporting (CertIFR)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Chartered_Certified_Accountants#Other_qualifications