From 1 January 2011, public accounts will have three years to fulfill their Continued Professional Education (CPE) requirements instead of the current one-year period, said the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA).

CPE syllabus will also be enhanced to include a clearer and tighter focus on core areas of auditing, financial reporting standards, and ethics.

ACRA says this move is in line with international practice including the standard set by the International Federation of Accountants for its professional body members. Public Accountants will now have a minimum of 120 hours over a three-year rolling period, with at least 90 hours of learning CPE and 20 hours of structured CPE. The first three-year rolling period will run from 1 January 2011 to 3 December 2013, with the second period starting from 1 January 2012.

This move from ACRA allows public accountants more flexibility in managing their CPE requirements according to their professional needs and priorities, or if professional work is interrupted by a sabbatical study or family commitments.

ACRA stressed that it takes CPE obligations very seriously and will not renew the certificates of registration of public accountants who fail to meet the CPE requirements, except in very limited circumstance.

There will also be more flexibility in selecting CPE for non-core areas of expertise and requirements will be tailored for public accounts that are judicial managers and approved legislators.  ACRA’s Chief Executive Miss Juthika  Ramanathan said, “These improvements enable them to better manage their learning needs for their own niche areas of expertise.”

These new guidelines form part of ACRA’s continuous efforts to ensure that public accountants produce a consistent and high level of audit quality in a dynamic changing business and professional environment.

“The refinements to the CPE framework aim to make CPE obligations clearer and focused on the core publish interest areas of auditing, financial reporting, and ethics,” said Miss Ramanathan.

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