एसिसिए सम्बन्धी सेमिनार हुने

• Professional Accountancy as a career choice
• ACCA as a professional accountancy qualification
• NCA as the learning provider for ACCA/FIA

Professional Accountancy as a career choice
 There is plethora of choices available to an individual when it
comes to building a respectable career both in terms of the financial
return and the status.  However, the fact that professional accountancy
stands out distinctly among these choices is mainly because of the wide
range of career prospects/scope that this provides. Businesses require
accountants, finance managers, auditors (internal/external), managers,
consultants, policy makers as part and parcel of their operations and
strategies. The need for this skilled manpower is best addressed by the
professional accountants.

When it comes to Nepalese context, ICAN, ICAI and ACCA are the three
major professional accountancy bodies fulfilling the need for this
skilled manpower. Each of the bodies has its own features and USPs
(Unique Selling Proposition) that sets it apart from the others.  This
write up is basically focused upon ACCA as a choice for professional
accountancy qualification as has been already stressed.

ACCA as a professional accountancy qualification
 Established in 1904 with the objective of contributing to the global
economy by producing qualified accountants, ACCA is the largest and
fastest growing professional accountancy body in the world. This is
evidenced by the fact that ACCA operates in 170 countries throughout the
world, has 83 offices and centres globally, 299 examination centres,
147,000 members, 500,000 students and the fact that every eight minutes
someone, somewhere in the world registers with ACCA.  In a nutshell,
ACCA is the global professional accountancy body with an unrivalled
network.

The USPs of ACCA that sets it apart from its competitors includes:

• Flexibility (there is no group system in ACCA unlike the other
  bodies existent in Nepal, though there was one previously, meaning
  subjects need not be passed in groups. The maximum number of papers that
  can be sat for in a sitting is restricted to four; the minimum depends
  upon one’s own convenience and workload. A pass in a paper is permanent,
  only the failed paper needs to be re-sat. The combination of the papers
  can be decided upon, there is no hard and fast requirement that the
  papers need to be completed in a particular sequence)

• Global Mobility (an ACCA student is a global student. Study
  can be furthered and completed in countries ranging from Australia to
  Zimbabwe i.e. A to Z. Exams can be sat for in any of the 299 examination
  centres throughout the world. For e.g if a student completes nine of
  his/her ACCA papers in Nepal and then decides to go to UK and further
  his/her ACCA study, s/he should then complete only the remaining five
  out of the total 14 papers of ACCA)

• International Recognition (As has already been stressed
  ACCA is a global qualification with its members working for and adding
  value to employers in many different parts of the world. With this
  qualification you are not restricted to any particular geographical
  boundary but can build a truly global career. Should opportunities come
  around and the employers value your skills/competence, you can readily
  work for them no matter in what part of the globe they are based)

Besides these other pertinent features of ACCA include the following:

•  Innovation (This is something which lies at the heart of ACCA.
  ACCA periodically reviews the qualification, updates/upgrades it if need
  be, streamlines its operations, examination systems. All these
  contribute to ensure that ACCA continues to be more relevant to the need
  of time and is valued by employers and students alike)
•  ACCA is the first professional accountancy body to introduce the
  online career portal: accacareers.com to support its members for job
  placements and career building.
• ACCA is the first professional accountancy body to offer 24/7
  administrative support to its members, students and other stakeholders.
• ACCA’s unique partnership with Oxford Brookes University enables its
  students to gain a B.Sc (Hons) Degree as well as an MBA in course of
  gaining the ACCA qualification.
• ACCA has partnerships with many accountancy bodies and employers
  globally which ensure that employers are aware of ACCA as a
  qualification and the skills/competencies that its members have.
• ACCA supports the continuing professional development of its members
  and the technical development of its students/tutors through the
  provision of the magazines- Accountant in Business and Student
  Accountant/Teach Magazine respectively. These magazines are highly
  valued by its readers.
• ACCA’s website has unrivalled wealth of resources readily accessible
  to its member, students, learning providers and other stakeholders.
• ACCA is an application based qualification rather than knowledge
  based. Besides ensuring that its students have the required level of
  technical competences, ACCA exams are so designed that they ensure
  students have the required analytical skills to understand and interpret
  the implications of the numbers and facts to businesses. This thus
  ensures that the students are more work –ready and thus capable of
  providing immediate value the employers.

