ACCA – A finance qualification fit for the future
View(s):Being part of a professional membership body such as ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) brings a number of clear and tangible benefits for the member, clients and the general public.
With more than one million professional accountants working in positions of strategic or functional leadership for businesses and governments worldwide, accountants and their professional bodies have a central role in protecting the public interest and delivering public value.
ACCA supports its members in delivering public value not only by satisfying the needs of individual clients or employers, but also by considering the wider impact of their professional activities on society. It’s the public at large, through access to high quality accountants, who are the ultimate beneficiaries of everything ACCA does to promote professionalism and ethics.
ACCA can trace its history back to 1904, when a professional body for accountants of ability, regardless of their background, was created in London. Over the years ACCA membership has grown, and ACCA celebrated reaching 200,000 plus members in late 2017. This is testament to an organisation that has grown on the global stage and continues to do so.
Professionalism denotes upholding certain standards – technical ability aligned with an ethical mind set. For ACCA members, it also means keeping their skills and abilities up to speed through Continuous Professional Development (CPD).
The recently published Regulatory Board’s annual report into its work shows how regulation is integral to ACCA’s brand promise of global quality, covering a number of areas, including:
- qualification and examinations having a framework to ensure the integrity of ACCA’s examination process
- issuing certificates and licences to members involved in certain types of work, including auditing and insolvency work, ensuring they meet ACCA’s standards for authorisation including relevant qualifications and experience
- monitoring compliance with standards, rules and regulations, providing monitoring services to other regulators, and promoting best practice
- conciliating service complaints, and investigating and dealing with alleged misconduct of its members, students and firms.
It’s vital to ACCA that all members meet and adhere to the highest professional values, ethics and standards as the brand reputation relies on such values. All members are required to pass rigorous examinations, set globally, obtain practical experience to qualify; maintain their competence through mandatory continuing professional development and adhere to the ACCA Code of Ethics.
Always learning: In order for members to maintain their competence, they have to complete a structured CPD programme every year. ACCA has all the resources members need to keep their professional edge sharp and to add value to the work they do.
ACCA often works in partnership with other organisations to ensure member’s skills remains relevant.
ACCA’s strategic alliance with CA ANZ is a great example of two bodies working together for the benefit of members. The alliance formed in 2016, have shown how organizations and members have much in common. ACCA has worked with CA ANZ on events and joint reports that inform and update members who can take advantage of CPD opportunities.
CA ANZ members have access to a huge range of online courses and BPP learning programmes, while ACCA members can enjoy CA ANZ member rates on its Lifelong Learning platform, offering a great number of opportunities in a range of formats, from webinars to workshops. Eligible ACCA members are also able to obtain CA ANZ membership, providing them access to a wider network and better market recognition in Australia and New Zealand.
ACCA also has links with other bodies such as the Institute of Internal Auditors and CFA Institute to offer benefits to members. With IIA, ACCA has recently offered a course on internal audit, and ACCA’s three year MoU with CFA Institute aims to showcase the public value of both professions and the need for collaboration between accountants and financial advisers.
With management and leadership being such a focus for the profession, ACCA has also teamed up with the Chartered Management Institute to offer a Chartered Manager Award. Universities have teamed up with ACCA to offer members further qualifications should they wish to take them. This means that ACCA members can benefit from a BSc with Oxford Brookes, and also the first intergraded MSc with the University of London (UoL).
With strategic leadership high on the agenda of many employees, the qualifications and CPD courses offered with partners are added benefits that can really make a CV shine. They offer an added benefit to what it means to be a professionally qualified accountant, ready to lead the finance function where they work, or for the clients they advise and guide.