Professional certification of accountants according to the system. Certification of accountants: new procedures

Now the certificate of the chief accountant is often asked from applicants who wish to fill a vacant position. And its absence may prompt a potential employer to think about the lack of a sufficient level of professionalism. That is why current professionals are advised to focus their efforts on obtaining a certificate of chief accountant. In the future, this could be a major step towards career ladder.

What it is?

The certificate of the chief accountant is needed so that the specialist can document his professional competence. Its presence allows you to perform the work of the fifth level in accordance with the requirements that apply to professional accountants.

Certificates are divided into two types:

• for commercial companies;
• for government organizations.

Why do you need a certificate of chief accountant?

The job of an accountant last years became more difficult. It's justified big amount changes in legislation. Performing daily work duties, the accountant does not find extra time to follow them.

However, employers are not interested in hiring unskilled professionals who make mistakes in their work. professional activity. That is why the certificate of the chief accountant is needed for both. It allows a specialist to confirm qualifications, and gives the employer confidence that he is hiring a worthy candidate.

Against the backdrop of the introduction of a professional standard for accountants a large number of companies when hiring employees require the presentation of a certificate. This condition may apply to new employees or existing ones.

The certificate of a professional chief accountant to some extent acts as a guarantee that the candidate is more mobile and has better qualifications compared to colleagues who do not have the appropriate document. This creates some advantage when moving up the career ladder or getting the desired position.

The profession of an accountant implies the need to keep track of changes. Insufficient competence of a specialist may result in fines for the employer. That is why having a certificate will allow you to confirm your knowledge and increase your attractiveness in the eyes of your superiors.

Requirements for obtaining an accounting certificate

It is curious that the document is not issued to everyone. To get it individuals must meet a wide range of requirements. It's worth checking them out in advance.

1. Higher education in economic specialty.
2. Three years of experience in one of the leadership positions.
3. Possibly an average special education with five years of experience.
4. A criminal record for economic crimes is not allowed.

Compliance with these requirements allows you to apply for a certificate of chief accountant. However, the corresponding document will be issued only when successful delivery qualifying exam.

How to get a?

Professionals who want to get a certificate of chief accountant will need a serious attitude. Because the whole process is quite long and complicated. It includes several stages:

• education;
• intermediate certification;
• qualifying exam.

Education

Specialists who apply for this document must first of all undergo training. Training for the certificate of the chief accountant can be completed at an accredited center at the IPA of Russia. It also includes auditors. Certification of accountants has been carried out for more than two decades - since 1997.

During the training period, applicants will learn the procedure for issuing a document. As well as the features of joining the number of active members of the IPB of Russia. The same accredited center should help with paperwork, as well as their subsequent transfer to the territorial IPB.

You can also study at other institutions. There are vocational training centers with a license, as well as accreditation of the ISP of Russia. Based on these documents, organizations can issue certificates.

Intermediate certification

Based on the results of professional training, a knowledge test is carried out. In fact, this is just an intermediate certification. So to speak, a rehearsal before the real exam. It is held in the same center where the accountant was trained.

However, in some cases, applicants can go through it on the website of the IPB. This opportunity is provided for specialists who have mastered the entire curriculum using materials previously developed by the ISP.

In order to obtain admission, the applicant must not only provide a completed package of documents, but also pay an entrance fee to the territorial IPB. It is at this institute that you need to clarify the nuances - for example, which documents should be provided and which details to pay for.

qualifying exam

This is the final stage for those who are interested in obtaining a certificate of chief accountant. Only those who successfully passed the previous certification are allowed to take the exam.

In fact, they receive a certificate of the chief accountant remotely. Electronic testing accountants hand over on the website of the IPB. In this case, the organizer is the territorial institution. After successfully passing the test, the candidate is issued a certificate, and is also recognized as an active member of the Russian ISP.

