ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) takes another major step forward in shaping the future of accountancy by unveiling major innovations to its Master’s level qualification, tailored to meet the strategic challenges of the 21stcentury’s disruptive economy.
ACCA’s new ground-breaking redesign of its qualification draws on an extensive, two-year review and consultation with members, employers and learning providers around the world, including regulators and employers in Singapore.
Helen Brand OBE, Chief Executive of ACCA, says: ‘Through this redesign of the ACCA Qualification, we will further equip our students with forward-thinking strategic abilities and advanced skill-sets getting them workforce ready and shaping them to be professional accountants who will power global businesses.
This redesign ensures that the ACCA Qualification meets the demands of global professional accountants in the 21st century while maintaining the rigorous standards of technical, ethical and professional skills that has established ACCA as the international benchmark for accountancy qualifications.’
New developments
ACCA’s latest redesigns enhances the breadth and depth of the top level of its qualification, with greater focus on employability and the practical application of core skills in the contemporary workplace. It will include:
Reuter Chua, Head, ACCA Singapore, says: “ACCA has just celebrated its 80th anniversary in training finance professionals in Singapore. Singapore’s economy is dynamic and it needs accountants who are strategic and forward looking. It is crucial accountants acquire skills to ensure they are work ready to face a rapidly changing economy. They need to support new global business models and regional collaborations with ASEAN countries. I believe the new ACCA qualification is in line with Singapore government’s strategies to allow professionals to leapfrog into a new decade of innovation and technological advancements. This is an opportune time for accountants to reinvent themselves, ensuring they have the essential skills of tomorrow.”
Added to these developments, ACCA also offers the world’s first Master’s degree integrated with a professional accountancy qualification, delivered in partnership with the University of London. This unique arrangement means students can take the Master’s route while completing their Strategic Professional exams, or take the Master’s degree after the ACCA Qualification.
Brand added that the new emphasis for the qualification is a major step forward for the future of accountancy: “These developments are a significant evolution to our qualification which reflects the changing role of accountancy professionals. Increasingly, accountants are called upon by their companies to demonstrate that they are strategic, innovative and forward thinking senior executives.”
The thoroughness and rigour of ACCA in planning the changes, is further emphasised through the part that ACCA’s stakeholders will continue to play in how the qualification will be delivered in the future.
“Most importantly, we’ve listened carefully what current professionals and employers consider will be vital attributes in the professional accountants of the future, to 2020 and beyond. I believe that ACCA-qualified accountants, in the face of disruptions of the future economy, will take the lead in advancing the accountancy profession in Singapore,” said Brand.
The ACCA Qualification is the only professional accountancy qualification which combines local relevance with international best practice. This means that ACCA members are able to work at the highest level in any industry in any sector. In a globalised world this unique feature offers a real edge and benefit to employers.
