Revision of International Education Standard 2
Project Status
Active
Staff
David McPeak
Task Force
Kim Langfield-Smith (Chair)
Jayne Freeman (Secretary)
Laine Kitzin
Kazuo Hiramatsu
Yoseph Asmelash
Keryn Chalmers
Mubita Anakoka
Objective(s) of project
To improve the clarity and implementation of International Education Standard (IES) 2 by (1) applying the new IAESB drafting conventions, (2) updating the concepts and terminology to conform to the revised Framework for International Education Standards for Professional Accountants, and (3) clarifying issues resulting from changes in the environment of accounting education and the experience gained from implementation of the Standards by IFAC member bodies.
Scope
IES 2 shall be redrafted and revised to assist IFAC member bodies in prescribing knowledge content that aspiring professional accountants shall acquire by professional accounting education.
Background
IES 2 was approved for publication in 2004 and became effective January 1, 2005.
At its November 2006 meeting, the IAESB agreed to conduct a detailed review of existing IESs and the framework underpinning the IESs, to determine areas where the clarity of standards could be improved and/or additional guidance most usefully developed. The IAESB agreed to suspend any further work on redrafting or revising the IESs until the work on the Framework project was substantially complete.
At its October 2009 meeting the IAESB agreed the project direction to redraft and revise all eight IESs.
In December 2009 the IAESB published the new Framework for International Education Standards for Professional Accountants, which enhances the relevancy, consistency, and applicability of its publications to IFAC members. The Framework also includes an appendix, "IAESB Drafting Conventions," which will be used to increase the clarity of its standards.
Issues
Issues that this project will consider include:
IES 2 – Content Of Professional Accounting Education Programs
(i) Review the Standard to ensure that it reflects a competence-based approach to the education and development of a professional accountant
(ii) Clarify areas of the Standard which focus only on a knowledge-based approach to learning by ensuring that outcomes can be demonstrated and measured
(iii) Revise the requirements of the Standard to ensure that the mix of input or output measures continue to be relevant and appropriate
(iv) Revise the level and depth of knowledge required to ensure relevance and completeness while aiming to identify core competence of a professional accountant (future proofing e.g. sustainability)
(v) Clarify the requirements for core competence given the various roles of the accounting profession
(vi) Determine whether the content of the Standard should be consolidated within other Standards or remain stand alone
Task Force progress / Board discussions to date
IAESB Meetings:
October 2013: The IAESB received a revised draft of IES 2, Initial Professional Development – Technical Competence and an Issues paper that identified significant issues resulting from the drafting of the revised version of IES 2. These discussions covered: technical issues pertaining to development of learning outcomes for competence areas, and editorial suggestions to improve clarity. More specifically, the IAESB agreed with the task force’s proposals on: including a new learning outcome that addresses the interpretation of financial statements and disclosures for the competence area of financial accounting and reporting; improving clarity of the learning outcome by providing examples of reports that have non-financial data; assigning an Intermediate level of proficiency to the competence area of financial accounting and reporting; including new learning outcome to reflect the use of quantitative methods in the audit engagement for the competence area of audit and assurance; changing the activity verbs of describe and explain to apply in learning outcomes on auditing standards; assigning an Intermediate level of proficiency to the competence area of audit and assurance; assigning an Intermediate level of proficiency to the competence area of business laws and regulations; changing the activity verb of apply to explain in the learning outcome on implementing strategy for the competence area of business strategy & management; and including new learning outcomes on using business analytics to support decision making and explaining how information technology contributes to data analysis and decision making in the competence area of information technology. The IAESB agreed that the verb “assess” in the requirement on assessment activities should be reviewed and decided to replace it with “measure the achievement” which is consistent with the activities identified in IES 6, Initial Professional Development – Assessment of Professional Competence. Following a full discussion of issues resulting from the September 2013 meeting with the IAESB CAG and a page-by-page editorial review of the revised draft, the IAESB approved the final content of International Education Standard (IES) 2, Initial Professional Development – Technical Competence (Revised).
June 2013: The IAESB received a revised draft of IES 2, Initial Professional Development – Technical Competence and an Issues paper that identified significant issues resulting from the drafting of revised version of IES 2. These discussions covered: technical issues pertaining to the development of learning outcomes for competence areas and editorial suggestions to improve clarity. More specifically, the IAESB agreed with the task force’s proposals on: adding learning outcomes to the competence area of Business Management so as to address an increased emphasis on business strategy; changing the title of the competence area to “Business Management and Strategy;” retaining the competence area of Information Technology (IT) while revising the learning outcomes to emphasize the use of IT by professional accountants; and including additional learning outcomes related to quantitative methods within relevant competence areas. As a result of these discussions the IAESB directed the task force to consult with the IAESB CAG at its September 2013 meeting with the aim of preparing a revised draft of IES 2 for discussion by the Board at its October 2013 meeting.
March 2013 : The IAESB received an Analysis of Respondents Comments document on the Exposure Draft of IES 2 and an Issues paper that identified the substantial issues as a result of comments from respondents. The IAESB agreed with task force proposals on: (1) adding learning outcomes to the competence area of Business Management so as to address an increased emphasis on business strategy; (2) keeping the competence area of Information Technology (IT) should be retained while revising the learning outcomes to emphasize the use of IT by professional accountants; and (3) adding learning outcomes related to quantitative methods should be included within relevant competence areas. In addition, the IAESB requested that the mastery level be removed from Appendix 1 of IES 2 and the formulation of the Objective paragraph be amended to describe the objective in terms of the IES and to recognize the obligation of the aspiring professional accountant. As a result the IAESB instructed the task force to consult with the CAG on these issues and then to develop a revised draft that included the suggestions of the IAESB and CAG.
June 2012: The IAESB reviewed a revised draft of IES 2 and discussed task force’s proposals on content issues relating to the revised draft. The IAESB agreed with the task force’s proposals to (1) include proficiency levels for each competence area, and (2) delete the requirements on the achievement of learning outcomes and the criteria for the duration of an accounting education program, but retain the requirement on regularly reviewing the professional accounting education program. The IAESB also agreed with the task force’s proposal on editorial amendments to the Explanatory Material section. After a page-by-page review of the revised draft the IAESB approved the content of the Exposure Draft of IES 2 for a 90-day public exposure period ending on November 1st, 2012. A copy of the exposure draft can be obtained at the following link: IES 2, Initial Professional Development-Technical Competence
March 2012: The IAESB reviewed the first draft of IES 2 and discussed task force’s proposals on content issues relating to the revised draft. The IAESB agreed with the task force’s proposals to (1) include a requirement on assessment to assess the achievement of technical competence of the aspiring professional accountant, and (2) replace the term, professional knowledge with technical competence. The IAESB requested the task force to (1) review whether the requirements on accounting education programs were needed and (2) provide proficiency levels for the competence areas and further clarification on learning outcomes and professional accounting education programs in the Explanatory Material section. In addition IAESB members suggested minor editorial amendments to the revised draft. As a result the IAESB instructed the task force to consult with the CAG on these issues and then to develop a revised draft that included the suggestions of the IAESB and CAG.