Alexandra Boudanova
Do you work with financial reporting under IAS or need to understand or apply International Accounting Standards, to develop high quality management accounting systems in your enterprise or improve financial management procedures? Then the best way to achieve these is to study for an internationally recognized professional qualification based on the above standards. There are two such qualifications in Russia now: CIMA and ACCA, American qualifications like CPA now use US
GAAP.
In both the CIMA and ACCA qualifications, financial accounting and financial reporting are based on IAS and auditing is based on ISA (you can actually choose between international and UK standards, but 99% of Moscow students go for the international variant). There are also management accounting, taxation and tax planning, financial management, information analysis and management in both qualifications. CIMA is more focused on the management accounting aspect, while ACCA pays more attention to financial reporting, taxation and
auditing.
The CIMA and ACCA exams consist of 3 levels and take approximately 3 years to
complete.
Both bodies have recently launched new syllabuses. The main development in CIMA is the introduction of a 15-page long case-study at the final level. It will integrate material covered in previous studies, particularly the final level papers, to ensure higher-level skills of application of all accumulated knowledge to a practical situation. The Case Study will be issued in advance of the exam to allow the students to undertake preparatory analysis. However, further information of about 5 pages will be given at exam itself. Another change in CIMA is the greater proportion of multiple-choice type questions (MCQ) at lower levels (maximum 50% at the Foundation
stage).
ACCA mainly continues with different types of scenario-based questions at all levels, without any percentage of MCQ. At higher levels exam questions predominantly become mini
case-studies.
Under the new ACCA scheme you can concurrently study for an Oxford Brookes University B.Sc. in Applied Accounting. To achieve this you need to submit a research project for university assessment. The first such degrees were issued this year, including to students from
Russia.
Under the new ACCA syllabus there is some degree of choice at the final level where you can choose 2 subjects out of 4 – auditing, taxation, performance management, business information management. It allows focus on areas of
interest.
For both qualifications all exams are written, anonymous and marked by independent examiners to ensure 100% objectivity. To pass any exam you need to score 50 marks out of 100. To achieve these results requires sustained effort during a 2-3 month period. The exam standard is high, making those who qualify a valuable commodity. Russian students generally achieve pass rates above the international
average.
CIMA and ACCA qualifications in Russia are now preferred by many employees and employers. There are about 1000 ACCA students and 300 CIMA students in Russia, but CIMA is growing more rapidly. Different departments or companies usually choose the qualification most relevant to their business needs. The «Big 5» auditing departments traditionally do ACCA, but management consultancy departments in the same companies are going with CIMA. Many manufacturing companies prefer CIMA, especially for management accounting staff, but banks and investment companies more often choose
ACCA.
Nowadays there is an increasing demand for qualified people. In «Job pages» you can often see «ACCA, CIMA or similar qualifications required». In the future it will become necessary to be qualified with an internationally recognized
body.
Both ACCA and CIMA can be studied for in Moscow through several organizations including Emile Woolf International at its own training center near to the «Prospect Mira» metro
station.
Emile Woolf International offers a wide range of courses for ACCA and CIMA professional examinations: home-study courses (including study books and tests), weekend classes and revision courses with the best professional lecturers. Being a dynamic institution we are constantly improving and updating our range of courses to further meet the specific requirements of our students. Last year we introduced a help line in two languages (Russian or English as preferred by student) with a local tutor accessed by telephone, fax or e-mail. This year we additionally offer private tuition courses in Russian, this is especially useful for foundation level students who often have difficulties with terminology and essay-type
questions.
EWI has been granted by the professional bodies the privilege to offer ACCA and CIMA Internally-Assessed Courses for foundation stage. Satisfactory completion of EWI examinations entitles candidates to exemption from ACCA or CIMA's own Foundation Level examinations. Even if you miss the official CIMA and ACCA registration dates you can still join our course and take the first examinations at the next available sitting. In addition, for CIMA there will be a reduced number of examinations (3 instead of 5). For ACCA there will also be a reduced syllabus, because in internal exams there are overlaps between papers (i.e. inventory valuation methods) are only examined once.
Alexandra Boudanova, ACCA, can be contacted in Moscow by phone (095) 423 7013 or by e-mail ewhelpline@cityline.ru.