Prospective CPA e-newsletter

	Practical experience: views from the ground
	Examination matters
	Student matters
	How to do well in QP
	Student programme
	Route to success with QP
	Practical experience
	Golden rules of writing well
	For your information
	Upcoming events

Authorized employer: Hui Sik Wing & Company

Hui Sik Wing and Company was established in 1992. It is a small-sized firm with 20 staff members, providing a wide range of services such as auditing, accounting and taxation for a variety of clients. The firm has been registered as an authorized employer with the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs's Qualification Programme since 2004.

Being a member-in-charge of the employer scheme, Mr. Hui who is the partner of the firm, takes on the roles of both counsellor and supervisor. Mr. Hui says he enjoys taking up these responsibilities. "I feel I have a mission to train up QP students as well qualified accountants via offering quality training programme and creating a proactive learning environment to them." he explains. Click here for details.

Examination results

Examination results for the May 2007 session Modules A and C will be announced on 8 December 2007. 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, please visit our website for information on how to obtain one.

Examination regulations

Candidates should read the examination regulations carefully. A full list of regulations is published in the candidate handbook and examination attendance dockets. Failure to observe any examination regulations and guidelines may result in disqualification from the entire examination. The followings are some of the examination regulations that candidates must follow strictly:

Reading time (for final examination candidates only)
During the reading time in the final examination, candidates are only allowed to read the questions; plan and organize their answers such as jotting down points on the question booklet or flagging the relevant information on the materials brought to the examination hall, etc. Candidates are NOT permitted to organize the answers on rough paper. If you wish to write down any points, it must be done on the question booklet. The writing of answers in the script booklet is NOT allowed until candidates are instructed that they may do so by the examination supervisor.


	Use appropriate script booklet Candidates are required to use the appropriate script booklet to answer respective section of the examination paper, i.e. case on the case script booklet, essay/short questions on the essay/short questions script booklet. Failure to do so may render your examination scripts unmarked.

	Write the question numbers clearly

	Do not tear the script booklet

	Do not use pencil

QP examination attendance dockets for modules B & D (September 2007 session) and final examination (December 2007 session)

Examination attendance docket and Hong Kong identity card are required to be presented for sitting the QP examinations.

Important dates	Procedures
Dates to receive an examination attendance docket Modules B & D Monday, 10 December 2007 onwards Final examination Friday, 7 December 2007 onwards	Candidates will receive an examination attendance docket from the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority. Candidates please contact the Institute on 2287 7046 for all enquiries about the dockets.
Cut-off date to obtain a duplicate copy of examination attendance docket Modules B & D and final examination Friday, 14 December 2007 (Registration time: 9:00 am - 12:00 noon)	Candidates who have not received the examination attendance docket should contact the Institute to obtain a duplicate copy before the cut-off date. A duplicate copy of the examination attendance docket may not be issued to candidates who do not approach the Institute by the cut-off time.
Examinations dates Thursday, 27 December 2007 Friday, 21 December 2007	Module B: 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Module D: 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Final examination Paper I: 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Paper II: 2:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

QP learning support centre

Are you well prepared for your examinations? Please read the online QP learning support centre notice board regularly. All important announcements and updates on examination-related information will be posted there.

To strengthen your technical knowledge, many useful technical articles, hyperlinks to Big Four websites and other online technical resources, have been posted on the notice board. These resources, together with the webcast examination assistance seminars on the four QP modules and the final examination, are available for free. Click here for details.

Library opening hours during examinations period

To help QP candidates in their examination preparation, the Institute is pleased to announce the extension of its library opening hours from 7 to 21 December 2007. The extended hours for the period are as follows:

Monday	9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Tuesday to Friday	9:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Saturday	9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon

Certificates collection for QP graduates who did not attend the annual award and graduation ceremony

QP graduates who did not attend the annual award and graduation ceremony can collect their certificates on or before 31 December 2007 at the Institute's reception desk on 27/F Wu Chung House, 213 Queen's Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong. Please present your student ID or HKID when collecting the certificates.

Our master workshop facilitator and prize winners share the ways to succeed in QP examinations. Good luck in your examinations!

Nelson Lam, master workshop facilitator

Wong Wai Chung, Philip, gold award prize winner of Final Examination of June 2007 session

"The most critical and common weakness of the candidates is that they do not give relevant answers to the examination questions! In all examiners' comments, it is quite easy to find this weakness being mentioned. Some examiners have further commented that 'the candidates have not read the questions carefully'! To avoid misunderstanding of a question, you should try the followings:

Before examination

	Have more practices on past examination papers to acquaint yourselves to the questioning style of an examination.
	Compare your answers with the past examinations suggested answers to identify your mistakes in understanding the questions.

During examination

	Read the examination questions very carefully.
	Pay particular attention to the key words of the questions.
	Ask yourselves, 'Am I really answering what the question has asked?' before you start writing the answers.

Do remember that correct but irrelevant answers cannot score you any marks!"

