Certification of Accountants 2021 Who Must Pass Why So Expensive

Still, amazing news recently appeared on the Internet... The State Duma announced a competition to teach its deputies how to spell the Russian language, as well as business etiquette. For all its comedy, it makes you sad. Why, one might ask, is it the “people’s representatives” who need educational programs? This is not surprising - literary Russian is considered one of the most difficult to learn, and what can we say about the bureaucratic vocabulary that overwhelms our regulatory documents? Perhaps it’s time for deputies to finally learn to write correctly and express their thoughts more clearly.

But jokes are jokes, and day by day our users have to deal with the regulatory framework, trying to figure out what they “wrote.” If you can’t understand what’s written the first time, you definitely shouldn’t be upset. It is better to take advanced training or qualification courses. In the professional standard for accountants, approved back in 2014, the ability to read, understand and present the “standards” is the main requirement. While the State Duma is studying their native language, we recommend that our colleagues take care of their professional status, and we will tell you how to do this in 2021 in our article.

Basic terms and definitions

1.1. Certification of the IPB of Russia is a process that allows us to establish the compliance of the applicant’s professional competence with the requirements of the IPB of Russia.

1.2. Professional competence is an indicator characterizing the professional level of a specialist (amount of knowledge, skills, abilities), as well as the totality of professional and personal qualities of a specialist necessary for him to carry out effective work activities.

1.3. Applicant - for the purposes of this Regulation, an individual (citizen(s) of the Russian Federation, foreign citizen(s) legally located in the territory of the Russian Federation), fully capable, who has submitted an application and the necessary documents for certification.

1.4. Certificate of IPB of Russia is a document developed and issued by IPB of Russia upon successful completion of certification.

1.5. Training centers (hereinafter referred to as TMCs) are an organization accredited by the IPB of Russia that implements examination programs developed and approved by the IPB of Russia (hereinafter referred to as the IPB Russian programs).

1.6. TIPB is a territorial institute of professional accountants or a chamber of professional accountants and auditors, as well as another professional association with which the IPB of Russia has entered into a cooperation agreement.

1.7. The professional standard “Accountant” (hereinafter referred to as the Standard) was developed by the IPB of Russia, approved by order of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation dated February 21, 2019 No. 103n, registered by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on March 25, 2021 No. 54154.

The most difficult questions

Following the links, you can familiarize yourself with the most difficult questions for accountant certification that some faced in 2021. There are correct answers to them in the comments.

Accounting in companies

Financial analysis

Taxes

Entrepreneurial activity (Civil Code of the Russian Federation)

Internal control and audit

IFRS

Accounting in state (municipal) institutions

The procedure for conducting certification is established either according to the rules prescribed in a special law, or on the basis of a local act of the organization (Part 2 of Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). For example, for teaching staff it is necessary to use the procedure approved by Order of the Ministry of Education and Science dated March 30, 2015 No. 293, for scientific workers - by Order of the Ministry of Education and Science dated May 27, 2015 No. 538. There are no approved rules for the certification of accountants, so the employer must develop its own procedure.

General provisions

2.1. These Regulations determine the procedure for certifying applicants.

2.2. Document flow for preparing and conducting certification of applicants is organized in the manner established by the IPB of Russia.

2.3. Certification includes:

• determining the level of education, training and practical work experience of the applicant based on the documents submitted by him;
• determining the level of professional training of the applicant during intermediate certification;
• passing the IPB of Russia exam by the applicant.

2.4. Professional training of applicants is carried out according to the IPB programs of Russia:

• in the UMC (TIPB);
• independently, with the help of special kits developed by the IPB of Russia for the relevant exam programs for obtaining certificates (if kits are available).

2.5. The structure, content and scope of the Russian IPB programs are approved by the Presidential Council of the Russian IPB. IPB programs in Russia are updated taking into account changes in legislative and regulatory legal acts.

2.6. Determination of the level of education, training and practical work experience, as well as the level of professional training of the applicant, is carried out by the UMC and TIPB (in the absence of TIPB in the territory of residence (temporary residence) of the applicant - IPB of Russia).

2.7. The exam is conducted electronically on the official website of the IPB of Russia based on the exam programs approved by the Presidential Council of the IPB of Russia.

2.8. The structure of the exam and assessment criteria are specified in the “List of test tasks for obtaining certificates of the IPB of Russia”.

