ACCA regional office celebrates 15 years in Romania

ACCA Southeast Europe, the regional office of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants celebrates 15 years of activity with over 7000 members and students in the region it coordinates from Bucharest (and which includes Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Moldova and Northern Macedonia). The office is part of the ACCA network, the largest international association of professional accountants, which brings together 227,000 qualified members and 544,000 aspiring members, clustered in 110 offices and centers around the world.

Starting from the idea of ​​consolidating and developing the accounting profession, ACCA is open to all those able to pass its exams – which have universal subjects whether they are taken in Romania, Brazil, China or South Africa. The ACCA qualification is not easy to obtain, but it is valuable and globally recognized.

By consistently pursuing professional standards at the highest level, ACCA has gained recognition from the World Bank and USAID, both organizations using its program as a template for the development of the accounting profession around the world. ACCA works with governments, donor agencies and professional bodies to participate in the development of the accounting profession, in the public interest.

“In 2006 I was the first ACCA employee in Romania” says Andreia Stanciu, General Manager of ACCA SEE, “and now I lead a team of five people which allows us to collaborate with a very wide and diverse range of partners in the five countries, all sharing an interest in promoting and developing the accounting profession. It is a source of pride for me and for ACCA that these members of our team have stayed with us ever since they joined us, proof that ACCA is also a good employer. Two other colleagues have already passed the 10-year mark with us.”

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During the 15 years of presence in the region, the organization has trained and certified thousands of professionals in the field of accounting, collaborating, at the same time, with the Romanian Chamber of Financial Auditors, the Body of Expert Accountants and Certified Accountants in Romania or with supervisory bodies such as ASPAAS.

ACCA has also accredited the Faculty of Accounting and Management Informatics within the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest and works with many other universities in the region for similar accreditations.

At the level of professional organizations, ACCA has also established partnerships with ABSL Romania, ARIR, IBR, UPLR, AFER and others.

ACCA qualifications are obtained on the basis of tests conducted exclusively in English, which ensures the overall consistency of the level of examination subjects and of the grading. Recently, however, the organization also launched qualifications in Russian.

ACCA qualifications are transparent – all specific details – the syllabus, the former exam topics, study guides, examiners ‘comments, teachers’ remarks being made available, free of charge, to everyone on the website www.accaglobal.com.

For all qualifications, ACCA sets the curriculum and is the examining association, but it does not provide training courses, so as not to compromise the integrity of the tests if the same people who teach would be the ones who examine. In most countries, the association works with accredited companies to offer courses based on the curriculum. In Romania, there are two such accredited companies.

“The very special situation in 2020 did not prevent us from continuing our activity,” explains Andreia Stanciu. “We kept offering seminars and trainings to members and students and allowed students (aspiring members) to take their qualification exams online, with the help of virtual supervision tools, which were able to ensure the integrity of the tests. We continue to make more and more resources available online to our members this year, so that they can pursue their professional development even in these unusual circumstances.”

In the 15 years of activity of the regional office, almost 1200 people in Romania became ACCA members, maintaining their active status because they appreciate belonging to a global community and they benefit from the wealth of professional resources provided and the reputation of ACCA designation, which they gained by passing rigorous examinations and tests.