Certified Public Accountant - CPA

• About CPA
• Objective
• The CPA Approach
• Focus Areas
• The Body of Knowledge
• For Whom
• Skills to Succeed

About CPA

Businesses today increasingly require professionals who can integrate knowledge and skills from multiple sources to address strategic business issues and help create new innovation-driven business models. This innovation imperative call for unique opportunities  for  accounting   professionals  who  can add  new  value in  a  global,  liberalized and free economy. There is an urgent need for accounting professionals who are not only sound in the traditional accounting disciplines but also possess cutting-edge integrative and professional competencies with multi-disciplinary knowledge and skills.

In the wake of these interesting developments, NICPA has conceived, designed and developed a unique Professional Certification Program the ‘Certified Public Accountant’ (CPA) Program for the benefit of candidates seeking careers in the Accounting-Management-IT spectrum.

The CPA Program is specifically designed to meet the demands of modern accounting professionals. The CPA Program integrates into its body of knowledge, areas like management, information technology & E-Business, US GAAP, code of ethics, and soft skills, along with the core areas like accounting, auditing, taxation and business law.

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• To impart knowledge of concepts in Accounting, Auditing, Taxation, Business Law, Management, and Information Technology.

• To improve the ability to develop a framework for using purposes of decision-making.

• To deepen insights into practical applications of Accounting in a dynamic business environment.

• To develop appreciation of the interface between Accounting, and other areas like Economics, Marketing, HRM, Operations Management, Finance, IT & Strategy.

• To facilitate the development and growth of Accounting Professionals as Business Managers.

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The CPA Approch
The CPA Program follows distinctive but interrelated approaches:

• Continuous Learning: adapting state-of-the-art concepts and approaches to drive continuous improvement and adapting readily to new contexts and challenges.

• Analytical Prowess: identifying core issues and determining what is most relevant in multi-faceted situations, dismissing irrelevant factors.

• Networking and Resourcing: drawing up the talents of functional specialists and experts who create synergy, assembling high-performance teams.

• Dedication to Excellence: demonstrating strong commitment to a global standard of professional conduct and ethics.

• Impactful Communication: bringing clarity and simplicity to complex or technical concepts by using appropriate language, graphics and frames of reference.

• Compelling Influence: developing comprehensive business plans in support of proposed initiatives, accomplishing objectives aggressively and cost effectively.

• External Perspective: gathering knowledge on broad socio-economic, political, demographic, environmental, market and other trends that could impact the business.

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Focus Areas
The CPA Program has five Focus Areas :

Accounting Standards & US GAAP: The CPA Program covers the modern accounting practices with reference to Accounting Standards and US GAAP. The candidates gain in-depth knowledge of Accounting Standards which are indispensable in this globalized and liberalized economy. Many corporates in India and abroad are adopting US GAAP voluntarily to bring their financial reporting practices to the global standards.

Information Technology and E-Business: The CPA Program imparts the necessary knowledge and skills required for the tripartite functions of designing, managing and evaluating information systems, create and implement accounting solutions by applying IT tools and managing business electronically.

Management Insights: The CPA Program is designed to provide insights into management strategy and functions so that Accounting-Business interface is understood in a dynamic format.

Soft Skills & Code of Conduct: To become successful professional accountants of the 21st century, candidates need to possess soft skills namely Adaptation skills, Communication skills, Negotiation skills, Management skills, Interpersonal skills and Personal skills. Through case studies, the CPA Program encourages the candidates to develop these vital soft skills.

Ethical Focus: The CPA Program aims to inculcate in the candidates an ethical approach in their professional interactions and a sense of personal, corporate and social responsibilities.

The uniqueness of the CPA Program lies in its effective integration of all the five focus areas with traditional disciplines like Accounting, Auditing, Taxation and Business Law.

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The Body of Knowledge
NICPA visualizes the body of knowledge of the CPA Program as covering four inter-related areas:

• General Accounting Knowledge: a fundamental understanding of financial accounting, managerial accounting, auditing systems, business law and taxation necessary to effectively function in the area of accounting.

• Specialized Accounting Knowledge: further, in-depth, knowledge of some of the specialized areas of accounting like Accounting Standards, US GAAP, Information Systems Control Audit, Ethics and Code of Conduct etc.

• Information Technology Knowledge: education in IT relevant to the study of accounting.

• Management Knowledge: knowledge of the basic ideas of business, such as management strategy, business economics, finance, marketing, HRM and control systems.

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• Finance, accounting and management professionals like CFAs, CAs, CWAs, CSs, and MBAs.

• Professionals already engaged in the accounting field, and who wish to upgrade their knowledge and skills in emerging areas like Accounting Standards & US GAAP, Accounting-Management-IT interface, Information Systems Control Audit etc.

• Students pursuing full-time postgraduate programs in commerce, economics, mathematics, statistics and management;

The individuals who want to succeed in this industry should have the following attributes and skills:

• Problem-solving, analytical and research skills

• Inter-personal and strong communication skills

• Comprehension of IT from a user perspective

• Broad business perspective

• High ethical standards

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