MIA CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT’S RELEVANT EXPERIENCE (CARE)
Overview
MIA Chartered Accountant’s Relevant
Experience (CARE) is an assessment programme that focuses on the level of
competence expected of a Chartered Accountant (CA). The CARE programme
supports the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)
International Education Standard (IES) 5, Practical Experience
Requirements. It lays out range of competencies that need to be obtained
before qualifying as a CA.
Currently, MIA has in place a mechanism to measure whether an individual
has gained relevant experience for membership eligibility. The CARE programme is to enhance the existing requirement mechanism to a more
structured monitoring mechanism as required by IFAC IES 5. With the
implementation of the CARE programme, the experience gained by the graduates should be
long and intensive enough to permit graduates to demonstrate that they
have gained the professional knowledge, professional skills, and
professional values, ethics and attitudes required for performing their
work with professional competence and for continuing to grow throughout
their careers.
The
CARE programme is not intended to describe all the skills and knowledge of a CA
will ever need to posses since it is a lifelong commitment to further
learning and helping abreast of developments in chose practice areas.
Objectives
a)
To ensure that accounting graduates acquires the
appropriate degree of professional capabilities and competence in order to qualify as a
Chartered Accountant.
b)
To provide guidance to graduates on pursuing career as an Accountant.
Any person who is currently pursuing the membership of a
recognised professional accounting body listed in Part II of the First
Schedule to the Accountants Act 1967
c)
MIA Qualifying Examination candidates
and would be applying for MIA membership as a CA.
Effective Date
The CARE programme is effective on 1 November 2009
Transitional Arrangements
a)
For experience gained before 1 November 2009, registered
graduates would have a choice of using the existing system or register
in a CARE programme:
i.
Graduates who have already acquired part of his/her
working experience under the existing system and opt for the CARE
programme, should complete the balance of his/her attainment of
experience requirements under this CARE programme on pro-rated basis.
ii.
Graduates who still want to continue with the existing
system is required to submit all records of past working experience once
completed for verification before applying for MIA membership.
iii.
Graduates who have gained less than 6 months of working
experience from the effective date have to register for the CARE
programme.
b)
A transition period of 3 years is given to the graduates
to register and comply with the CARE requirements. After the transition
period, all graduates have to go through the CARE process.
Duration
a)
Minimum duration to complete the CARE programme is 36
months.
b)
Must be completed within a rolling of a 60-month period
or any other period approved by MIA.
c)
The duration must be sufficient to allow the graduates
to develop and demonstrate the competency requirements of an entry-level
of CA.
d)
An employment period of less than six (6) months at any
organisation will not be counted as part of working experience. Also,
"part-time” experience will not be counted as part of the working
experience.
Areas of Competency
The Institute acknowledges the essential financial and
technical skills required to be a competent CA. These areas of
competency will provide an opportunity for graduate to apply the
knowledge gained during their academic studies and further develop
professional skills that they can apply in a variety of situations. The
areas of competency that graduates required to be involved are as
follows:
Graduates are expected to demonstrate a specific level
of proficiency in these seven interconnected areas. The level of
proficiency to be achieved depends on which area of work or task that
the graduate is seeking to gain. The areas are:
Level 1 – Gathering Information
Performing work under the supervision and carrying out tasks of a low
level of complexity using established processes.
b)
Level 2 – Analysis
Performing work as part of a team and carrying out some tasks
independently, being responsible for the quality of own work.
c)
Level 3 – Applying Knowledge and Skills
Managing own work and being responsible for the quality and quantity of
the work and exercises professional judgment.
Minimum Number of Competency
During their period of the CARE programme, graduates are
expected to have the opportunity to obtain diverse work experience and
competency development on a variety of assignments, depending on their
interests and on the opportunities available in the workplace.
a)
Specific Competencies
i.
Graduates must obtain at least 600 working days of
experience in the development of proficiencies in a range of the
specific competencies outlined in the CARE programme. This experience
need to be acquired in a period of not less than 36-month and must be
completed within 60-month or any other period approved by MIA after
registered as a candidate of the CARE programme.
ii.
The seven (7) areas of specific competency describe the
workplace skills that need to be attained throughout the duration period
of the CARE programme. All these worth of experience can be done
throughout the entire 36-month period or pro-rated up to 60-month period
or any other period approved by MIA.
iii.
Four (4) areas, however, remain core:
·
Audit
·
Taxation
·
Management Accounting
·
Financial Reporting
These four areas under specific competencies are
critical in the development of entry-level as a CA, therefore, there is
a minimum working days’ experience requirement which graduates must
acquire in fulfillment the CARE requirements.
iv.
Of the 600 working days required experience, graduates
must obtain a minimum of:
·
300 working days or 50% in at least two of core areas at Level 1 and
Level 2; and
·
The remaining 300 days or 50% required working experience provides
flexibility for graduates to cover other specific competency areas or
any other relevant areas decided by MIA.
b)
Generic Competencies
In addition to the specific competencies, registered
graduates will have to acquire generic skills knowledge during the CARE
programme. It will be up to the graduates to demonstrate to the person
who mentoring their CARE programme that they have acquired a reasonable
level of these skills, as part of gaining the specific competencies set
out in each of the CARE competency components.