If it is not possible to cope with the qualification after the first attempt, the candidate is allowed to retake it twice. There is some time limit. For two retakes, the accountant is given no more than three months from the date of the first test.

Important nuances

It is not enough just once to get a certificate of the chief accountant and safely forget about it. You will have to spend forty hours annually on training in order for the document to remain valid. That is why the presence of such a certificate seriously increases the competitiveness of an accountant in the labor market.

Information about candidates who have successfully completed the Single register. From it, the employer can learn a lot about his employee, namely: the date of entry into the ISP, the moment of the last advanced training. The information is kept for five years.

The period of validity of the certificate is three years. If during this period the accountant regularly made contributions and timely improved his qualifications, the document will be extended for the same period. There is no need to retake the exam.

The Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation approved the professional standard "Accountant" back in 2014, but it came into force a year later. In 2019, this standard continues to be valid, and on July 1 last year, amendments to the Labor Code came into force. In other words, according to the amendments to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation in the field of professional standards, which entered into force in July 2018, if an accountant does not have a certificate, then he most likely does not meet the requirements of the professional standard, and therefore will not be able to get a job.

How to get certified as a professional accountant in 2019

Recall that attestation is a procedure that confirms the compliance of a particular specialist with a certain qualification - all this remains relevant for 2019. If we put aside many subtleties and nuances, it turns out that the certificate confirms the right of a person to work in this specialty.

It should be noted that in this case we are not at all talking about obtaining some new professional knowledge or skills: a professional accountant certificate only confirms the fact that a person has successfully passed a test of his knowledge, both practical and theoretical.

Having received a certificate, the specialist thereby confirms that the knowledge he has is fully consistent with the professional standards of the association of specialists of a particular profession. In 2019, in Russia, accountants can receive a certificate, for example, at the National Committee of Accountants, Financiers and Economists or at the Institute of Professional Accountants.

In order to obtain a certificate of a professional accountant in 2019, you need to have, firstly, a basic economic Education, and secondly - a certain work experience. Each organization sets own rules certification - the state does not deal with this procedure, shifting the issuance of certificates to the shoulders of professional organizations.

At the Institute of Professional Accountants, in order to receive a certificate, you must pass 2 exams. The first is a written-oral exam lasting 3 hours. The questions asked here are fully consistent with the programs that prepare a professional accountant, and some adjustments are constantly made to them in order to increase relevance. The questions asked at the exam take into account all the new legal documents - this ultimately allows you to get an objective assessment of the knowledge of the applicant for a certificate.

Based on the results of this examination, the members of the examination attestation commission determine the level of preparation of the persons being examined and decide on their admission to the next stage, which is testing. The test offered to examinees has several blocks consisting of 10 questions. After passing the tests, the overall score of the examinee is displayed, after which a decision is made to issue a certificate.

The National Committee of Accountants, Financiers and Economists has a slightly different approach - here the members of the attestation commission consider the documents submitted by the applicant, evaluate his qualities in relation to the profession, both personal and professional, and bring it all up for a collegiate discussion. The commission assesses the activities of the applicant for a certificate on the basis of his compliance with the requirements for the position held, as well as the effectiveness of the performance of immediate duties. In addition, it takes into account whole line very important moments in the work of an accountant, after which the members of the commission make a decision by open voting.

Features of the professional standard "Accountant" in terms of their application since July 2019

Now let's talk in more detail about the professional standards developed by the Ministry of Labor. An occupational standard describes the qualifications that an employee must possess in a particular type of professional activity.

According to Article 15 of the Labor Code, a specialty determines the job function, while a qualification is a reflection of the level of skill within the specialty. Accordingly, the Ministry of Labor, having introduced the professional standard "Accountant", thereby establishes the qualifications that are needed to work in this specialty.

