To apply relevant knowledge, skills and exercise professional judgement in carrying out the role of the accountant relating to governance, internal control, compliance and the management of risk within an organisation, in the context of an overall ethical framework.

DETAILED SYLLABUS

A Governance and responsibility

• 1. The scope of governance
• 2. Agency relationships and theories
• 3. The board of directors
• 4. Board committees
• 5. Directors’ remuneration
• 6. Different approaches to corporate governance
• 7. Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility
• 8. Governance: reporting and disclosure

B Internal control and review

• 1. Management control systems in corporate governance
• 2. Internal control, audit and compliance in corporate governance
• 3. Internal control and reporting
• 4. Management information in audit and internal control

C Identifying and assessing risk

• 1. Risk and the risk management process
• 2. Categories of risk
• 3. Identification, assessment and measurement of risk

D Controlling risk

• 1. Targeting and monitoring risk
• 2. Methods of controlling and reducing risk
• 3. Risk avoidance, retention and modelling

E Professional values and ethics

• 1. Ethical theories
• 2. Different approaches to ethics and social responsibility
• 3. Professions and the public interest
• 4. Professional practice and codes of ethics
• 5. Conflicts of interest and the consequences of unethical behaviour
• 6. Ethical characteristics of professionalism
• 7. Social and environmental issues in the conduct of business and of ethical behaviour

APPROACH TO EXAMINING THE SYLLABUS

The syllabus will be assessed by a three-hour paper based examination. The examination paper will be structured in two sections. Section A will be based on a case study style question comprising a compulsory 50 mark question, with requirements based on several parts with all parts relating to the same case information. The case study will usually assess a range of subject areas across the syllabus and will require the candidate to demonstrate high level capabilities to evaluate, relate and apply the information in the case study to several of the requirements.
Section B comprises three questions of 25 marks each, of which candidates must answer two. These questions will be more likely to assess a range of discrete subject areas from the main syllabus section headings, but may require application, evaluation and the synthesis of information contained within short scenarios in which some requirements may need to be contextualised.