We don’t support an artificial shortage of accountants: ICAP President
The institute has upgraded its syllabus and examinations to keep up with trends.
KARACHI:
To meet the growing demand of accountancy professionals, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) is keen on attracting more students and to improve its passing rate but not at the cost of compromising its standards, President ICAP Saqib Masood said.
The prestigious institution vows to go an extra mile to improve the output of professionals but it rebuffs the widespread feeling in market that the institution supports artificial shortage of accountants.
“It’s a misconception that ICAP wants to create an artificial shortage of accountants in the market,” Masood said. ICAP is not only updating its syllabus but is also improving its examination process to increase the number of students passing out every year. But Masood added that the institute would not compromise on its standards.
Masood said that ICAP had updated its syllabus and examination system and as a result the passing-out rate had increased over the past few years. He said students were also working harder.
AF Ferguson and Company Partner SM Shabbar Zaidi also said that ICAP never fails its students deliberately to create artificial shortage of accountants. “It’s a wrong perception that ICAP creates artificial shortage of accountants in market,” said Zaidi.
“There are other reasons for the low passing-out rate, one of which is the declining education standard in the country,” he said.
Replying to a question on why ICAP has cut down exemptions to ACCA students, Masood said this was because of changes in the syllabus and not to create problems for students coming from other fields or with different qualifications. “Whatever ICAP did in recent examination reforms was purely on merit and not to target any other qualification,” he said.
An ACCA member who is currently working with a leading accountancy firm in Pakistan said that it is widely believed that top firms prefer ICAP students over ACCA students. “It is a common observation that ACCA in last few years has gained acceptance in Pakistan which obviously pinched ICAP,” he said, “Also, in the last few months after the ICAP slashed exemptions of ACCA students, the recruitment in top firms in Pakistan has declined.”
An ACCA student said that ICAP students can only join their articles (compulsory training) when they complete their Module D, on the other hand ACCA students can start their training any time during their studies. “I like this flexibility as I want to complete my qualification on a fast-track. Many students prefer ACCA because it takes less time to complete and is flexible compared to ICA,P” he explained.
ICAP believes that ACCA is a commercial body so it is more open, flexible and easy going and that the two cannot be compared. But market observers say global accountancy qualifications in last few years have made strong inroads into Pakistan – a challenge to ICAP which recently celebrated its golden jubilee.
A CA student who is just one paper away from qualification believes that the examination system of ICAP is fair and credible but very strict.
A former ICAP examiner who wished to remain unnamed agreed, “There are numerous checks on ICAP examiners which actually helps maintain quality.” It is also a misconception, he said that more number of accountants will help in documenting the economy.
Zaidi also believes that documenting the economy is not linked with the number of accountants.
Speaking on the past trends in accountancy education, the ICAP president said that historically accounting education was never the top priority of brightest students. Thanks to awareness, today, the knowledge of accountancy in students has increased phenomenally.
The acceptance of Pakistani accountants has improved over the years in international markets. A significant development is the fact that the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) now recognises ICAP, which was not the case a few years ago.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 14th, 2011.
To meet the growing demand of accountancy professionals, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) is keen on attracting more students and to improve its passing rate but not at the cost of compromising its standards, President ICAP Saqib Masood said.
The prestigious institution vows to go an extra mile to improve the output of professionals but it rebuffs the widespread feeling in market that the institution supports artificial shortage of accountants.
“It’s a misconception that ICAP wants to create an artificial shortage of accountants in the market,” Masood said. ICAP is not only updating its syllabus but is also improving its examination process to increase the number of students passing out every year. But Masood added that the institute would not compromise on its standards.
Masood said that ICAP had updated its syllabus and examination system and as a result the passing-out rate had increased over the past few years. He said students were also working harder.
AF Ferguson and Company Partner SM Shabbar Zaidi also said that ICAP never fails its students deliberately to create artificial shortage of accountants. “It’s a wrong perception that ICAP creates artificial shortage of accountants in market,” said Zaidi.
“There are other reasons for the low passing-out rate, one of which is the declining education standard in the country,” he said.
Replying to a question on why ICAP has cut down exemptions to ACCA students, Masood said this was because of changes in the syllabus and not to create problems for students coming from other fields or with different qualifications. “Whatever ICAP did in recent examination reforms was purely on merit and not to target any other qualification,” he said.
An ACCA member who is currently working with a leading accountancy firm in Pakistan said that it is widely believed that top firms prefer ICAP students over ACCA students. “It is a common observation that ACCA in last few years has gained acceptance in Pakistan which obviously pinched ICAP,” he said, “Also, in the last few months after the ICAP slashed exemptions of ACCA students, the recruitment in top firms in Pakistan has declined.”
An ACCA student said that ICAP students can only join their articles (compulsory training) when they complete their Module D, on the other hand ACCA students can start their training any time during their studies. “I like this flexibility as I want to complete my qualification on a fast-track. Many students prefer ACCA because it takes less time to complete and is flexible compared to ICA,P” he explained.
ICAP believes that ACCA is a commercial body so it is more open, flexible and easy going and that the two cannot be compared. But market observers say global accountancy qualifications in last few years have made strong inroads into Pakistan – a challenge to ICAP which recently celebrated its golden jubilee.
A CA student who is just one paper away from qualification believes that the examination system of ICAP is fair and credible but very strict.
A former ICAP examiner who wished to remain unnamed agreed, “There are numerous checks on ICAP examiners which actually helps maintain quality.” It is also a misconception, he said that more number of accountants will help in documenting the economy.
Zaidi also believes that documenting the economy is not linked with the number of accountants.
Speaking on the past trends in accountancy education, the ICAP president said that historically accounting education was never the top priority of brightest students. Thanks to awareness, today, the knowledge of accountancy in students has increased phenomenally.
The acceptance of Pakistani accountants has improved over the years in international markets. A significant development is the fact that the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) now recognises ICAP, which was not the case a few years ago.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 14th, 2011.