The professional standard requires the chief accountant to prepare and present the financial statements of the entity economic activity. Clarifying this generalized function, it should be noted that in 2019 the chief accountant must:

• engage in the preparation of accounting;
• prepare consolidated financial statements (according to IFRS);
• exercise internal control over accounting and accounting preparation (or financial reporting);
• maintain tax records, as well as engage in tax planning and tax reporting.

Here you should pay attention to some points. In particular, in accordance with the requirements relevant for 2019, tax reporting is classified as financial. In principle, such a decision of the Ministry of Labor can be called fair, since the amounts received as a result of tax accounting will certainly be displayed on accounting accounts.

The labor department believes that an ordinary specialist will not be able to keep tax records. The professional standard in force in 2019 clearly states that in such documents as employment history And labor contract, the chief accountant should be called the only specialist who is engaged in reporting at the enterprise. Meanwhile, an ordinary accountant, in accordance with the professional standard, should be engaged in generalizing the facts of the economic life conducted by the subject of economic activity.

For the employer, it would be appropriate to differentiate the qualifications of the accountants working for him. It should be provided for the presence in the staff of such positions as a site accountant who will deal with the accounting of materials, fixed assets, calculations, and so on, an accountant-trainee (accountant assistant), a senior accountant. At the same time, for each category, the scope of its responsibilities should be described in detail in the corresponding job description.

Generally speaking, the professional standard "Accountant", developed by the Ministry of Labor, requires professional qualities and the knowledge of specialists in this profession - both ordinary and chief - the highest possible requirements.

Each of the specialists, guided by the current professional standard, can determine for themselves some specific areas for improving their own professional qualifications. In particular, today an accountant needs to know the basics of the current legislation in such areas as medical and social insurance, archives. In addition, a specialist in this profession should also know the basics of labor, civil and customs legislation.

At the same time, the professional standard does not require mandatory knowledge of IFRS. Consolidated financial statements are compiled by the chief accountant by transforming the data contained in the registers of the accounting report compiled in accordance with Russian rules. There are also a number of rather high requirements regarding the knowledge of an accountant. It is worth noting here that the Department of Labor did not provide for any reduction in the requirements for specialists keeping records under special tax regimes or for small enterprises.

Despite the fact that under the law the certificate is not considered mandatory for an accountant, disputes about how much it is necessary for an accountant are still ongoing. We asked St. Petersburg accountants what they think about the certificate, and got a rather unexpected result.

A bit of history

The certificate of a professional accountant is issued by the Institute of Professional Accountants of Russia (IPBR). Back in 1997, IPBR organized advanced training courses for accountants and began issuing certificates of professional accountants with the seal of the Russian Ministry of Finance. In 2000, by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated January 13, 2000 No. 4n, new forms of financial statements were approved, in which the accountant had to indicate the data of his qualification professional certificate. But a few months later, a letter of the Ministry of Taxes of Russia dated April 20, 2001 No. AS-6-16 / 332 was issued with explanations that tax inspections does not have the right to require a certificate from an accountant. Since then, no new official documents obliging an accountant to have a certificate have appeared. And although in Lately Legislative bodies are actively discussing the possibility of introducing mandatory certification of professional accountants, while the main argument for obtaining a certificate is the requirement of employers.

Why does an employer need a certificate?

Indeed, in most job postings for chief accountants, employers require a professional certificate. “I am the chief accountant, I changed jobs six months ago,” says Irina, chief accountant. - I don't have a certificate. And here's what's interesting. On the good places almost everywhere a certificate was required, especially for employment agencies. They (the agencies) sifted everyone through this filter - “higher economic or accounting education, at least three years of experience, a certificate.” That is, automatically my resume was not considered.

“The current certificate of the chief accountant is a kind of guarantee to employers that the applicant for the position of chief accountant is mobile and more qualified,” comments Anna Bogina, consultant at the Finance and Banking department of ANCOR. “A certified accountant is required to undergo training, improve his qualifications every year, and, accordingly, he is aware of all the innovations.”

