ICAN Unvelis New Syllabus

ICAN Unvelis New Syllabus

Tobi Soniy

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has launched a new syllabus for its professional examinations.

A statement by ICAN’s Head, Corporate Communications, Mrs. Bunmi Owolabi said the new syllabus, which would take effect from March 2021, was developed in line with the institute’s resolve to continue to produce future-ready chartered accountants with skills and competences desired by the market.

ICAN President, Mrs. Onome Adewuyi FCA, who unveiled the new syllabus, said the revised syllabus captured subjects on emerging technologies that are disrupting the accounting profession, such as BlockChain Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Internet of Things, among others.

She said new trends in the Nigerian environment such as the Finance Act 2019, which introduced new developments in the country’s tax system and the new Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA 2020) also presented added impetus for the review.
She said: “A chartered accountant worth its salt is not just an expert in the technical aspect of the profession but should be furnished with soft skills including effective communication, integrity, accuracy and good professional judgment”.

She said the current syllabus was reviewed in 2018, but the rapidly changing environment necessitated a revisit of the status quo from the five-year policy of the syllabus review to a more regular one that proactively responds to the demands of the market.

The review also necessitated restructuring the various levels of the institute’s examinations to reflect the new changes in the syllabus and equally expanded the contents of the various subjects against the backdrop of the new normal.

“While retaining the fifteen subjects, there are now four subjects at the foundation level as against the former five, six at skills as against five and retained the five subjects at the professional level”, she added.

Meanwhile the institute has signed the Mutual Cooperation Agreement (MCATI) with two tertiary institutions to deepen the standards of learning and dissemination of accounting knowledge in Nigeria.

The institutions are: Adeleke University Ede, Osun State and the Federal University, Nekede, Owerri, Imo State thus bringing the number of Institutions under the scheme to 23. All the 23 institutions are obligated to incorporate the requirements of the new syllabus in their curriculum.

The agreement meant that accounting students in the two institutions, and the 21 before them, would study using the integrated accounting curriculum of ICAN, National Universities Commission (NUC) and National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).

Accounting graduates from the Institutions would be granted 10 subject exemptions instead of seven subjects under the normal ICAN accreditation scheme

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