2.9. IPB Russia issues the following types of certificates:

2.9.1. There are four levels of professional accountant:

2.9.1.1. The accountant's certificate confirms the level of professional competence of the applicant necessary to perform the functions of an accountant in accordance with the requirements of the 5th level of the Standard and the requirements for professional accountants of the IPB of Russia:

• certificate of accountant of a public sector organization;
• certificate of accountant of a commercial organization;

2.9.1.2. The chief accountant certificate confirms the level of professional competence of the applicant necessary to perform the functions of a chief accountant in accordance with the requirements of the 6th level of the Standard and the requirements for professional accountants of the IPB of Russia:

• certificate of the chief accountant of a public sector organization;
• certificate of the chief accountant of a commercial organization;
• certificate of a chief accountant - an expert in the field of tax accounting and tax reporting;
• certificate of a chief accountant - an expert in the field of internal control;
• certificate of a chief accountant - an expert in the field of financial analysis and cash flow management;

2.9.1.3. The certificate of the chief accountant of an organization that has separate divisions confirms the level of professional competence of the applicant necessary to perform the functions of a chief accountant in accordance with the requirements of the 7th level of the Standard and the requirements for professional accountants of the IPB of Russia:

• certificate of the chief accountant of a commercial organization with separate divisions;
• certificate of the chief accountant of a public sector organization that has separate divisions.

2.9.1.4. The certificate of the chief accountant of a commercial organization according to international financial reporting standards (IFRS) confirms the level of professional competence of the applicant necessary to perform the functions of a chief accountant in accordance with the requirements of the 8th level of the Standard and the requirements for professional accountants of the IPB of Russia;

2.9.2. Professional tax consultant;

2.9.3. Professional internal controller (internal auditor);

2.9.4. Professional financial director.

Requirements for applicants

3.1. Requirements for applicants to obtain a certificate of professional accountant.

3.1.1. An applicant for a Level 5 Chartered Accountant must satisfy one of the following education, training and practical experience requirements:

• have a secondary vocational education in the field of training “Economics and Management” (OKSO code - 5.38.00.00) without presenting requirements for practical work experience;
• at the time of applying to the IPB of Russia, be studying at a university at a course of at least 3 in the field of study “Economics and Management” (OKSO code - 5.38.00.00) without presenting requirements for practical work experience;
• have an education of at least secondary vocational education and additional professional education (advanced training programs, professional retraining programs) in accounting without presenting requirements for practical work experience;
• have at least a general secondary education, special training in accounting, as well as at least 3 years of practical work experience in a profession belonging to the basic groups of “accountants” (OKZ code - 2411).

3.1.2. An applicant for the Level 6 Chief Accountant Certificate must satisfy one of the following education, training and practical experience requirements:

• have a higher education in the field of study “Economics and Management” (OKSO code - 5.38.00.00) and at least 3 years of experience in accounting and financial work;
• have higher education and additional professional education (advanced training programs, professional retraining programs) in the field of accounting, preparation of accounting (financial) statements or auditing, as well as at least 3 years of experience in accounting and financial work;
• have a secondary vocational education in the field of training “Economics and Management” (OKSO code - 5.38.00.00) and at least 5 years of experience in accounting and financial work;
• have secondary vocational education and additional professional education (advanced training programs, professional retraining programs) in the field of accounting, preparation of accounting (financial) statements or auditing, as well as at least 5 years of experience in accounting and financial work.

3.1.3. An applicant for the Level 7 Chief Accountant Certificate must satisfy one of the following requirements:

• have a higher education in the field of study "Economics and Management" (OKSO code - 5.38.00.00) (master's degree or specialty) and at least 3 years of experience in accounting and financial work;
• have a higher education (master's degree or specialty) and additional professional education (advanced training programs, professional retraining programs) in the field of accounting, preparation of accounting (financial) statements or auditing, as well as at least 3 years of experience in accounting and financial work.

3.1.4. An applicant for the Level 8 Chief Accountant Certificate must satisfy one of the following requirements:

• have a higher education (master's degree or specialty) in the field of study "Economics and Management" (OKSO code - 5.38.00.00), specialization: accounting and/or audit and work experience of at least 3 years out of the last 5 calendar years of work related to the management accounting, preparation of accounting (financial) statements or auditing activities (including in management positions);
• have a higher education (master's degree or specialty) in the field of study "Economics and Management" (OKSO code - 5.38.00.00) or higher education (master's degree or specialty) and additional professional education (professional retraining programs), as well as work experience of at least 5 years from the last 7 calendar years of work related to accounting, preparation of accounting (financial) statements or auditing activities (including in management positions).

