Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

The purpose of this toolkit is to assist countries integrate public sector accounting (PSA) into educational curricula by developing a pathway for the development of PSA professionals that is achievable and appropriate for the needs of individual countries. The toolkit is based on International Education Standards (IES) issued by the International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) which serve as an international benchmark of good practice.

Public Sector Accounting and Reporting Program (PULSAR) aims to support the enhancement of participating countries’ Public Sector Accounting (PSA) and financial reporting frameworks in line with international standards and in accordance with good practices, in order to improve government accountability, transparency, and performance.

The guide supports transitioning accounting education, training, and certification from a knowledge-based approach to a competency-based approach. Underlying this shift is the expanding expectation for accountants to professional judgment in response to greater transaction complexity, interconnectedness of entities, and broader global influences.

This group exercise further builds on the facts presented in the practical case study “Orotavia Capital City Municipality”, that is used throughout the Internal Audit Training of Trainers modules and aims to enhance participants knowledge about performing fraud risk assessments by following a structured framework including elements of fraud risk identification, assessment, and response.

The purpose of this Knowledge Paper focusing on Key Accounting and Auditing Reforms is to assist the Macedonian Government to make informed decisions for future reform actions following the publication of the Macedonian Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) on Accounting and Auditing (A&A) in 2014.

The Agreed-Upon Procedure (AUP) engagement can be used in a variety of circumstances that involve both financial and non-financial information engagements and cover public and private sector entities. More recently, due to the increasing audit thresholds for smaller entities, the AUP engagement may affect the demand of stakeholders seeking alternatives to audit, such as lenders, and because of the flexibility this type of engagement offers, it can be tailored to different circumstances and focused on individual items of financial data.

Strong internal controls, including maintaining a robust internal control environment, are the best way public sector organizations can mitigate fraud. However, even a strong internal control environment cannot guarantee that no frauds will take place within organizations. Implementation of further lines of defense, such as an efficient and effective internal audit function, is important.

Developed to facilitate the EU REPARIS Audit Training of Trainers program, the objective of the group exercise is to enhance the analytical and intellectual skills of participating trainers while engaging in a practical case study involving going concern judgements. Gathering appropriate evidence and evaluating the appropriateness of the going concern assumption, as well as making judgements about whether a going concern issue is present, are affected by the size of the entity.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is essential for all professional accountants, irrespective of their role or sector. Traditional CPD systems focus on recording and measuring inputs, such as time spent on CPD activities, but fail to capture whether actual learning has occurred. This publication provides guidance intended for Professional Accountancy Organizations (PAOs) and other stakeholders seeking to implement output based CPD systems as a more genuine measure of learning and professional improvement.

Focused on enhancing lifelong learning and supporting improvements in continuing education systems for professional accountants, the EU-REPARIS Audit Training of Trainers Program explores ways of modernizing the skills of the profession to provide effective financial reporting support to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and private sector enterprises.