New ICAG syllabus to strengthen accountancy training
The Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG), the regulator of the accounting profession and education, has launched a new syllabus for the professional chartered accountant (CA) qualifying programme.
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The new syllabus, which will be applicable in the CA examinations from November, this year, and be in force until 2029, is a drastic improvement on the old syllabus, with particular emphasis on building the competency of students in technology, technical and professional skills, ethics and sustainability.
It was developed by ICAG in partnership with the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), with support from the United State Agency for International Development (USAID), GAVI Alliance and the Global Fund.
Present at the launch held at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) last Monday were the President of ICAG, Sena Dake, the Director of Banking Supervision Department of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Osei Gyasi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ICAG, Kwasi Agyemang, Council Members of ICAG and students from universities and various senior high schools (SHSs).
Empowerment
Ms Dake said the new syllabus would strengthen the accountancy profession and empower professionals to be more innovative and competitive.
“Our new syllabus is a gateway to unlock potential, foster critical thinking and empower people with skills needed to navigate the complexity of the ever-evolving world.
Through this syllabus, we are establishing high quality educational standards in accounting,” she said.
Ms Dake said the new syllabus was also part of a project by IFAC and PAFA to help review the syllabus of professional accountancy programmes across Africa to improve the standards in accountancy education and the profession.
Ghana, she added, was part of two countries on the continent selected for the pilot project.
“The main focus of this new syllabus is therefore not only to strengthen the accountancy profession in Ghana, but in Africa at large,” she added.
Syllabus
Giving details on some of the changes in the new syllabus, a consultant for the project, Pippa Riley, said the appreciation of technology in accounting was a key feature because technology had revolutionised the way accountants worked.
“We are not number crunchers anymore, we use technology to crunch these numbers and then use our skills to analyse the output,” she said.
On ethics, Mr Riley said the syllabus had been designed to introduce and explain the importance of ethics at all levels of the training to allow students to appreciate the fact that ethics was career-long and not something to learn to pass examinations.
Ms Riley said the need for sustainability in the accounting profession had also been inculcated in the syllabus to help students appreciate its impact on the profession.
Commendation
Mr Gyasi, for his part, commended ICAG for its continuous commitment to promote excellence in the training and practice of accounting.
He further lauded the regulatory body for its collaboration with the Bank of Ghana which helped in the development of effective financial reporting standards for banks and other financial institutions during the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
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