Monday 15 July 2013

#3 - ICAEW

Assalamualaikum wbt,



Welcome to the third installation of the series.
Gittew!
This time, I’ll be reviewing about ICAEW  - The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.


 Apparently, in Malaysia there is only one tuition provider that is Sunway TES.
The one and only!
Wonder how they will cater to the rising demand.

The most interesting part for me is always the courses.

The courses are broken down into two parts; Professional and Advanced.
There are 12 courses under Professional level. Six are grouped under Knowledge-based and the other six under Technical-based.
The Knowledge-Based courses are;
  • ·         Business and Finance
  • ·         Accounting
  • ·         Law
  • ·         Assurance
  • ·         Principles of Taxation
  • ·         Management Information

These 6 courses are assessed through computer based exams, lasting for 1.5 hours.

The other six courses under Technical-Based are
  • ·         Financial Management
  • ·         Business Strategy
  • ·         Audit and Assurance
  • ·         Financial Accounting
  • ·         Financial Reporting
  • ·         Taxation

These on the other hand lasted for 2.5 hours and in the form of written exam.
The passing marks for all 12 Professional papers is 55%.

The second part of the exam is the Advanced Level.
There are three papers under this group.
  • ·         Business Reporting (3.5 hours exam)
  • ·         Business Changes (3.5 hours exam)
  • ·         Case Study (4 hours exam)

At this level, the passing marks is 50%.
Candidates are only allowed to seat for the exam for four (4) times.
Unlike ACCA yang memberi anda kebebasan mutlak untuk retake hingga lulus. 
And there is no particular order for the courses. 
Ambek la rasa mana yang nak dulu. Tadehal. 

Now, let me share with you the step by step guide to get the most coveted title of ‘ACA’.

First, get yourself registered with ICAEW.
The registration fee is £165 and the same amount prevailed for the annual membership fee.

Secondly, apply for the exemption.
You can check on their website but I took the liberty to check for Uniten and UiTM’s Accounting students. For Uniten, we will be exempted from 7 papers; Business Strategy, Financial Management, Accounting, Assurance (only if you take Internal Audit), Law, Management Information and Principle of Taxation.

For UiTM, it is a total of 8 papers. All of the above plus Business and Finance.

While we are on the topic, Imma tell ya the passing rate. Bagi motivasi sikit jiwa.
For the Technical-based courses, it ranges from 69% (Financial Reporting) to 90% (Taxation).
Knowledge-based courses on the other hand; 83% (Law) to 95% (Business and Finance).
Note that these passing rate is for the first time attempt.

The Case Study can only be taken at the final year of the training. 

The third step is the Technical Work Experience (TWE). 
The requirement is for 450 days. You can be working in any of these areas; accounting, auditing, taxation,  financial management, insolvency or IT.

Fourthly is the Initial Professional Development (IPD).
This is conducted via seminars, experts sessions dll.
It is to covers
  • Ethics and professionalism
  • Personal effectiveness
  • Technical and functional expertise
  • Business awareness
  • Professional judgement
The fifth step is to carry out the Structured Training in Ethics (STE)
It is an online training and assessment session involving case studies, self test questions, essays. All 3 stages should be completed.

And lastly, the time has come to officially apply for ICAEW membership.

Usually, the case in Malaysia is that the students sitting for ICAEW are sponsored by the Authorized Training Employees (ATE). Some of the ATEs are;
  • The Big 4
  • Petronas
  • Maybank
  • CIMB
  • BDO
  • Boustead
  • Hong Leong Bank
What happen is that beside the employment contract, the students will have to sign a training contract with the ATEs. This will let you earn and learn at the same time  Which explains why the classes are held during weekends (at Sunway).

However, there is a special collaboration between Sunway TES and BDO for the High Flyers Scheme. 
The requirements are;
Passed A-Level or STPM with flying colors or
2nd class upper GPA from UK uni in either accounting or non accounting degree or
2nd class upper GPA from local uni that is accredited by ICAEW (Accounting only) and
passed the interview and English assessment by BDO.

In this scheme, the students are to study full time for ICAEW, went for structured internship with BDO for up to 8 months and complete the training at BDO as permanent staff.

You may ask..
Why ICAEW.
Well.

They provide information services through intensive library and regular publications.
Technical guide (Regulation news and best practices guide)
Free advice and support.
Member group and networking.
Career support and leadership development.
Meeting and working facility.
Globally recognized, jumping stone to better career prospects.

Ciao!
Hope this helps!!


4 comments:

  1. Assalamualaikum, kak. Saya dah habis diploma in accountancy kat uitm. Saya interested nak belajar ICAEW but tak tau nak buat pilihan antara degree or ACA. Akak rasa patut saya belajar degree dulu ke or terus sambung study ACA?

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    Replies
    1. Hi! From my experience, if you know for certain that you have the grit for it, you can do ACA straight. But it can be a bit difficult. Ada kawan akak yang dah ambik degree then only ambik ACCA pun drop out masa first paper sebab tak boleh cope. Plus if you do your degree first, by then you'll have more exemption and more matured. In the end, it is up to you :D

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    2. Ohh, okay then. My mom said I should have my degree first before ambik paper ACA. Sbb takut saya fail. At least kalau saya ada degree, kalau fail paper ACA pun saya dah lepaskan degree. Lagipun paper ni kan mahal. Kalau fail tu yg tak larat tu, sbb tak mampu nak bayar. Scholarship Peneraju for ACA pun takde provide for lepasan diploma, semua utk yg dah bekerja. Tak macam ACCA. But if saya ambik degree dulu yg bestnya sbb ada exemption. Akak dulu study ACCA after SPM or lepas diploma/degree baru ambik?

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    3. Betul tu. At least ada degree. Sebab professional papers ni tough. Tapi dik, Peneraju ada sponsor untuk lepasan diploma; only for ACCA though. Yang itu, syaratnya 22 tahun ke bawah and kena study ACCA full time kat INTEC.

      Sebab syarat ICAEW tak silap akak kena study sambil bekerja. Akak ambik ACCA after diploma + degree. Itupun after degree akak tunggu setahun then baru sambung ACCA nie :D

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