3.2. Requirements for applicants for obtaining certificates of a professional tax consultant, professional internal controller (internal auditor), professional financial director.

3.2.1. The applicant must satisfy one of the following education, training and work experience requirements:

• have a secondary vocational education in the field of training “Economics and Management” (OKSO code - 5.38.00.00) and practical work experience in the economic field for at least 5 years;
• have at least secondary vocational education and additional professional education (advanced training programs, professional retraining programs) in the field of economics and management, as well as at least 5 years of practical work experience in the economic field;
• have a higher education in the field of study “Economics and Management” (OKSO code - 5.38.00.00) and practical work experience in the economic field for at least 3 years;
• have higher education and additional professional education (advanced training programs, professional retraining programs) in the field of economics and management, as well as practical work experience in the economic field for at least 3 years.

3.3. Applicants for any Russian IPB certificate must not have a criminal record.

Recommendations

If after reading our article you do not have the desire to immediately contact the testing center, then we ask you to at least read more information about this in other sources, find out reviews on the forums about how your colleagues managed to pass the test and how it is now for them this came in handy at work. Believe me, there are truly amazing and interesting stories. Of course, someone may not need a certificate, but is it worth looking so far ahead? Probably not, because in our country everything changes with enviable constancy. In any case, no one has canceled the concept of advanced training. How many stories can you hear in our business environment that an accountant can and wants to apply for the position of chief, but for some reason he is denied this. It seems that you have a higher specialized education and work experience allows it, but it still doesn’t work out. This is probably the ideal case when you need to go and improve your qualifications and then show your certificate at an interview. It could definitely come in handy.

We wish you success!

Determining the level of education, training and practical work experience of the applicant

4.1. Documents to be submitted for certification:

4.1.1. Statement - Appendix No. 1 to these Regulations;

4.1.2. Document on education and training:

• copy of diploma/certificate of education;
• a copy of the document on additional professional education in the relevant programs - only for applicants who do not have an economic education;
• certificate of study at the university at the time of application in a course not lower than 3rd in the field of study “Economics and Management” (OKSO code - 5.38.00.00). The certificate indicates: Full name of the applicant; the specialty in which the applicant is studying, faculty and course; date of issue of the certificate. Only for applicants studying at universities.

4.1.3. Documents confirming practical work experience, certified by the employer:

• a copy of the work book and a copy of the insert in the work book (if available) or an extract from the work book;
• if there is no record of work activity in the work book, other documents:
  a copy of the employment contract (employment agreement) and/or
• certificate (on the letterhead of the organization (institution)) about part-time work in the relevant positions. The certificate must indicate the period of work and the date of execution of the document.

4.1.4. Copies of passport pages containing information about the issue of the passport, full name, date of birth and registration at the place of residence.

4.1.5. Two photographs (3x4 without corner, color, matte).

4.2. The applicant's documents must be issued under the same surname. If the surname does not match in the documents, a photocopy of the document on the change of surname is provided.

4.3. An applicant undergoing professional training submits to the IPB of Russia the documents specified in clause 4.1 through a personal account on the official website of the IPB of Russia.

4.4. Documents must be submitted in full and of proper quality. If the applicant’s documents are identified as not meeting the established requirements, the IPB of Russia makes a decision to reject the application for certification and notifies the applicant in writing about this, indicating the reasons.

Determining the level of professional training

5.1. Features of determining the level of professional training of an applicant at the educational center (TIPB):

5.1.1. The level of professional training of the applicant is determined during the intermediate certification, carried out in the manner and form established by the training center (TIPB), which conducts the training.

5.1.2. For admission to the exam, the UMC (TIPB) submits to the IPB of Russia a list of applicants who have successfully passed the intermediate certification.

5.2. Features of determining the level of professional training of an applicant who has undergone training independently using materials developed by the IPB of Russia:

5.2.1. The level of professional training of the applicant is determined during the intermediate certification in the form of a test task posted on the official website of the IPB of Russia.

5.2.2. Upon successful completion of the test task, the applicant is admitted to the Russian IPB exam.

Certification of an accountant in a budgetary institution

Law No. 238-FZ does not cover issues of certification of budget accountants. But only those who have the status of civil servants. Therefore, independent qualification assessment centers of the new format will generally not prepare questions for certification of an accountant of a budgetary institution.

