Certified General Accountant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Certified General Accountant (CGA) is the designation of professionals who are jointly members of the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGA-Canada) and a provincial or territorial CGA association, or a CGA association overseas. Provincial, territorial and offshore CGA affiliate associations work collaboratively with CGA-Canada as a federation.
A CGA is an accounting professional with expertise in finance, taxation, business strategy, auditing, management and business leadership. To be certified, CGAs must meet the education, experience and examination requirements established, and regularly enhanced, by CGA-Canada.
CGA-Canada had 45,500 members and 25,500 students in 2008, making it the fastest growing and second largest professional accounting designation in Canada. The CGA program of professional studies is offered in Canada, Bermuda, the Caribbean, Hong Kong and mainland China.
CGAs work throughout the world in industry, commerce, finance, government, public practice and the not-for-profit sector.
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[edit] History
The national association, first known as the Canadian Accountants' Association, was founded in 1908 by a trio of Canadian Pacific Railway accountants in Montreal, Quebec. Five years later, in 1913, the General Accountants' Association, as it was then known, was granted a charter from the government of Canada. By the mid-1940s, there are association chapters from coast-to-coast. Provincial, territorial and regional (offshore) chapters are later established under their own charters.
[edit] Education
CGA-Canada's professional education program is "competency-based". "Competency-based education" approach claims to differ from the theoretical knowledge-based model by requiring students to perform tasks and roles to standards expected in the work environment.[1]
The knowledge, skills, and professional values required of a CGA are reflected in a list of competencies. These competencies extend over areas of technical knowledge, general management, leadership, and professionalism and they are validated periodically through extensive survey analysis. Of the 147 competencies on the list, 126 are identified as core competencies required of a newly certified CGA. Twenty-one additional competencies, not designated as core, are developed through the career option courses at the professional (PACE) level of the program.
The complete academic program consists of 19 courses, two business cases, and professional qualification exams, all spread over five levels: Levels 1 to 3 (Foundation Studies), Level 4 (Advanced Studies), and PACE. Some of the educational institutions may require graduates to go from a Junior CGA to a Senior CGA position within one year of graduation, which sometimes may prove to be challenging during certain economic conditions.
[edit] Online learning
CGA-Canada is the leader in providing online professional accounting education. Using the Internet, students can complete their studies using a system that integrates text material, study guides, video and audio tools, discussion forums, group case study and project work, web research and email.
In addition to its own online program of studies, CGA-Canada has also developed online degree partnerships with several Canadian universities.[2]
[edit] Mutual recognition agreements
On 18 December 2006, CGA Canada and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) announced a Mutual Recognition Agreement to take effect on 1 January 2007. Details
On 8 April 2008, CGA Canada and CPA Australia entered into a Mutual Recognition Agreement to extend the global reach of both organizations into new continents. [1]
On 3 June 2009, CGA Canada and [The Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland] (CPA Ireland) have entered into a mutual recognition agreement. The MRA establishes a strategic partnership between the two leading accounting organizations and gives members the opportunity to qualify for another designation. [2]