"Pros and cons"

Recently, a survey was conducted: “Does a professional certificate help an accountant in anything?”. About 300 accountants took part in the survey, 57 percent of them said that they did not help in any way, and 43 percent of those surveyed, on the contrary, found it useful. As you can see, the gap is not that big. However, more often you can hear a negative opinion. Accountants complain about the unjustified high cost of education, the forced need to renew the certificate and at the same time become a member of the IPBR, paying membership fees.

“I think that the certificate of a professional accountant of the IPBR is a feeder for officials,” says Anna Vasilyeva, chief accountant of a leasing company. - It's just pumping money for the issuance of useless pieces of paper. Although many employers consider these papers to be a plus for candidates, in fact, there is very little sense from these courses. I have a certificate - I succumbed to fashion at one time. Now every year, so that he does not get lost, I pay contributions to the IPBR and go through a completely useless so-called “training”.”

Many, on the contrary, consider certification necessary, arguing that high level received knowledge. Svetlana Petrova, the chief accountant of a wholesale trading company, says: “I am currently undergoing training under the certification program, and so far I like everything. Personally, I decided to get a certificate in order to be a more competent accountant. The knowledge gained in the classroom significantly expands my professional horizons, because my specialization is narrow, but here they talk about other types of activities. In addition, I really like lectures of teachers. All lectures are built on practical material, specific life situations". Maria Ryzhova, chief accountant of a trading company, agrees with her: “A certificate is not a piece of paper for employers, but nothing more than systematic knowledge. Simply, many accountants do not know that professional accounting courses are not only accounting, but also the basics of civil law, financial management, the basics of auditing and more. This, of course, is not what is needed in daily work, but something that is sometimes very useful to “get it out of your sleeve” in order to confirm your high qualifications and a large salary.

Now every accountant decides for himself whether he needs a certificate or not. And, most likely, the truth is somewhere in the middle. We can agree that it is not at all a guarantor of professional growth, but at the same time, a certificate is a good opportunity to gain versatile systematic knowledge and regularly improve your skills.

For your information

Who can get a professional accountancy certificate?

Accountant:
– having a higher economic accounting education or a diploma of a candidate (doctor) of sciences in the specialty “Accounting, statistics” (direction “Accounting, analysis and audit”);
- who has worked for at least three years in the position of chief accountant or manager financial services(or their deputies), in other management positions requiring knowledge accounting, as well as an accounting consultant or teacher;
– who completed the 240 Hours program and successfully passed the qualifying exam.

How and where can I get a certificate of a professional accountant in St. Petersburg?

It is necessary to undergo mandatory professional (educational) training in the amount of 240 hours under the program of training and attestation of professional accountants in one of the 13 educational and methodological centers accredited by NWTIPA and pass exams. Professional training goes in the following areas: chief accountant, accountant-consultant (expert), financial manager (manager), financial expert-consultant. Addresses and contact numbers of training centers, as well as the procedure for submitting documents, can be found on the SZTIBB website - http://ipb.spb.ru.

How is the exam going?

The exam is held in two stages. The first stage is a written-oral examination. It is carried out jointly by the territorial institute and the educational and methodological center, which provides training for applicants. According to the result of the first examination, the applicant is admitted or not admitted to the next examination. The second stage is a written exam. It is carried out by NWTISP jointly with IPBR. The results of the exam are summed up in the IPBR, which makes a decision on issuing a certificate of a professional accountant to the applicant.

How is the certificate renewed?

The qualification certificate obtained by a professional accountant is valid for five years. To extend its validity, the holder of the certificate must be a member of the Institute of Professional Accountants, as well as undergo annual advanced training in the amount of at least 40 hours a year.

An accountant, like any other specialist, must correspond to the position he occupies. And it is precisely for this that such a procedure as attestation of accountants is carried out annually. After all, the level of his training and professionalism determines how well the accounting of an enterprise, commercial or state institution will be conducted.

