The Qualification Programme (QP) is a comprehensive and constantly updated home-grown system designed to train Hong Kong students who want to become professional accountants. The programme is open to both accountancy and non-accountancy degree holders.

The CPA qualification is recognised by international accounting institutes in Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Zimbabwe, and will be recognised by the United States on 24 October.

QP graduates also benefit from the Mutual Paper Examination Exemption agreed with China, and need undergo only three of the mainland's exam papers, instead of the usual seven.

The QP includes life skills to encourage whole-person development and to develop skills that can be transferred from one field to another, says HKICPA deputy executive director Jonathan Ng. "Our programme is focused very much both on the technical and the soft skills," he adds. "It's all about developing competencies."

The three-year course is built around four modules - financial reporting, corporate financing, business assurance, and taxation. Each comprises 15 weeks of self-study, two full-day workshops and a three-hour open book examination. To gain the qualification, students need to attend workshops, pass the open-book exams and complete three years of work experience.

The workshops are led by practising CPAs, offering valuable mentoring opportunities. Teaching also differs from traditional rote learning and makes learning fun through interaction and debates, Ng adds.