Pakistani outperforms the globe in ACCA

Ali from Quetta scores 94% in ACCA F9 exam held in Dec 2012.

KARACHI: The unusually bright student of the Association of Chartered Accountants (ACCA) – 23-year-old Ahmed Ali from Quetta – tried to sound modest about his academic success during an interactive session with the media at the ACCA Karachi office on Wednesday. But a glow of pride was evident on his face because of his stellar performance in the ACCA’s financial management paper in which he remained the best performer globally by scoring 94 marks out of 100.

Officially named F9, the passing rate in the financial management paper was only 43%. In other words, of all the students who took the exam in 170 countries of the world in December 2012, less than half were able to clear it. Among those who passed the exam, Ali scored the highest marks. “On the face of it, the paper may seem to have a high amount of calculation, but it is important to understand the underlying concepts behind the calculation. The examiner did not want us to be able to produce a set of numbers, but to evaluate them in the context of the prevailing environment,” Ali said while speaking on the occasion.



ACCA is the global body for professional accountants that requires its students to clear 14 papers and complete three years of internship in the field of finance. Ali has so far taken eight exams and scored 80-plus marks in each one of them.

The syllabus of the financial management paper (F9) focuses on ways to raise capital (equity financing, debt financing etc), reasons behind corporate failures, and mergers and acquisitions. Ali said he plans to do internship in either treasury or audit department of a financial services company.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2013.

Like Business on Facebook to stay informed and join in the conversation.