Certification is necessary in order to get rid of doubts about whether the accountant performs his duties with high quality. After all, in his hands are the finances of the organization. Therefore, such a procedure has significantly more pluses than minuses. Therefore, both the employer and the accountant should thoroughly prepare for it.

The certification procedure takes place in accordance with the norms of the legislation of the Russian Federation and has a certain procedure for passing. The accountant, as a professional standard, was introduced by the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation in 2019, it specified clear requirements for work experience, employee education, skills and knowledge, and a description of his functions.

Based on all these points, the accountant goes through the procedure and receives the appropriate certificate, indicating the level of his professionalism.

What is it and is the procedure required?

Certification of accountants is a special testing procedure to determine the level of qualifications, professionalism, and skills. In addition, in its course, both moral and personal qualities worker. This is necessary in order to check whether a person is suitable for the position he holds and whether he meets the requirements that the employer company imposes on employees of this level.

The certification procedure is carried out periodically and includes a set of various measures. Moreover, it is initiated by the employer himself, that is, the head of the organization.

Passing certification is beneficial not only to the management team, but also to the people being certified, as it makes it possible not only to find out their level, but also to increase it, which can bring bonuses in the form of a salary increase or promotion. At the initiative of the management to carry out such a procedure, the accountant is obliged to go through it.

Certification will help not only evaluate the efficiency of employees' work, but also optimize the workflow, because it will give an additional impetus to employees to refresh or improve their knowledge, thereby improving their skills.

Thus, the certification procedure for accountants is necessary for:

• improving recruitment;
• improving the quality and efficiency of their work;
• moral and material incentives for employees;
• formation of a personnel reserve, which can later be used to obtain a vacant position;
• determination of the level of qualification;
• understanding of the need for such procedures as advanced training, professional training, retraining of accountants.

That is, certification is aimed at optimizing the workflow and eliminating an unprofessional approach to work, if any. Nevertheless, the law does not say that an ordinary or chief accountant must be certified.

Legal regulation

The implementation of the attestation procedure for accountants is controlled by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation in the Regulation on attestation checks, which specifies the basics and rules for conducting, training and training. Legal regulation of attestation has practical value, especially against the backdrop of changes and improvements in existing labor legislation.

According to regulations labor law, the main features of certification are:

• passing the procedure as a consequence of the labor relationship between the employee-employer;
• the subject of attestation is an employee of a certain category;
• carried out in periods
• implementation in a special organizational and legal form;
• the presence of mandatory legal consequences for the person being certified;
• recruitment and placement tool.

All this allows you to determine the compliance of the employee with the position held and the level of his professionalism, which is main characteristic and purpose of certification. According to these legal acts, an employee is obliged to undergo certification, during which he confirms the level of his knowledge and the right to occupy a particular position in accordance with the employment contract concluded with him.

Essence legal regulation certification is to:

• keep the content of the employee's employment contract unchanged (in case of confirmation of qualification);
• change its content by making appropriate adjustments after it;
• stop action.

The previous employment contract is retained if the certification has found that the employee's indicators correspond to the level of knowledge, professionalism and position held. It is worth noting that accountants with a secondary or higher education can pass such certification.

Innovations since 2019

Since 2019, the law on independent assessment of qualifications has come into force, but it does not provide for mandatory certification of accountants. Its specialist can pass either independently, on a voluntary basis, or at the initiative of the employer who wants to conduct it.

Among the innovations of 2019, it is worth noting that now the centers for independent assessment of the qualifications of accountants will certify them at a professional level, namely, it is necessary to pay money for training services and certification itself.

Moreover, if the initiator of the certification was the management of the organization, it is she who pays all the costs. With the personal initiative of the accountant to complete this procedure, he is guaranteed to receive a deduction for income tax, as well as release from work on that day, and with payment for all working hours.