During the certification period, the employee is released from work duties, while maintaining his earnings. The employer can, on his own initiative, send an employee to such a center to ensure his professional suitability. But this requires the consent of the employee himself. In this case, the company will bear the costs itself. These norms are prescribed in Art. 187 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

IPB exam of Russia

6.1. The exam is organized by TIPB jointly with the IPB of Russia. If there is no TIPB in the territory of residence (temporary residence) of the applicant, the exam will be organized by the IPB of Russia.

6.1.1. In exceptional cases, the IPB of Russia organizes an exam using a remote form of control.

6.2. For each exam, TIPB (in the absence of TIPB in the territory of residence (temporary residence) of the applicant - IPB of Russia) appoints an administrator responsible for conducting the exam.

6.3. To participate in the examination, the IPB of Russia has the right to send its observer to the TIPB without the consent of the TIPB.

6.4. The presence of unauthorized persons at the exam, except for observers from the IPB of Russia and TIPB, is not allowed.

6.5. Applicants during the exam are allowed to use regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation (regulatory legal acts include acts of the legislative, executive and judicial authorities of Russia (the Constitution of the Russian Federation, laws (codes), decrees of the President of the Russian Federation, decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation, acts of ministries and departments that have passed state registration in the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation (including those who received the conclusion “does not require state registration”), acts of the judiciary.

6.6. Applicants for the exam are prohibited from:

• negotiate;
• use communications and other electronic means;
• use reference and special literature, with the exception of the documents specified in clause 6.5. this Regulation;
• run other applications in parallel with the exam program.

6.7. If these rules are violated, the exam administrator has the right to:

• decide to remove the violator from the exam, who in this case is considered to have failed the exam;
• when conducting an exam using a remote form of control, cancel its results.

6.8. At the end of the exam, its result is automatically summed up in accordance with the criteria specified in the “List of test tasks for obtaining IPB certificates of Russia” (hereinafter referred to as the established criteria), and a protocol of the exam results is generated.

6.9. An applicant for the Russian IPB certificate is considered to have successfully passed the exam if he received a grade in accordance with the established criteria.

6.10. An applicant who successfully passes the exam has the right to receive the corresponding IPB certificate of Russia.

6.11. An applicant who does not agree with the exam results has the right to appeal to the IPB of Russia in accordance with the Regulations on Appeal.

6.12. An applicant who fails the exam has the right to retake the relevant blocks of the exam in accordance with the established criteria.

6.13. Based on the results of the retake, the final exam result is determined.

Final provisions

7.1. An applicant who has successfully passed the certification, based on the decision of the Presidential Council of the IPB of Russia, is issued a certificate of the IPB of Russia for a period of 3 (three) years.

7.2. The procedure for obtaining a chief accountant certificate for persons with an accountant certificate is determined by the Testing Regulations.

7.3. If inaccurate information is detected in documents submitted to the IPB of Russia both before and after receiving the certificate of the IPB of Russia, the Presidential Council of the IPB of Russia has the right to decide to cancel the certificate of the IPB of Russia.

7.4. The issuance of certificates of the IPB of Russia is carried out in accordance with the Regulations on the issuance of certificates of the IPB of Russia.

Certification will begin in 2021. See All-Russian Classifier of Specialties by Education. See All-Russian Classifier of Occupations.

Save and print version (<1 MB)

Appendix No. 1. Application for certification (<1 MB)

Is there mandatory certification of accountants in 2021?

Despite the increase in the number of regulations that relate to the qualifications of workers and their verification, mandatory certification of all accountants is not provided. The conduct of such an audit was left in 2018 at the discretion of the company’s management. And if a decision is made to certify accountants, the employee does not have the right to refuse. But for some companies, certification is mandatory by law.

Mandatory certification of accountants in 2021 provides for:

• if such a decision was made by the company’s management;
• for those who work in public joint stock companies, insurance companies, banks, budget organizations, etc.

In 2021, you can undergo certification for compliance with professional standards at the center for independent qualification assessment. This is a paid service, but with the right to deduction for personal income tax and preservation of earnings during the exam. Or this payment can be included in tax expenses if the initiator of the certification was the employer. You can also confirm your qualifications with a professional accountant certificate. In this case, the applicant’s knowledge is assessed not for compliance with professional standards, but according to the program established by the educational organization.