(New York, March 13, 2013) – The International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) has issued the revised International Education Standard (IES) 5, Initial Professional Development—Practical Experience. IES 5 aims to assist educational organizations, employers, regulators, government authorities, and any other stakeholders who support the practical experience of professional accountants.

 

The revised IES 5, which is effective from July 1, 2015, recognizes that practical experience is relevant in developing the competence of an aspiring professional accountant while also:

• Promoting greater flexibility in measuring practical experience;

• Permitting practical experience supervisors to direct, advise, and assist an aspiring professional accountant’s experience; and

• Requiring practical experience to be recorded in a verifiable and consistent form.

 

“The revised IES 5 requires that the aspiring professional accountant completes practical experience by the end of initial professional development to perform a role of a professional accountant,” explained Peter Wolnizer, chair of the IAESB. “In addition, International Federation of Accountants member bodies are required to demonstrate that the method used by the aspiring professional accountant to gain experience follows one of three approaches: input-based, output-based, or a combination of input- and output-based. These approaches meet the public expectation that a professional accountant has completed a professional accounting education program and has obtained sufficient practical experience.”

 

The release of the revised IES 5 represents the fourth IES released by the IAESB in a project to revise its suite of eight IESs. Recently, IES 1, Entry Requirements to Professional Accounting Education Programs, IES 6, Initial Professional Development – Assessment of Professional Competence, and IES 7, Continuing Professional Development were published in accordance with the clarity drafting conventions outlined in the Framework of International Education Standards for Professional Accountants (2009). The current timetable envisages that all IESs will have been revised and redrafted, or redrafted only, by Quarter 4 of 2013.

 

The IAESB develops education standards, guidance, and information papers for use by IFAC member bodies under a shared standard-setting process involving the Public Interest Oversight Board, which oversees the activities of the IAESB, and the IAESB Consultative Advisory Group, which provides public interest input into the development of the standards and guidance. The structures and processes that support the operations of the IAESB are facilitated by IFAC.