In general, certification of accountants includes the following questions:

• Accounting;
• financial reporting and its analysis;
• taxation;
• fundamentals of audit and ethical standards;
• international standards;
• basics of informatics.

professional standard

In accordance with Labor Code Russian Federation, a professional standard is a characteristic of a qualification that is needed to work in a particular profession, its components are:

• knowledge;
• skills;
• skills;
• work experience.

The professional standard "accountant" establishes the qualification for the certified person, that is, the level of his skill necessary for the work of the corresponding specialty. This document is officially registered in Russian Ministry Justice.

Depending on the duties and position of the employee, the requirements for the level of qualification are determined. Professional standards are used by managers to form personnel and in the organization of certification.

Based on the professional standard, each specialist can determine his level and suitability not just for the position, but for the level of knowledge, and, if necessary, undergo retraining.

In the description of the professional standard, two positions are distinguished: an accountant (specialist) and a chief accountant (chief accountant). For each of them there is a general labor function, as well as a detailed one, that is, having a specific, specific list of requirements. For each, it is indicated which labor skills, actions, knowledge and skills are required for its implementation.

For a specialist

The duties of a specialist in accounting include a generalized function of counting totals and balances in accounting registers, closing turnovers on current accounts. The professional standard classifies as specialists those workers who are engaged in performing calculations for individual areas of accounting, without knowing all of them. Managers are advised to delineate responsibilities by highlighting such positions among accountants as lead, senior, trainee, site accountant.

According to the position, each will be determined by the scope of his duties. It should also be taken into account that despite the fact that the cashier, despite official duties, refers to the service industry, not accounting.

For the chief accountant

- the position is more serious, and the professional standard requires him to compile and provide financial statements of an economic entity, that is:

• prepare financial statements;
• prepare consolidated (generalized) financial statements in accordance with IFRS;
• control internal accounting, preparation of financial statements at the sites;
• keep tax records;
• make up tax reporting and planning.

Defines tax reporting as financial, since the amounts received as a result of tax accounting are reflected in accounting accounts. The Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation has determined that a simple accountant, a specialist, is unable to maintain such reporting. And therefore, the one who, on the basis of the professional standard, maintains all the accounting records of the company, is called the chief accountant.

The procedure for attestation of accountants

Test questions for attestation of accountants were compiled and approved by the Institute of Safety of the Russian Federation, all of them correspond to the goal: to check the professional suitability, level of knowledge and experience of the person being certified. Moreover, the questions change regularly, which is associated with changes in legislation and regulations.

Certification lasts two hours without a break in electronic format on the IBP website. During the test it is forbidden to be present to strangers. During the passage, the accountant gives options for his answers, which will subsequently be considered by the IPB commission. Based on the test, the final protocol of the certification results is issued.

If the test is passed successfully, then the employee receives a certificate of an accountant or chief accountant one month after the results are announced. If the certified person does not agree with the decision taken on testing by the IBP, within 30 days he can appeal to the organization with an appeal to review the test results.

Sample characteristics and sample questions

Before attesting an employee, the commission must receive, no later than 2 weeks before the date of passing the tests, the performance characteristics of the person being certified, that is, a letter of recommendation.

It should indicate:

• accounting experience;
• experience and knowledge;
• business and personal characteristics;
• style and method of work of an accountant;
• knowledge of regulatory documents;
• difficulties that are present in the work of the test person, and the reason for their occurrence;
• obligations that he fulfills better or worse;
• ability to innovate, implement and develop them;
• information about self-education, advanced training;
• business qualities;
• work style;
• how the employee responds to the recommendations that were given during the previous certification.

There is a certain list of questions, from which random ones are selected for the test individually for each certified person.

This exam consists of twenty questions, it includes sections:

• accounting (15 questions);
• legal foundations of accounting (5 questions);
• taxation (5 questions).

How to prepare

Of course, the experience alone and the knowledge available to the accountant may not be enough to successfully pass the certification, therefore, it is necessary to prepare for it in advance.

