IES 3:Introduction
- International Education Standard (IES) 3 prescribes the learning outcomes for professional skills that aspiring professional accountants are required to achieve by the end of Initial Professional Development (IPD). Professional skills are the (a) intellectual, (b) interpersonal and communication, (c) personal, and (d) organizational skills that a professional accountant integrates with technical competence and professional values, ethics, and attitudes to demonstrate professional competence.
- IES 3 is addressed to International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) member bodies. IFAC member bodies have responsibility for ensuring that IPD meets the requirements of IES 3. In addition, IES 3 may be helpful to educational organizations, employers, regulators, government authorities, and any other stakeholders who support the learning and development of aspiring professional accountants.
- IES 3 specifies the competence areas and learning outcomes that describe the professional skills required of aspiring professional accountants by the end of IPD. IES 2, Initial Professional Development - Technical Competence (2021), and IES 4, Initial Professional Development - Professional Values, Ethics, and Attitudes (2021), specify competence areas and learning outcomes relevant to their areas of focus within IPD. Together, these IES specify the competence areas and learning outcomes that describe the professional competence required of aspiring professional accountants by the end of IPD.
- Definitions and explanations of the key terms used in the IES and the Framework for International Education Standards for Professional Accountants and Aspiring Professional Accountants (2015) are set out in the Glossary of Terms for International Education Standards (2021).
- An aspiring professional accountant is an individual who has commenced a professional accounting education program as part of IPD. IPD is the learning and development through which aspiring professional accountants first develop competence leading to performing a role as a professional accountant. IPD builds on general education and includes professional accounting education, practical experience, and assessment. IPD continues until aspiring professional accountants can demonstrate the professional competence required for their chosen roles in the accountancy profession.
- Internationally, there are significant legal and regulatory differences that determine the point of qualification (or licensing) of professional accountants. Each IFAC member body may define the appropriate relationship between the end of IPD and the point of qualification (or licensing) for its members.
- Professional competence can be described and categorized in many different ways. Within the IES, professional competence is the ability to perform a role to a defined standard. Professional competence goes beyond knowledge of principles, standards, concepts, facts, and procedures; it is the integration and application of (a) technical competence, (b) professional skills, and (c) professional values, ethics, and attitudes.
- The inclusion of professional skills in IPD lays the base for performing a role as a professional accountant. Further development of professional skills is a focus of Continuing Professional Development (CPD), which is covered in IES 7, Continuing Professional Development (2020).
- Within IES 3, professional skills are categorized into four competence areas:
- Intellectual relates to the ability of a professional accountant to solve problems, make decisions, adapt to change, and exercise professional judgment;
- Interpersonal and communication relate to the ability of a professional accountant to work and interact effectively with others;
- Personal relates to the personal attitudes and behavior of a professional accountant; and
- Organizational relates to the ability of a professional accountant to work effectively with or within an organization to obtain the optimal results or outcomes from the people and resources available.
- A competence area is a category for which a set of related learning outcomes can be specified. Competence areas within professional skills include intellectual and organizational; competence areas within technical competence include financial accounting and reporting, taxation, and economics; and competence areas within professional values, ethics, and attitudes include ethical principles as well as professional skepticism and professional judgment.
- Learning outcomes establish the content and the depth of knowledge, understanding, and application required for each specified competence area. Learning outcomes can be achieved within the context of a work environment or professional accounting education program.
Effective Date
- IES 3 is effective from January 1, 2021.
Objective
- The objective of IES 3 is to establish the professional skills that aspiring professional accountants need to develop and demonstrate by the end of IPD, in order to perform a role as a professional accountant.
- Establishing the professional skills that aspiring professional accountants need to develop and demonstrate by the end of IPD serves several purposes. It protects the public interest, enhances the quality of the work of professional accountants and promotes the credibility of the accountancy profession.
Requirements and Explanatory Material
Learning Outcomes for Professional Skills
- IFAC member bodies shall prescribe the learning outcomes for professional skills to be achieved by aspiring professional accountants by the end of IPD. These learning outcomes shall include those listed under the competence areas below.
Expand each competence area to see the required learning outcomes.
The level of proficiency for a competence area identifies the level to be achieved by the end of IPD.
|
(a) Intellectual |
|
|
(b) Interpersonal and communication |
|
|
(c) Personal |
|
|
(d) Organizational |
|
- The requirement lists the learning outcomes for professional skills to be achieved by aspiring professional accountants by the end of IPD, regardless of their intended future accounting specialization or role. These learning outcomes provide the base to enable professional accountants to develop specializations in different accounting roles, for example an audit engagement partner or a taxation specialist.
