ACCA Increase to exam and exemption fees

From 16 August 2009, the exam and exemptions fees for the ACCA Qualification will be increased. These fees will apply to all students who register with ACCA after the closing date of 15 August and to all students entering for the December 2009 exams.

New fees

Papers F1-F3 £53

Papers F4-F9 £66

Papers P1-P7 £78

Students who registered for the ACCA Qualification before 15 August and have submitted requests for exemptions will still pay the existing exemption fees:

Papers F1-F3 £50

Papers F4-F9 £60

Why is ACCA increasing fees?

The demand for the ACCA Qualification continues to grow and more students are sitting exams in more locations than ever before. Consequently, the costs we incur in running our exams continue to increase.

In addition, to maintain the rigour and reputation of our exams, we are continuing to invest in the latest technologies in exam assessment and delivery to ensure our exams continue to be administered in an efficient and secure manner.

Please can you inform your students of these changes.

Regards

ACCA

Global ACCA pass rates for the June 2009

More than 5,000 students successfully complete exams

17 Aug 2009

A total of 187,335 candidates took 370,715 papers in ACCA's June 2009 exams session. This compares with 182,449 students taking a total of 365,528 papers in December 2008.

The exam results, issued on 17 August 2009, revealed that 5,416 students successfully completed their final examinations to become ACCA affiliates.

The pass rates for the June 2009 sitting of the ACCA Qualification are as follows:
F1 Accountant in Business - 73%*
F2 Management Accounting - 57%*
F3 Financial Accounting - 55%*
F4 Corporate & Business Law - 43%
F5 Performance Management - 41%
F6 Taxation - 61%
F7 Financial Reporting - 30%
F8 Audit and Assurance - 34%
F9 Financial Management - 42%
P1 Professional Accountant - 48%
P2 Corporate Reporting - 44%
P3 Business Analysis - 50%
P4 Adv Financial Management - 30%
P5 Adv Performance Management - 32%
P6 Adv Taxation - 37%
P7 Adv Audit and Assurance - 37%
SOURCE: ACCA

Train the Trainer

ACCA Pakistan’s teacher training initiative

As part of ACCA’s continued efforts towards developing excellence in professional accounting education and establishment of best practices among tertiary accounting educators, a workshop - “Train The Trainer” was held today at a local hotel in Karachi led by Dr Afra Sajjad, Head of Education and Policy Development, ACCA Pakistan and Mr Wali Zahid, CEO, Skillcity. The participants appreciated ACCA’s innovative efforts at enhancing the capacity of accounting faculty. They felt that the workshop was very useful and relevant to their work as it enabled them to learn new teaching skills and methodologies.  Speaking at the event, Dr Afra stated that the “Through initiatives like Teach the Trainer ACCA aims to facilitate tutors to help young men and women of Pakistan to pursue their ambition of a successful career in finance, accounting and taxation and become world class professional accountants”. Mr Wali Zahid emphasised on achieving student excellence through motivation not only towards academic endeavours but also towards professional life.

Courtesy By ACCA

ACCA Global Economic Confidence Survey

Latest findings reveal renewed optimism and confidence

According to ACCA's latest global survey of finance professionals, economic recovery should be possible within the next 18 months.

The ACCA Global Economic Confidence Conditions Survey for the second quarter of 2009 reveal tentative signs that panic is no longer a major driver of the economy.

Optimism continues to depend substantially on the actions of national governments, but the reliance on state assistance has dissipated since the survey for the first quarter of 2009, and business confidence is now more clearly linked to expectations of future growth. Morale in key regions such as Asia Pacific is much higher, with small and medium-sized enterprises and large financial firms in particular increasingly buoyant about the future. 

According to the survey, 64% of finance professionals feel the global economy has bottomed out – twice the number of those in the Q1 survey. More than a third even expect a recovery within the next 12 months.

However, 10% of respondents are far less optimistic, saying they expected the downturn to remain for three years or longer – a view that is twice as common among public sector accountants.

As far as regional expectations are concerned, the survey reveals that Western European financial professionals the least optimistic about a recovery, while those in Africa are more likely to believe conditions are improving. Respondents in Asia Pacific, however, are generally the most optimistic and consider that the worst is behind them, with expectations of a speedier recovery.

Despite this largely positive shift in perceptions, the survey of 546 ACCA members in 77 countries found only a marginal improvement in trading conditions in the three months to May 2009.

'While there is little evidence of economic recovery, there is renewed confidence and optimism,' said Dr Steve Priddy, ACCA director of technical policy and research. 'Our next quarterly survey will look for real changes in trading conditions which support that viewpoint and whether the private sector is backing its confidence by investing in people and capital – or whether public sector finance professionals are right to think that the global economy has some way to go before recovery begins.'

