CIPFA - Qualifications - Professional Accountancy Qualification

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Syllabus & Study

What is the syllabus?

The course consists of 4 units.

Charity Finance & Accounting	This unit will: Introduce accounting principles. Set charity accounting in the context of company and accounting standards. Introduce the concepts of reserves and funding, Full Cost Recovery and budgeting. Introduce the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) 2005 as the accounting standard for charities.
Voluntary Sector Financial Management	This unit will look at: Financial strategy. The funding of charities. Risk management. Mergers and partnership working. Investment management Pensions accounting.
Advanced Charity Accounting	This unit will develop further: The work on SORP 2005 in addition to management and project accounting. Social accounting and audit. Advanced budgeting techniques.
Taxation of Charities	This unit will look at: Tax relief for charities. The charity as employer. VAT.

What are the study and assessment methods?

The distant learning has more than exceeded my expectations and perfectly suits my style of learning. You are virtually in a class room lecture except you can pause it for a coffee at will.
Russell Shea, Director of Hammersmith Hospitals

The Certificate adopts a flexible learning approach designed to enable students to get the most out of the syllabus content. The course is delivered as both fully taught and on a blended learning basis.

Fully Taught

The fully taught course requires attendance at London South Bank University on Thursday afternoon and evening. The course is delivered over two semesters commencing in late October and ending in early June. Each semester covers two units, one taught in the afternoon and one in the evening. Students should also expect to assign at least 9 hours per week to home study.

LSBU Map Map kep

Blended Learning

This approach involves an initial two to three days of face- to- face delivery introducing each unit, in addition to CD-ROMs with recordings of all London lectures, e-learning, and on-line discussion forums.

Each unit is accompanied by a variety of online learning materials. Online discussion boards also provide a unique method of support by allowing individuals to interact with other students and tutors and raise any questions that they may have.

The course is offered on a blended learning basis at the following locations:

Manchester
Newcastle
Bristol
Sheffield

Blended learning will also be delivered at hotspots throughout the country that match student application numbers.

Each unit will be assessed by a mix of coursework and closed book examination.
LSBU teach and assess the programme with CIPFA acting as the awarding body.

Eligibility

Applicants will need to demonstrate at least 1 year’s experience of working in charity finance, including their current employment, to satisfy CIPFA’s entry requirements.

For more information tel: 0207 543 5678 or email: choices@cipfa.org