Professional accounting organizations (PAOs)

The Core Competency Framework presented in this document has been prepared to support Governments in implementing and sustaining reforms toward the adoption of accrual based accounting by defining the necessary competencies required by finance professionals to carry out such reforms. In doing so, the Framework provides guidance to the fundamental questions of “Who to train?”, “What to train?” and “To what extent to train?” when embarking on accrual based accounting reforms.

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.

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.

Small- and medium-sized practices (SMPs) have an important role to play in supplying professional services to their small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients. Understanding the range, requirements and benefits of available professional services is essential for practitioners and SMPs to be able to tailor the various services to meet the needs of their SME clients, as well as helping them to choose the right service for their needs.

Six countries, members of the EU-REPARIS Program’s Education Community of Practice (EduCop) – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia FYR, Montenegro and Serbia – participated in an Accountancy Education Benchmarking Study between March 2015 and May 2016. The Study was a comprehensive assessment of the countries’ 14 universities and PAOs, which together provide 25 academic and professional accountancy education programs to around 4,120 enrolled students.