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Professionalism, ethics and workplace competences are at the heart of the new international accountancy qualification, launched this week by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).

Called the ACCA qualification , it will be first examined in December 2007, and builds on the success of ACCA's Professional Scheme, which has become the world's fastest-growing global accounting qualification. For the first time, ACCA will be adopting a unique three-pronged focus on ethics through:

• a dedicated and holistic postgraduate-level examination
• tailored practical experience requirements
• a unique online module which will present students with challenging real-life ethical dilemmas

Clare Minchington, managing director of education, training and development at ACCA said: "The ACCA qualification will provide the knowledge, skills and professional values for finance professionals working in both the public and private sectors. It contains an exciting mix of mandatory and optional performance objectives, concentrating on professional values, ethics and governance - essential skills needed for the finance profession as it moves towards strengthened codes of conduct, regulation and legislation."

She added: "After the accounting scandals of recent years, it's vital for the accountants and financial professionals of tomorrow to be equipped to operate in an industry subject to such close scrutiny. Our new qualification prepares the way for the professional accountant and I'm especially delighted with the online ethics module because it's the first of its kind."

Another significant change is the way in which trainees gain the practical experience required for qualification. In consultation with employers and members worldwide, a new competence framework has been devised. Additionally, trainees will be required to participate in annual reporting of work experience records, rather than on completion of their practical experience requirement.

Summing up the launch of the ACCA qualification, Clare Minchington said:
"Our stakeholders helped us to design this new qualification. As an organisation that advocates transparency, it was only right that we conducted a detailed and comprehensive review to ensure that the opinions of all our key stakeholders - including employers, regulators, tuition providers, students and members - were taken into consideration when developing the new ACCA qualification. We have received over 25,000 responses during an extensive two-year consultation. That volume of feedback is staggering and most importantly we've listened and acted upon the responses we received."

Details of the new qualification can be found on ACCA's website: www.accaglobal.com/horizon.

Notes to editor

1. ACCA is the largest and fastest-growing international professional accountancy body and has over 105,000 members and 240,000 students in over 170 countries.
2. ACCA experts are available for media comment on all aspects of UK and international accounting, auditing, tax, small business, environmental reporting, corporate governance, business law and public sector finance.

Michelle Seth-Langbein, Manager-Marketing & Communications

+65 6734 8110 or msethl@acca.org.sg