- In the design of professional accounting education programs, the four competence areas listed in the requirement may not be identical to the names of prescribed courses or subjects. Also, the learning outcomes associated with one competence area (for example, organizational) may be achieved across more than one course or subject. The achievement of some learning outcomes (for example, those within intellectual) may extend across several different courses or subjects, none of which may be devoted solely to that competence area.
- There are many ways to describe and classify levels of proficiency. The description developed for purposes of the IES is provided in Appendix 1, Description of Levels of Proficiency.
- In the requirement, each competence area has been assigned a level of proficiency that aspiring professional accountants are expected to achieve by the end of IPD. This level of proficiency indicates the context in which the relevant learning outcomes are expected to be demonstrated. Together, the learning outcomes and the level of proficiency of the competence area provide information to help IFAC member bodies design their professional accounting education programs.
- In professional accounting education programs, an IFAC member body may: (a) include additional competence areas; (b) increase the level of proficiency for some competence areas; or (c) develop additional learning outcomes that are not specified in IES 3. This may occur when an IFAC member body prepares aspiring professional accountants to work within a particular industry sector (for example, the public sector) or for a particular role (for example, a management accountant or an auditor).
- IFAC member bodies, educators, and other stakeholders are encouraged to identify the most appropriate approach to learning and development for professional skills, taking into consideration the national and cultural environment. An appropriate approach is likely to include a mixture of learning and development activities which combine structured learning programs and practical experience. For example, practical experience supervisors play an important role in helping aspiring professional accountants to develop professional skills within the workplace.
Review of Professional Accounting Education Programs
- IFAC member bodies shall regularly review and update professional accounting education programs that are designed to achieve the learning outcomes in IES 3.
- Professional accounting education programs are designed to support aspiring professional accountants to develop the appropriate professional competence by the end of IPD. Such programs may include formal education delivered through qualifications and courses offered by universities, other higher education providers, IFAC member bodies, and employers, as well as workplace training. The design of professional accounting education programs may involve substantive input from stakeholders other than IFAC member bodies.
- The requirement to review and update professional accounting education programs on a regular basis reflects the rapidly-changing and complex environment within which professional accountants operate. A typical review cycle may be three to five years, but it may be appropriate to undertake a more frequent review, for example to take account of changes in legislation, regulations, and standards relevant to professional accountants.
Assessment of Professional Skills
- IFAC member bodies shall establish appropriate assessment activities to assess the professional skills of aspiring professional accountants.
- IES 6, Initial Professional Development - Assessment of Professional Competence (2015), provides the principles that apply to the design of assessment activities used to assess the professional skills and other elements of professional competence.
- Various assessment activities can be used to assess the professional skills of aspiring professional accountants. Work-based simulations or group exercises are examples of activities that enable aspiring professional accountants to develop and demonstrate achievement of learning outcomes related to professional skills, within a professional accounting education program. Practical experience also enables aspiring professional accountants to participate in assessment activities to demonstrate their professional skills. Examples of such activities include: (a) keeping a diary, (b) participating in 360 degree assessments, (c) compiling portfolios of evidence of achievement of learning outcomes, or (d) being monitored by a practical experience supervisor.
- Assessment of professional skills in the workplace may require a different approach to that of written examinations in order to achieve high levels of reliability, validity, equity, transparency, and sufficiency. For example, assessment design may include:
- Specification of learning outcomes that are clear and detailed in order to minimize ambiguity and increase the reliability and transparency of the assessment;
- Training of workplace assessors in order to achieve consistency between assessors and equity between aspiring professional accountants; and
- Creation of work-based simulations in order to provide sufficient, equitable, and reliable assessments of professional skills.
Tools for Implementation
FAQs - Implementing a Learning Outcomes Approach Based on the International Education Standards
General Information; Design-related; Assessment-related; Governance-related.
Video - The Importance of Professional Accounting Education and the Impact of IESs
What is professional accounting education and how does it differ from an accounting education program offered by a university? Why is professional accounting education important? How do the revised International Education Standards impact professional accounting education?
Video - An Overview of the International Education Standards
What are the International Education Standards and what do they regulate? Who is the target audience for International Education Standards? What is their level of authority?
