internationalisation

With effect from the December 2007 session, the CAT and ACCA Qualification syllabuses will be internationalised. GLOBAL REACH ACCA is the worlds largest and fastestgrowing global professional accountancy body with 296,000 students and 115,000 members in 170 countries. We offer internationallyrecognised qualifications to people of application, ability, and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance, andmanagement. As ACCA is a truly global professional accountancy body, it is appropriate to introduce an international format and style for the syllabuses to reflect this increasingly global profile. This change is now even more appropriate given the accelerating convergence of country-specific financial reporting standards, with international GAAP in many jurisdictions, including the UK. INTERNATIONALISATION From December 2007, all global syllabuses will use international terminology. In addition, ACCA will use the generic dollar ($) as its currency of illustration in questions and answers, rather than the GBR pound (). The papers mainly affected by this change will be those on management accounting, performance management, and financial management. To a lesser extent, other papers will also be affected, such as Paper F1, Accountant in Business, Paper P1, Professional Accountant, and Paper P3, Business Analysis, which may include references to financial terminology, financial data, or reports. In all these papers, rather than using the and other UK-based 38 student accountant September 2007 terminology, international GAAP terminology and the $ will be used in numerical and financial questions, including examples of summarised financial data and extracts from external financial reports. ACCA already offers adapted papers for auditing and financial reporting. These papers continue to be offered in international format and in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, or UK formats and will retain local currency andformats. WHO IS AFFECTED? The revised syllabuses will affect all CAT and ACCA Qualification students who sit exams from December 2007 onwards. HOW WILL STUDENTS BE AFFECTED? The impact of the internationalisation of the ACCA syllabuses is limited to those global papers that previously used UK GAAP accounting terminology and formats, and which presented financial data in the denomination of the GBR pound. The papers affected are highlighted in Tables 1 and 2. Law and tax variant papers continue to use the relevant local currency and terminology. However, Paper F4 (GLO) will adopt the generic dollar and international format, where relevant. NEW MATERIALS AND FURTHER INFORMATION ACCAs approved publishers BPP and Kaplan Publishing will issue updated textbooks to reflect the new internationalised syllabuses for those papers affected. For further information, please see the Syllabuses, Study Guides, and Pilot Papers, which can be found on the ACCA website, or contact ACCA Connect.

technical

on international terms
relevant to all CAT and ACCA Qualification papers

From December 2007, all global syllabuses will use international terminology. In addition, ACCA will use the generic dollar ($) as its currency of illustration in questions and answers, rather than the GBR pound ().

technical

TABLE 1: EFFECT OF INTERNATIONALISATION ON CAT PAPERS CAT PAPER Paper 1, Recording Financial Transactions Paper 2, Information for Management Control Paper 3, Maintaining Financial Records Paper 4, Accounting for Costs Paper 5, Managing People and Systems Paper 6, Drafting Financial Statements Paper 7, Planning, Control and Performance Management Paper 8, Implementing Audit Procedures Paper 9, Preparing Taxation Computations Paper 10, Managing Finances IMPACT No impact International and UK versions already available IFRS/IAS terminology and format, and generic $ currency unit No impact International and UK versions already available IFRS/IAS terminology and format, and generic $ currency unit No impact as this is a non-finance paper No impact International and UK versions already available IFRS/IAS terminology and format, and generic $ currency unit No impact International and UK versions already available Local currency and terminology used IFRS/IAS terminology and format, and generic $ currency unit

TABLE 2: EFFECT OF INTERNATIONALISATION ON ACCA QUALIFICATION PAPERS ACCA QUALIFICATION PAPER Paper F1, Accountant in Business Paper F2, Management Accounting Paper F3, Financial Accounting Paper F4, Corporate and Business Law Paper F5, Performance Management Paper F6, Taxation Paper F7, Financial Reporting Paper F8, Audit and Assurance Paper F9, Financial Management Paper P1, Professional Accountant Paper P2, Corporate Reporting Paper P3, Business Analysis Paper P4, Advanced Financial Management Paper P5, Advanced Performance Management Paper P6, Advanced Taxation Paper P7, Advanced Audit and Assurance IMPACT IFRS/IAS terminology and format, and generic $ currency unit IFRS/IAS terminology and format, and generic $ currency unit No impact International and UK versions already available Generally, no impact as this is a non-finance paper. The global law paper will use generic $ and international terminology where relevant IFRS/IAS terminology and format, and generic $ currency unit Local currency and terminology used No impact International and UK versions and adapted papers already available No impact International and UK versions and adapted papers already available IFRS/IAS terminology and format, and generic $ currency unit Limited impact, but will use IFRS/IAS terminology and format, and generic $ currency unit No impact International and UK versions and adapted papers already available Limited impact, but will use IFRS/IAS terminology and format, and generic $ currency unit IFRS/IAS terminology and format, and generic $ currency unit IFRS/IAS terminology and format, and generic $ currency unit Local currency and terminology used No impact International and UK versions and adapted papers already available September 2007 student accountant 39