ACCA rolls out plethora of educational novelties

From left: MENASA Head of Education Rehan Uddin, ACCA Sri Lanka Head Nilusha Ranasinghe and ACCA Sri Lanka Member Network Panel President Danushka Samarasinghe 

- Pic by Sameera Wijesinghe

By Shehana Dain 

ACCA launched the world’s first integrated Masters Degree program collaborating with University of London (UOL) alongside its online examination portal ACCA-X and the newest GBS (Global Business Service) qualifications on Tuesday.

The newest qualification is aimed specifically for the promising outsourcing industry sector which is growing exponentially in emerging markets.

There are two pathways a potential Msc degree holder could take; the member pathway and student pathway. Thus a student will have to complete three modules and each module would cost around GBP 1200 which in turn would aggregate to GBP 3600. 

Meanwhile a student would not have to complete the two optional papers of ACCA. For an affiliate who has completed the ACCA qualification he/she has to take two modules GBP 1200 each which would in turn cost GBP 2400 in full. 

ACCA Sri Lanka and the Maldives Country Head Nilusha Ranasinghe said, “As an organisation we have always placed a high value on open access, so our partnership with the University of London will allow us to reach more people, extending their opportunity to study to obtain a Masters award.”  

Explaining that the expansive range of ACCA qualifications prepares people for the workplace, she noted: “Innovation continues to remain at the heart of what we do. This MSc in Professional Accountancy will be delivered through the University of London International Programs, with program direction being provided by UCL’s (University College London) world class faculty in the Department of Management Science and Innovation. Mercury Institute of Management and Royal Institute of Colombo are the accredited learning providers for the UOL Masters in Professional Accountancy Sri Lanka.”

Developed in consultation with over 50 major employers across the world, the GBS Qualifications are designed to develop the technical kills, industry knowledge, business acumen and analytical capabilities needed to add value to business. With GBS being one of the fastest growing industries representing a key component of many finance transformation programs, ACCA, building on its accumulated knowledge will be offering three new qualifications designed specifically for the sector. 

The three Global Business Qualifications are the Certificate in GBS which is a standalone online course and assessment providing the fundamental knowledge and skills required to perform successfully in a GBS organisation, the Diploma in GBS designed to increase  employees’ technical expertise and prepare them for advancement to more complex or managerial roles and the Advanced Diploma in GBS with more advanced financial and management accounting content, plus performance management to enhance employees’ key technical skills.

“ACCA sees GBS as a game changer for the profession as it aggregates functions such as finance, human resources, IT, property and facilities into one organisational construct,” Ranasinghe quipped. “We believe that GBS could increase the impact of finance by providing more accurate business insights freeing up finance chiefs to focus more on all their other responsibilities. GBS represents a genuinely different way of governing “the back office”, incorporating finance, to create value.”

ACCA-X has five courses that run four times each year including two free courses that prepare learners for the Foundation Level certificates and others that prepare learners for the Diploma in Accounting and Business. Delivered on the online learning destination platform founded by MIT and Harvard the edX Platform, in addition to these papers, the completion of ACCA’s professional and ethics module leads to the Diploma.

Expanding the fast growing internet usage among Gen-Z, also known as digital natives, and the need for professional organisations like ACCA to be attuned to emerging global trends, Head of Education MENASA (Middle East, North America, South Asia) of ACCA, Rehan Uddin said, “The demand for accountancy qualifications worldwide is increasing. And so, with all this in mind, ACCA has launched an open access, easily used, advanced portal called ACCA-X. It’s offered online, becoming another way of starting the ACCA Qualification.”