This International Education Paper is intended to increase the awareness among member bodies of issues that may arise in the education process concerning candidates with demonstrated disabilities. The Paper sets out issues member bodies should consider and provides information on how member bodies might address these issues.

Member bodies of IFAC have had a significant involvement in recent years in assistance projects with other member bodies and governments of member body countries. This study reviews some of the lesson learned from evaluating such projects, outlines lessons from members' experiences in accounting-related development, and aims to assist member bodies and other interested parties in their future work.  

The Internet and distributed learning are important forces not only in the pre-qualification education, but also in the continuing, lifelong education, of professional accountants throughout the world. This document discusses the environment that encourages the design, development and delivery of high-quality Internet and distributed learning in global accounting education. It also presents recommendations for assessing the quality of Internet education and distributed learning.

1. The term "technical accounting staff: refers to staff, engaged in technical accounting work, which are directed by, and support professional accountants and includes staff customarily known as "accounting technicians". Such technical staff does not include trainees who are in the process of qualifying as professional accountants.

2. This study should enable bodies to draw up their ownoperational programs for the education and training of technical accounting staff. However, staff engaged in this work will not necessarily be formally registered on such a program. It is hoped, therefore, that the contents of the study will also provide evidence of good practice for employers of technical accounting staff when designing staff development programs.

3. The purpose of this study is to:

• describe the various roles undertaken by technical accounting  staff;
• provide guidance to bodies wishing to organize education and training schemes for technical accounting staff; and
• provide evidence of best practice for the development of technical accounting staff.

4. The provision of competent technical accounting staff is relevant to developed and developing countries although the particular needs of countries will be different depending on the size of the population, the developmental stage of the accountancy profession and other local circumstances. This study is therefore intended to provide a structure for the training and education of technical accounting staff which is applicable to all, but which is flexible and can be adapted to meet different training requirements. Although detailed training schemes are included in the Appendices, they are not intended to be prescriptive.

This discussion paper was produced to provide guidance to member bodies on the topic of practical experience as required in paragraph 49 of International Education Guideline 9.

The issue of competence and its assessment has become a major topic within the profession. Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion related to it, since the term "competence" is commonly used to mean different things in an everyday context as well as in academic discussions. Moreover, what is deemed desirable by one may not be deemed desirable by another, and what is considered to be acceptable performance by one may not be acceptable to another.

This paper was developed from a review of data supplied by several member bodies of IFAC. In order to maintain the confidentiality of the systems used by these organizations, they are not identified by name in the body of this paper. Instead, the term "contributor" is used whenever a reference is made to an approach used by a specific organization.

International Education Guideline 11 (IEG 11), Information Technology in the Accounting Curriculum highlights trends, challenges, and opportunities derived from the increasing importance of Information Technology (IT) to professional accountants. IT has grown so extensively that it is now a discipline which is intimately interconnected with accounting, yet the speed of its development has far outstripped the preparedness of the various domains to adequately address it.

This paper was prepared to remedy that situation. It was developed by a Task Force of the American Institute of Public Accountants (AICPA) to address implementation and implications of IEG 11 for various constituency groups in the United States. In particular, the document is intended for accounting educators, public accountants, accountants in industry and government, regulators, and individuals involved in continuing professional education and professional evaluation of accountants.
Although the paper was prepared for a US audience, and its environment of high technology, the Education Committee believed that much of the document is universally applicable.
For example, all students should study IT from the perspective of its usefulness, application and impact, and all educators should be encouraged to integrate the study of technology with the study of accounting. This will require the making of an action plan by the educators, wherever they may be, which can usefully be based on the one described in the paper.

Similarly, organizations can learn much from the section on training in the work environment, with its discussion of the three year plan and budget, or the action plan to incorporate IT training in the continuing professional education (CPE) programs of professional accountancy organizations.
It was for this reason that the paper was issued, with permission of the AICPA, as an IFAC document.

The main part of this paper describes the route by which CGA brought the integration of information technology to reality. Sections of the paper address the practical aspects of alternative ways of providing access to computers; the yearly review of assumptions about technology and the end-users; the standardization of course software; principles and practices of course design; the team approach to course writing and development; the design of hands-on computer examples, illustrations, assignments, and examinations; and the methods of evaluating IT-integrated courses.

The purpose of this paper is to encourage discussion within member bodies on the question of specialization in the accounting profession. The paper outlines some trends and forces which are operating to lead the profession towards specialization, it suggests possible approaches to the question, and discusses some of the advantages and disadvantages associated with formal specialization.