DipIFR: What the Diploma Is, the Exam and Preparation

Why an international certificate matters in Uzbekistan

• a holder of an international accountancy certificate who meets the requirements of Art. 21–22 is issued the national auditor's certificate without the qualification exam (Art. 19 of Law ZRU-677 on Audit Activity);
• for a statutory audit, the audit firm must have at least two auditors with at least three years of experience or with an international accountancy certificate (Art. 35).

What the qualification is

It is a professional diploma confirming knowledge of International Financial Reporting Standards and the ability to apply them in practice. Preparation covers both the principles and specific standards for the main areas of accounting.

Its key feature is a practical focus. What is tested is not memorising the text of the standards but the ability to apply them to a specific situation and justify the decision taken.

Who needs the qualification

Primarily professionals who prepare or review financial statements under international standards: chief accountants of companies that prepare such statements, finance managers and auditors.

It is also in demand among those planning to move to companies with foreign ownership or to groups that consolidate under the standards. For the job market it is a clear signal of competence.

• chief accountants of companies with IFRS reporting
• finance managers and controllers
• auditors
• consolidation specialists in groups
• accounting methodology consultants

What such a specialist gives a company

First, less dependence on external consultants in day-to-day work. Routine questions are resolved in-house, and external expertise is brought in only for complex situations.

Second, better preparation for the audit. A specialist who understands the logic of the standards sees in advance which judgements need to be documented and which disclosures prepared.

What the qualification does not prove

The diploma confirms knowledge of the standards, but not experience of applying them in a particular industry. Accounting for a manufacturer with a long production cycle differs from that of a trading company, and here practice counts, not a certificate.

Second, the qualification is no substitute for knowing your accounting system and data. The specialist needs to understand not only the standards but also how national accounting is set up in your company.

Train your own or engage an external specialist

If IFRS financial statements are prepared regularly and the volume of transactions is significant, investing in training your own specialist pays off. If it happens once a year, it is usually more sensible to engage an external team.

An intermediate option is a mixed model: the in-house accountant prepares the data and learns the basic principles, while methodology and review of the result stay with an external consultant. This is a common solution for mid-sized businesses.

It is also worth bearing in mind that a qualification on its own does not solve organisational issues. Even a strong specialist cannot prepare correct financial statements if the source data are incomplete and the period-close process is not in place. So investment in training should be combined with putting national accounting in order and documenting procedures. Otherwise the company gets a qualified employee who spends much of their time not on methodology but on finding and reconciling source data.

• how regularly financial statements are prepared
• complexity and volume of transactions
• cost of training and retaining a specialist
• risk of dependence on one person
• need for an independent review of the result

How to prepare for working with the standards

It makes sense to start with the conceptual foundations: the definitions of an asset and a liability, recognition, fair value and materiality. Without this foundation, studying individual standards turns into rote learning.

Next, move on to the standards that apply to your transactions and work through them straight away on the company's own examples. Abstract study produces noticeably weaker results.

Keeping the qualification up to date also matters. Standards are revised, and knowledge acquired a few years ago needs refreshing: some requirements change and new interpretations of contentious issues appear. A specialist who obtained the diploma and then stopped following changes works from an outdated picture and does not always realise it. So when choosing someone — in-house or external — it is worth asking not only whether they hold the qualification but also which standards they have recently worked with in practice.

Leader Audit's expertise

We work with IFRS reporting in practice: we prepare accounting policies, conversion models and disclosures, and train clients' accounting teams to work within the international framework.

13 years in practice and more than 220 audits allow us to examine the standards not in theory but on a specific company's transactions — something no training course provides.

• applying the standards to your transactions
• accounting policy under international standards
• financial statement conversion model
• training for the accounting team
• review of financial statements before the audit
• audit of IFRS financial statements