Prospective CPA e-newsletter

	Practical experience: views from the ground
	Examination matters
	Student matters
	Student programme
	Route to success with QP
	Learning on the job
	For your information
	Upcoming events

Authorized employer: Patrick Wong (Wong, Lam, Leung & Kwok CPA Ltd)

Patrick Wong, managing practising director of Wong, Lam, Leung & Kwok CPA Ltd., considers becoming an authorized employer under the QP scheme offered by the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs as essential in today's highly competitive business world. "From my experience, I can see QP is essential for training good accountants." He explains that often small- to medium-sized practising firms, such as his, cannot always provide enough training, and by incorporating QP alongside their own training, they can ensure that staff are gaining the most effective instruction possible. "By providing top-quality training, you are employing the best staff and ultimately bringing profit to the company." Click here for details.

Confidentiality of workshop unseen additional questions

Candidates taking the QP workshops are reminded to keep the unseen additional questions, distributed at workshops, CONFIDENTIAL and limit discussion to the workshop group. These questions are used for assessment purpose. Disclosure of the questions and/or topics covered by the questions to candidates of other workshop groups will create an unfair advantage.

You have an important part to play in ensuring the integrity of our QP assessment. As working through the unseen additional questions is a key part for your skills development, compromising the assessment could adversely affect other candidates' ability to learn.

The Institute's Examinations Board has made it a rule that it will be considered a serious breach of the examination rules to copy down workshop additional questions or smuggle them out of your workshop in any form without the Institute's prior consent. The Examinations Board may disqualify a candidate from the whole module (i.e. both the workshop and module examination components) or impose serious penalties if a student is found in breach of this rule.

Special consideration for QP workshops

QP candidates may offer an explanation for non-attendance at a QP workshop so that their marks may be adjusted. Any such request for special consideration (with supporting documents) must reach the director of student education and training within two weeks from the date of absence.

The Institute's Examinations Board is the only body empowered to decide whether or not marks will be adjusted. The Examinations Board will consider each request based on its own merit, taking into account any special circumstances when finalizing the candidate's marks.

Examination results

Examination results for the final examination of the December 2006 session and modules A and C of the September 2006 session will be announced on 1 March and 7 March 2007 respectively. QP candidates who have applied for a student login account may view their results online within two weeks from the official result release date. If you do not have a login account yet, click here for information on how to obtain one.

Collect your candidate learning packs for the February 2007 module session

QP students who have enrolled in the February 2007 session can collect their candidate learning pack(s) at the Institute's service counter on 27/F, Wu Chung House during office hours from 1 to 16 February 2007. Collect your study materials now to get off to a quick start!

Improving communications with QP candidates

The Institute wishes to obtain more candidates' comments through a formal process to enhance QP quality. Starting from the September 2006 session, a representative will be nominated for each QP workshop group and regular meetings will be held with these representatives, with a view to enhance communication between the Institute and candidates. Sign up as a workshop group representative when the new module session starts.

Revision courses

The Institute will offer revision courses for candidates sitting the modules B and D examinations in May 2007. Click here for more information.

e-learning seminar on HKFRSs

An e-seminar has been reproduced from the Institute's continuing professional development seminar on "HKAS 1, 7, 8 and 24 - issues in presentation of financial statements", which was held on 23 November 2006. Click here for more details.

Name:

Chris Lo

Job Title:

Treasury Dealer

Company:

Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited

Click here to see Chris Lo's career profile:

- career and study history

- job involvement

- career achievement

- career progression

People learn the most at work when they are presented with new challenges or opportunities. Leaders are no exception to the rule. However, we do not have to wait for a new job or promotion to find opportunities to extend ourselves. Instead we should be able to identify ways to acquire new skills and gain useful experience in our current jobs. Cynthia McCauley gives you ideas on how to stretch yourself to become a better leader. Click here for more details.

This article is re-printed with the permission from the Centre for Creative Leadership, an educational institution dedicated to leadership training and research worldwide.

Practical training statistics 2006

The Institute organized a wide and comprehensive range of topics for practical training in 2006. Overall statistical figures demonstrated that registered students found these programmes good, useful and helpful. Please click here for details on the training curriculum and statistical summary of the practical training held in 2006.

Accredited accountancy programmes for QP admission

The Institute's Accountancy Accreditation Board has recently completed its accreditation of the BBA (Hons.) in professional accounting of the Open University of Hong Kong. This programme is a full-time three-year Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS) programme introduced in the 2007-2008 academic year. The programme has been accredited as an approved accountancy degree programme under the Institute's QP until August 2010.

The Board also accredited the fast-track postgraduate diploma in professional accountancy of the Chinese University of Hong Kong as an approved conversion programme under the QP until April 2010. The programme is offered full-time for three months commencing June 2007.

In addition, the following two programmes of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University have been re-accredited as approved conversion programmes under the QP until February 2012: