IAESB Proposes Revised Standards for Aspiring Accountants

The International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) released a set of clarified standards and revisions governing the practical experience requirements for aspiring accountants on July 8.

The IAESB released the new standards as a proposed revision (PDF) of International Education Standard (IES) 5, Practical Experience Requirements. The revision to IES 5 — which currently prescribes the practical experience that International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) member bodies should require before qualification as a professional accountant — proposes greater flexibility in measuring practical experience, permits supervisors or mentors to direct an aspiring accountant’s experience and requires experience to be recorded in a verifiable and consistent form.

“The IAESB believes that relevant practical experience is at the heart of the development of competence of a professional accountant,” IAESB chairman Mark Allison said in a statement. “This revision of IES 5 reflects the different ways that experience can be gained, and is a significant step from a rules-based approach to a system based on principles.”

IFAC member bodies will be required to demonstrate that the method of gaining experience follows an input-based or output-based approach or a combination of both approaches.

The IAESB has undertaken the project of redrafting all eight of its IESs in accordance with its new clarity drafting conventions. It has proposed revisions to:

• IES 7, Continuing Professional Development: A Program of Lifelong Learning and Continuing Development of Professional Competence
• IES 4, Professional Values, Ethics, and Attitudes
• IES 6, Assessment of Professional Competence
• IES 1, Entry Requirements to a Program of Professional Accounting Education

Comments are due Oct. 8.

IAESB Proposes Revised Education Standards for Accountants

The International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) has proposed revisions (PDF) to the entry requirement standards for a professional accounting education.

The revised standard is intended to establish fair and proportionate entry requirements and ensure that requirements for entry to professional accounting education are not misrepresented. Read a supplement (PDF) featuring tracked changes to the standard.

Approved in 2004, International Education Standard (IES) 1 currently prescribes the principles used by professional accountancy organizations when setting entry requirements for professional accounting education and practical experience. The IAESB is involved in a project to redraft all eight of its IESs in accordance with its new clarity drafting conventions.

The proposed standard includes:

• Specification of entry requirements for professional accounting education
• Explanation of the rationale behind those requirements
• A requirement that excessive barriers to entry are not put in place
• A requirement to make relevant information publicly available to help candidates assess their chances of completion 

The IAESB had previously proposed revisions to IES 7, Continuing Professional Development: A Program of Lifelong Learning and Continuing Development of Professional Competence; IES 4, Professional Values, Ethics and Attitudes; and IES 6, Assessment of Professional Competence.

“The proposed revisions reflect the IAESB’s view that the overall objective of accounting education is to develop a competent professional accountant,” IAESB Chairman Mark Allison said in a statement. “Further, the IAESB acknowledges that there are different processes and activities that contribute to achieving such competence. These revisions to IES 1 are intended to ensure that entry requirements for professional accountancy education are designed fairly for aspiring professional accountants.”

Stakeholders are invited to comment on the proposals. Comments are due Sept. 21, 2011.