For this you should use:

• approved textbooks on accounting activities, both in standard and electronic format;
• teaching aids;
• tests and assignments for independent work;
• methodological publications on topics and .

Also do not interfere workshops, which in total should take a third of the time of the total preparation time. This may be an internship in an audit, consulting or accounting firm. For that. To pass the certification with positive results, it is worth devoting a sufficient amount of time and perseverance to the preparation.

Features of a budget organization

In a budgetary organization, employees must undergo certification after a year if they:

• re-appointed;
• have undergone advanced training;
• have been retrained;
• came out of maternity leave.

During the certification, a commission consisting of five people must be present, the composition of which is approved by the head of the organization.

Certification takes place in budget institution in several stages:

• formation of the commission;
• approval of the certification schedule;
• providing lists of certified;
• preparation required documents for the commission.

Before the test, the commission is sent a review about the employee and a sheet of the last certification. Based on the results of the test, it is decided whether the employee corresponds to the position held, whether it remains the same wage whether you need an increase or the need to re-certify in a year.

Today, in many job postings for an accountant, you can find a requirement for a certificate of a professional accountant. Since 2017, this “wish” of the employer has become more and more common, since the requirements for an accountant are fixed by a special professional standard and a potential employee must meet all the standards enshrined in this document.

What is a certificate for?

Labor function accountant, the required level of his knowledge and skills, as well as professional experience fixed in the professional standard, approved. Order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated December 22, 2014 N 1061n. Although this standard was put into effect several years ago, its importance has increased with the adoption of the Law of July 3, 2016 N 238-FZ, which consolidated the principles of an independent assessment of the qualifications of specialists.

According to paragraph 3 of part 1 of Art. 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employer has the right to terminate labor Relations with an employee whose insufficient qualification is confirmed by the results of certification. The employer can send the employee for certification or an independent assessment of his qualifications.

Since the accountant performs the most important functions at the enterprise (reports, makes settlements with employees and partners, etc.), increased requirements are placed on the level of his professionalism. Inconsistency with the above professional standard threatens that the applicant will not be able to get a job, and a working accountant with an unsatisfactory result of certification may lose his job.

The fact that an accountant has a certificate indicates his proper professional training and the compliance of the level of his knowledge with the necessary requirements of the standard.

Professional accountant certificate: how to get

The right to issue certificates is vested in vocational training centers that have received a license to provide educational services and accreditation by the Institute of Professional Accountants (IPA). These centers and, first of all, the ISP conduct both attestation and training in the direction of "accounting", and upon successful completion of the tests, they guarantee the compliance of the certified person with the norms of the professional standard. Here, the accountant can confirm and extend the validity of his certificate.

You might think that a professional accountancy certificate is mandatory from 2017, but the new legislation does not contain such provisions. Law of December 6, 2011 N 402-FZ, which regulates accounting, also does not oblige an accountant to have certification. An employee can undergo training and certification either of his own free will at his own expense, or at the direction of the employer with reimbursement by the latter of the relevant costs. The presence of a certificate gives an advantage to an accountant in the labor market and allows a potential employer to hire a truly professional accountant.

The professional standard provides for two levels of accountant qualification:

• Level 5 - "accountant";
• Level 6 - "Chief Accountant".

Consequently, an accountant can be issued one of two types of certificates - an accountant's certificate or a chief accountant's certificate.

Based on the requirements of the standard, not everyone can get a certificate. To do this, it must meet certain characteristics:

Conclusion

Despite the fact that the legislator has not made it mandatory for accountants to obtain a certificate, certification of accountants has become more important since 2017. Persons who have passed certification on their own initiative are in strong competition with those who have not yet done so. Confirming your professional level according to the results of certification, current employees can protect themselves from dismissal due to inconsistency with the position held, and the employer is always sure that the accountant certified in accordance with all the rules working for him performs his work professionally and efficiently.