Path to becoming an accountant
WITH over a decade of experience in educational excellence, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) designs new academic programmes and keeps existing ones relevant by actively engaging with industry experts and professional bodies on the latest requirements of the industry.
Its programmes are endorsed by many international professional bodies – an assurance of worldclass standards.
Professional bodies that recognise the degree programmes of the Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF) at the UTAR Kampar Campus include the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), Institute of Chartered Secretariats and Administrators (ICSA), Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia (CTIM), Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA), CPA Australia and Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
UTAR FBF secured maximum conditional exemption by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) for nine papers in the Fundamental Level of ACCA examinations for its Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) Accounting programme.
With this, students are able to pursue the ACCA qualification in their third year concurrently with their degree. Under the latest Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), UTAR will continue to ensure that the syllabus of its threeyear accounting programme at the Kampar Campus is aligned with the ACCA qualification requirements.
Graduates of the Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) Accounting also enjoy exemptions from CIMA for 10 out of 17 papers, including Certificate in Business Accounting; five out of eight papers of CTIM professional exams; and six out of 15 papers of ICAEW Chartered Accountant qualification exams.
For CPA Australia, graduates are eligible for exemptions from all eight papers of the Foundation Level and only need to complete six papers at the Professional Level. MICPA, meanwhile, requires graduates to complete the final Advanced Level of five papers.
Under the MoU with CIMA, the institute will facilitate job and internship placements for UTAR students and organise talks, workshops and conferences with UTAR.
“UTAR has equipped me to venture into many areas and rise up the corporate ladder. It has also given me the chance to earn ACCA qualifications, which has enhanced my technical knowledge.
“ACCA provides an innovative approach to studying and qualifying as an accountant and has given me a strong foundation for success.
“I appreciate being able to work across various sectors and being extremely versatile,” shares graduate Seline Tee Hui Ying, who is currently a group audit and risk management consultant with the Jardine Matheson Group.
At UTAR, the rigorous programme development process is a major contributing factor to a high graduate employability rate of over 97% within six months of graduation.
UTAR was awarded Tier-5 (Excellent) status in the 2017 Rating System for Malaysia Higher Education Institutions (Setara ‘17) under the category of “Emerging University”, Tier-5 (Excellent) in Discipline-Based Rating System (D-Setara) for Engineering and Tier-4 (Very Good) in D-Setara for Health Sciences.
Recently, UTAR was ranked 111120 by the Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings 2017; 101-150 in THE Young University Rankings 2017; 14th in THE Young University Rankings 2017: Millennial Universities and 501-600 in THE World University Rankings 2018 Top 1,000 list.
UTAR has been one of the fastest growing private higher education institutions in the country since its inception in 2002. From only 411 students, its enrolment has now reached 26,000 students with campuses in Kampar, Perak and Bandar Sungai Long in Selangor.
■ For more details, log on to www.utar.edu.my or call 05-468 8888 (Kampar Campus) or 03-9086 0288 (Sungai Long Campus).