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Courtesy By ACCA

World leaders: action still required

In spite of the embryonic signs of recovery, there are still many challenges facing world leaders. The first is to ensure that they are not too optimistic. The IMF and World Bank are still predicting declining growth and contracting output around the world, and the outlook according other indicators such as unemployment will remain gloomy. Although the steps taken so far may be beginning to yield results, much more work is still needed to ensure the recovery.

Any optimism may actually go further than stopping the recovery in its tracks - it could reignite the financial crisis. Leaders and economic policy makers will need to ensure that they balance their approach: large government deficits could generate inflation and make it more expensive to borrow on international markets. But implementing a shift towards policy restraint too early will impact with considerable force on the fragile recovery.

A further challenge facing world leaders is the waning momentum for change. As some indicators begin to pick up, public and political pressure to push through reforms is decreasing and there is a danger now that the impetus for radical and necessary change will be lost. The result of this would be - except for a few cosmetic changes - the global economy will emerge from this recession looking much as it did before, only smaller and with more people unemployed and angry.

Reform, for example, of the Bretton Woods institutions is something that is not only important - it is something that has to be implemented more quickly. The Western powers need to face up to political reality and offer a reform of governance that properly reflects the distribution of power in the new global economy. Without these reforms, developing economies, particularly countries such as China and Brazil, may begin to reject the institutions on the basis that they are not representative enough to efficiently pursue their primary objectives, ie. stability of the international financial system and the fight against poverty.

The scale of the current crisis has been associated with inadequate regulation and supervision of banks and financial markets. But rushing through new financial regulation in a purely reactive response to the financial crisis would be a mistake. The priority should be to ensure that existing regulation is enforced thoroughly.

There have also been many political criticisms relating to fair value accounting rules, alleging that they caused some of the market volatility and may have been a factor in the financial crisis. Fair value did not cause the financial crisis, and world leaders should use this crisis to show commitment to the principle of an accountable, transparent and sound system of international regulatory cooperation, maintaining full support for the move towards a single set of high quality international accounting standards. The globalisation of business means that one set of reporting standards, the principles-based IFRS, is essential.

In addition to bigger businesses, SMEs are vital to driving economic recovery through the role they play in creating jobs, innovation, and macroeconomic growth. It is crucial that leaders recognise the importance of SMEs and find more ways to collaborate and partner with business, civil society and governments in encouraging institutional changes to help improve the operating environment for SMEs.

Finally, while politicians struggle to retain votes and work economies out of recession, it is crucial that they acknowledge the climate crisis as well. Acting early, as key policy documents, economic forecasts and project proposals are urging, will raise our chances of diverting catastrophe at a reduced financial and environmental cost, while building a strong green economy.

Courtesy By ACCA

Climate change: what the UK needs to do to get results

Despite its potentially strong position in the renewable energy market, the UK must do more if it is to achieve climate change targets, says ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) in a new report called The future of renewable energy, which follows up a recent ACCA ‘Friday Forum’ event.

Vicky McAllister, ACCA’s sustainability adviser, explains: “In terms of its investment potential in renewable energy, the UK needs to do more if it is to achieve EU ‘202020’ targets. Investment in renewable energy and low carbon technology is key if the UK is to meet its share of the commitments.”

The main points of the paper are:

• The UK is not taking advantage of investment potential in renewable energy technology, despite having good resources and a number of strengths in the industry
• The UK, along with other EU countries, has committed to meeting its share of the ‘202020’ commitments
• One part of meeting targets is increasing the proportion of renewable energy in the energy mix
• Key elements of a global policy framework for a ‘green new deal’ include effectiveness, efficiency and equity: ‘the three E’s’

Dimitri Zenghelis, climate change economist for Cisco and senior visiting fellow at the LSE’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate, who was one of the speakers at the event, said:

“More needs to done by the Government and businesses in the UK to ensure that the UK’s renewable energy opportunities are properly utilized. Currently, the UK is not taking full advantage of investment potential in renewable energy technology”.

For more information about ACCA’s ‘Friday Forum’ events, and for further information on ACCA’s work on sustainability, please go to: www.accaglobal.com/sustainability

- ends -

Notes to Editors
1. ACCA is the global body for professional accountants. We aim to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management. We have 362,000 students and 131,500 members in 170 countries worldwide.
2. ACCA has worked with governments, national organisations and development agencies in emerging economies- for over 20 years- promoting the accounting profession, to create value for the communities, businesses and individuals it serves.
3. ACCA believes that globalisation of business means that one set of reporting standards is essential. We favour the principles-based IFRS.
4. ACCA understands the real issues facing small businesses as 63,000 of our members work in SMEs or small partnerships worldwide.
5. ACCA’s next Friday Forum is on ‘USA Climate Change Policy’ and is being held on 17 July 2009.

Courtesy By ACCA