Course structure, time duration and cost:
ACCA as a qualification has been structured into three modules namely
the Knowledge Level, the Skills level and the Professional Level. There
are 3 papers under knowledge, 6 under skills and 7 under professional
(out of which 5 are to be completed: 3 being compulsory and the rest 4
optional). Altogether 14 papers have to be sat for and completed. Exams
are held twice a year one in June while the other in December. Maximum
of 4 papers can be sat in one sitting while the minimum depends upon
one’s convenience as determined by workload and other relevant factors.
The entry point at ACCA depends upon an individual’s qualification
and/or the board/university s/he has gained the qualification from.

Exams are just one facet of any professional qualification. Like all
other professional qualifications, experience is another integral part
of ACCA. Besides the completion of the exams of the fourteen papers, one
needs to additionally attain 36 months (3 years) Practical Experience
Requirement. Another beauty of ACCA is that the PER can be fulfilled in
course of ACCA study or even after the completion of the exams of all
papers. However, it is advisable that the experience is gained in course
of the study. This ensures that the skills are transferred to the work
while afresh and the knowledge gained in course of work aids the
professional level studies as well.

Another integral part of ACCA qualification is ethics. A student
needs to compulsorily complete the online professional ethics module
which ensures s/he understand the nuances of ethics and the
need/importance to behave ethically in business scenarios.

A distinction needs to be made here between an ACCA Affiliate and an
ACCA Member. An individual is an ACCA Affiliate if he has just completed
the 14 papers’ exams but is yet to complete the 36 months’ Practical
Experience Requirement. While an individual is an ACCA Member if s/he
has completed the requirements of all the three Es i.e. Exams,
Experience and Ethics.

As regards the cost, an investment of tentatively Rs. 3.5 lakhs has
to be made in the context of Nepal for the completion of ACCA
qualification. I personally believe that this is reasonable given that a
world class qualification is being gained and that too locally.

ACCA in the context of Nepal
With increased production of ACCAs in Nepal fuelled by the increasing
number of Learning Providers and the increasing market awareness, ACCAs
are presently working in diverse sectors ranging from the developmental
to banks and financial institutions and other major corporate houses.
As more ACCAs are being absorbed onto the economy and are providing
value to the employers, employers too are becoming increasingly aware of
ACCA as a qualification and the value to the business in being
associated with a globally reputed qualification. Presently there is a
high concentration of ACCAs in the developmental sector and MNCs with an
equally substantial number in the banks and financial institutions in
Nepal. Many ACCAs prefer to move abroad and build careers in regions
like Middle East, Europe and Australia as well.

However, an issue of contention in Nepalese context is that ACCA and
ICAN have not struck any agreements as such which could have benefitted
the members of both the professional accountancy bodies and the
possibility of any such agreement also seems remote in the present
context. Needless to say then that ACCAs in Nepal are not entitled to
hold CoP (Certificate of Practice) i.e. the audit license which is
issued by ICAN in Nepal.  Nonetheless because of the impact of
globalization, Nepal being a member of WTO and the adoption of IAS/IFRS
(International Accounting Standards/International Financial Reporting
Standards) in Nepal, the employment prospects look increasingly
brighter.

NCA as the Learning Provider of ACCA/FIA

NCA was established in 2004 by a team of professionals from diverse
fields with the aim of contributing to the national economy by producing
qualified professionals through the conduction of ACCA/FIA courses. NCA
has been relentlessly working since then to further the growth,
recognition and awareness of/about ACCA in Nepal. NCA has come a long
way in this duration from being a directory subscriber to being the only
Approved Learning Partner (ALP-ST Gold) of ACCA in Nepal. The
continuous growth and success of NCA has been fuelled by a meticulous
team of management, faculties and staff whose commitment and passion in
their craft has brought NCA to the position that it presently is in. NCA
management is committed in its continuous drive for evolution and
pursuance of excellence.

Gold Status for a Learning Provider basically entails the following:

• Quality of lecture (evidenced by high pass rates in each of the individual papers)
• Professional learning ambiance (evidence by the physical infrastructure and the learning tools/techniques)
• High quality learning/administrative and career support provided to
  the students in facilitating their transition from student to
  membership.

NCA can proudly claim that it excels in all these three fronts
and has been continuously recognized by ACCA as the best learning
provider of ACCA/FIA in Nepal.

I sincerely believe that this write-up has helped the readers to have
a glimpse of the prospects of professional accountancy as a career
choice, ACCA as a professional accountancy qualification and NCA as the
leading learning provider of ACCA/FIA in Nepal.

Should you have any queries and comments, please feel free to mail me at [email protected].