The Value of Implementing a Learning Outcomes Approach
Learning Outcomes Approach: Purpose and Benefits.
Developing Professional Accountants in Business for the Strategic Partner's Role
The imperative to create organizational value is enhancing the need for the professional accountant in business to assume the role of strategic business partner. This implementation guidance examines how accountants in business can meet this challenge by:
-
Describing the evolving role of the PAIB as a business partner with the senior management of an organization;
-
Describing the changing set of competencies that PAIBs develop and maintain as they fulfill their business partnering role; and
-
Describing how the learning outcomes in the International Education Standards can be viewed from and applied.
Guiding Principles for Implementing a Learning Outcomes Approach
Describes the guiding principles on design, assessment, and governance for a learning outcome approach.
Illustrative Example: A Mentored Workplace-Based Learning Experience Program For Aspiring Professional Accountants
The example illustrates a mentored experience program that is a work experience-based program designed to assist new entrants to the accountancy profession.
Illustrative Example: Designing a Higher Education Program to Contribute to a Professional Accounting Qualification
The example illustrates the design principle for an “approved” Master’s program that awards partial exemption to students undertaking the professional accounting qualification.
Illustrative Example for Designing Learning Outcomes for Curricula that Meet Public Sector Accountancy Needs
The example illustrates the design principle for a learning outcome approach in the context of public sector accountancy and assists in the preparation of related public sector curricula.
Illustrative Example: Addressing Governance Structure in Implementing a Learning Outcomes-Based Curriculum
The example illustrates how the governance structure can influence the development and administration of a learning outcomes-based professional accountancy curriculum.
Illustrative Example: Setting and Marking Examinations in a Professional Accounting Education Program
The example explains how to use assessment activities in examining learning objectives for a relevant competence area.
Implementation Guidance: Illustrative Learning Outcomes for the Public Sector Accountancy Curricula
This guidance serves as a companion document for the Implementation Support Material document titled: Illustrative Example for Designing Learning Outcomes for Curricula that Meet Public Sector Accountancy Needs. It aims to tangibly demonstrate how IES may be implemented and adapted to create curricula that serve the needs of professional accountants in the public sector.
Information and Communications Technologies Non-Authoritative Learning Outcomes
The purpose of this guidance is to provide non-authoritative ICT-related learning outcomes to enhance the professional competence and development and application of the knowledge, skills, and behaviors needed in ICT by aspiring and professional accountants. These non-authoritative learning outcomes when considered individually, or in aggregate, may assist in identifying specific knowledge, skills and behaviors needed in ICT by aspiring and professional accountants.
New Generations in the Workplace: Educational Innovation Challenges
The Personal Perspectives series presents IAESB members’, technical advisors’, and other stakeholders’ visions on challenges affecting aspiring and current professional accountants’ learning and development.
Making Sense of Accounting Education in a World of Change: An Accounting Firm Viewpoint
The Personal Perspectives series presents IAESB members’, technical advisors’, and other stakeholders’ visions on challenges affecting aspiring and current professional accountants’ learning and development.
Briefing Note - Qualifications Frameworks in Europe. 2018 Developments
European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training.
Global Inventory of Regional and National Qualifications Frameworks 2019, Volume I: Thematic chapters
UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL); European Centre for Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop); European Training Foundation (ETF); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
External Resource | CPA Canada
Leading the Way: Competency Map 2.0
CPA Canada's new Competency Map identifies the skills and knowledge that will keep CPAs on the leading edge.
ICT Skills Development: The Digital Age and Opportunities for Accountants
Discussion of various technological advancements: Big Data, Blockchain and bitcoin, cloud computing, XBRL, mobile phone technology, artificial intelligence, drone technology, new software applications, and social media.
ICT Skills Development: Issues for the Accounting Profession
Discussion of some of the challenges, including cybersecurity, outdated accounting systems, the changing role of the professional, and job mobility, arising from technological change.
ICT Skills Development: Developing Countries
Discussion of the impact of ICT on developing countries in terms of the digital divide, ICT benefits, ICT policy for education, and the influence of ICT on CPD programs, training and qualification programs.
ICT Skills Development: Education
Discussion of the impact of ICT on classroom, universities, and CPD.
Connecting Your Educational Programming to Emerging Trends
This new report will guide professional accountancy organizations in how they can act today to prepare their current and future members to seize opportunities presented by emerging trends using insights from the IFAC Professional Accountancy Organization Development and Advisory Group.
