Now that we know what the ACCA qualification is and for what it exists, we can progress on to the topic of ACCA syllabus levels and modules.
In general, there are 14 papers to be passed by any of the ACCA students both at the Fundamentals and Professional levels. The Fundaments level refers correspondingly to all “F” papers from F1 to F9 through Knowledge and Skills modules, while the Professional level includes Essentials and Options modules from P1 to P7.
The syllabus of ACCA is updated regularly to include all necessary knowledge which is required by employers in the fields of taxation, international performance and functional management, business and corporate law, business reporting, audit and assurance, business analysis, risk and ethics.
There are totally 10 years to pass all ACCA qualification exams with no exemption from Professional level exams, regardless of a student’s expertise in the chosen field. Examiners are all highly qualified specialists in the fields of accountancy, business and finance and have professional background in teaching and tuition.
Passing the ACCA syllabus exams require certain knowledge in the sphere of information technologies and information management. Students are said to be educated in the computerized environment, where some examination papers address IT and IM directly.
This year ACCA syllabus 2011 has been updated and some necessary changes were introduced. In the examination papers from F1 to F3 there are following changes:
- Knowledge module examination starts the 1st of December;
- some other aspects were added, such as the impact of microeconomics on business and environment; performance measurement; budgeting and statistical techniques;
- some aspects were removed (dealing with uncertainty, accounting for partnerships, etc.)
The F4-P7 papers have also been added extra aspects, as well as deprived of some minor areas. ACCA syllabus 2011 update has been provided to sort out what is important and what’s not anymore. In general, the syllabus of ACCA remains integral, complete and professional.