"Preparation for workshops is the key starting point for QP. Before attending workshops, you should read thoroughly those topics covered and conduct your own research when you come across any uncertainty. This will facilitate your participation in the workshops, keep you from falling behind the study plan and definitely make yourself clearer on the difficult topic covered in both workshops and examination.

I also advise candidates to practise past examination papers. This can clarify your understanding and assist to tailor-make your own notes and index, which greatly reduce your navigation time for linking the question and the relevant reference materials. Moreover, mock examinations help to practise good time management skill. During examination, divide the examination paper into various sessions is a good way of tracking your time. You can monitor your progress at each check point and easily avoid bogging down on a question. "

Chan Sheung Chi, top student of Module B (Financial Management) of February 2007 session

Che U San, top student of Module D (Taxation) of February 2007 session

"Module B covers a broad range of topics so it is essential to start studying early. I recommend QP students to study according to the workshop syllabus. Try to understand the concepts for each topic because the examination emphasizes the application of concepts. Practising with past examination questions definitely helps.

Actively participate and listen carefully to the facilitators during the workshops. Finally, proper time management during the examination is of vital importance. In the case study section, it is not likely that relevant answers could be directly copied from the candidate learning pack. As such, it is essential to spend more time to digest the case, understand the requirement of the questions and organize the answers."

"Prepare the assigned questions of the workshop beforehand and participate actively during workshops discussion will help you to lay a solid foundation for the written examination.

Form a study group with your peers to prepare for the workshops. This will enable you to consolidate your learning and to tackle the challenging questions. Through study group discussions to raise and resolve questions concerning difficult topics is the key to succeed in QP examinations.

During the written examination, read the instructions carefully. This ensures that you head towards the right direction of giving relevant and correct answers to the examination questions."

Online examination assistance seminars

Webcast videos of examination assistance seminars for Module B - Financial Management and Module D - Taxation are now available online to assist your revision. Visit the QP learning support centre to watch the videos.

Examination assistance seminars

The Institute is organizing a series of enhanced Examination Assistance Seminars (EAS) on QP Module B (Financial Management) and Module D (Taxation) for the September 2007 session. The EAS aims at helping QP candidates understand difficult topics highlighted after the workshops and to brush up their examination drilling techniques. The seminar is scheduled after each QP workshop for each module. Click here for enrolment details of the upcoming seminars.

Annual CPA football competition

Annual CPA football competition will kick off in early January 2008. Teams from members, students and firms are welcome. Please enrol by 7 December 2007 to enter the competition. Click here for details.

Name:

Cila Chung

Job Title:

Assistant Manager - Logistics

Company:

NWS Holdings Limited

Click here to see Cila's career profile:

- career and study history

- job involvement

- career achievement

- career progression

Authorized employer/supervisor experience for membership admission

For admission to membership of the Institute, practical experience acquired on or after 1 January 2005 will only be counted if it is gained under an Institute-authorized employer or supervisor.

If you are not currently working under an authorized employer or authorized supervisor, please urge your employer or supervisor to apply for registration as an authorized employer/authorized supervisor with the Institute, so that your practical experience will be accepted for membership admission. Click here for more information.

List of authorized employers and supervisors

The Institute has recently approved seven applications for registration as authorized employers and 26 applications for authorized supervisors. Please click here for the list of newly registered employers and supervisors.

A full list of all authorized employers and authorized supervisors can be found on the Institute's homepage.

For enquiries on practical experience, please contact our admission department on tel. 2287 7049 or 2287 7069.

I like to think of the colon as a marker or flag in a sentence, saying "More to come!" (or perhaps "But wait, there's more!"). Often you can mentally replace the colon with words like "namely" or "that is" or "such as". And the colon will nearly always represent a pause if the sentence were read aloud.

Gillian Christine, a freelance editor and proof-reader, gives you some guidelines on how to use colons appropriately. Click here for the full article.

This article was first published in the Chartered Accountants Journal (April 2007) of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA) and is reprinted with permission from Ms. Gillian Christine and the NZICA.

Accredited programmes for QP

The Institute's Accountancy Accreditation Board has completed its re-accreditation of the following accountancy programmes for QP admission, with the validity ending indicated in parenthesis:

	Bachelor of Accountancy (Hong Kong) programme, University of South Australia in collaboration with the School of Continuing Education of Hong Kong Baptist University (SCE/HKBU) (May 2009)

	Deloitte Conversion Programme, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (July 2012)

For the full list of accountancy programmes accredited by the Institute, please refer to our homepage.

Results of 2006/07 Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme (CEPAS)

The University Grants Committee (UGC) announced the results of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) taken by final year students of UGC-funded undergraduate degree programmes under the 2006/07 CEPAS. The major objectives are to provide a useful reference for recruitment purposes on a common and objective basis and to facilitate, in respect of English proficiency, the process of shortlisting suitable candidates for employment.

Almost 10,000 final year students, or about 66 percent of all full-time and part-time undergraduate final year students, participated in the scheme in 2006/07. The average overall score is 6.67 on a nine-point scale. Click here to view the full report.