Success-Gurus

Subjects for study

Six subjects and Seven Papers of study in IPCC are –

Group I

Paper 1: Accounting (100 marks)

Paper 2: Law, Ethics and Communication

Part I: Law (60 marks)

Business Laws (30 marks)

Company Law (30 marks) Part II: Business Ethics (20 marks)

Part III: Business Communication (20 marks)

Paper 3: Cost Accounting and Financial Management

Part I: Cost Accounting (50 marks)

Part II: Financial Management (50 marks)

Paper 4: Taxation

Part I: Income-tax (50 marks)

Part II: Service Tax (25 marks) and VAT (25 marks)

Group II

Paper 5: Advanced Accounting (100 marks)

Paper 6: Auditing and Assurance (100 marks)

Paper 7: Information Technology and Strategic Management

Section A: Information Technology (50 marks) Section B: Strategic Management (50 marks) The level of knowledge expected of students in the above subjects is ‘working knowledge’.

INTEGRATED PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE COURSE (IPCC)

Syllabus
GROUP I OF IPCC/ ACCOUNTING TECHNICIAN COURSE (ATC)

Paper 1: Accounting

(One paper – three hours – 100 marks)

Level of Knowledge: Working Knowledge

Objectives:

To lay a foundation for the preparation and presentation of financial statements;

To gain working knowledge of the principles and procedures of accounting and their application to different practical situations;

To gain the ability to solve simple problems and cases relating to sole proprietorship, partnership and companies; and

To familiarize students with the fundamentals of computerized system of accounting. Contents

A General Knowledge of the framing of the accounting standards, national and international accounting authorities, adoption of international financial reporting standards

Accounting Standards Working knowledge of:

AS 1 :

Disclosure of Accounting Policies Valuation of Inventories

Cash Flow Statements

Depreciation Accounting

Construction Contracts (Revised 2002) Revenue Recognition

Accounting for Fixed Assets Accounting for Investments Accounting for Amalgamations

3. Company Accounts

Preparation of financial statements – Profit and Loss Account, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement

Profit (Loss) prior to incorporation

Alteration of share capital, Conversion of fully paid shares into stock and stock into shares, Accounting for bonus issue

Simple problems on Accounting for business acquisition, Amalgamation and reconstruction (excluding problems of amalgamation on inter-company holding)

Financial Statements of Not-for-Profit Organisations

Accounts from Incomplete Records

Accounting for Special Transactions

Hire purchase and instalment sale transactions

Investment accounts

Insurance claims for loss of stock and loss of profit.

Issues in Partnership Accounts

Final accounts of partnership firms – Admission, retirement and death of a partner including treatment of goodwill;

Accounting in Computerised Environment

An overview of computerized accounting system – Salient features and significance, Concept of grouping of accounts, Codification of accounts, Maintaining the hierarchy of ledger, Accounting packages and consideration for their selection, Generating Accounting Reports.

Note :

If either old Accounting Standards (ASs), Announcements and Limited Revisions to ASs are withdrawn or new ASs, Announcements and Limited Revisions to ASs are issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in place of existing ASs, Announcements and Limited Revisions to ASs, the syllabus will accordingly include/exclude such new developments in place of the existing ones with effect from the date to be notified by the Institute.

Paper 2: Business Laws, Ethics and Communication

(One paper – three hours - 100 marks)

Level of Knowledge: Working knowledge

Part I: Business Laws (60 marks) Objective:

To test working knowledge of business laws and company law and their practical application in commercial situations.

Contents:

Business Laws (30 marks)

The Indian Contract Act, 1872

The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881

The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965

The Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952

The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.

Company Law (30 marks)

The Companies Act, 1956– Sections 1 to 197

Board of Company Law Administration - National Company Law Tribunal; Appellate Tribunal Incorporation of company and matters incidental thereto

Prospectus and allotment, and other matters relating to use of shares or debentures Share capital and debentures

Registration of charges

Management and administration – general provisions – registered office and name, restrictions on commencement of business, registers of members and debentures holders, foreign registers of members or debenture holders, annual returns, general provisions regarding registers and returns, meetings and proceedings.

Company Law in a computerized environment – e-filing.

Note: If new legislations are enacted in place of the existing legislations, the syllabus would include the corresponding provisions of such new legislations with effect from a date notified by the Institute.

Part II: Ethics (20 marks) Objective:

To have an understanding of ethical issues in business.

Contents:

1. Introduction to Business Ethics

The nature, purpose of ethics and morals for organizational interests; ethics and conflicts of interests; ethical and social implications of business policies and decisions; corporate social responsibility; ethical issues in corporate governance.

2. Environment Issues

Protecting the Natural Environment – prevention of pollution and depletion of natural resources; conservation of natural resources.

3. Ethics in Workplace

Individual in the organisation, discrimination, harassment, gender equality.

4. Ethics in Marketing and Consumer Protection

Healthy competition and protecting consumer’s interest.

5. Ethics in Accounting and Finance

Importance, issues and common problems

Part III: Communication (20 marks)

Objective:

To nurture and develop the communication and behavioural skills relating to business. Contents:

1. Elements of Communication

Communication channels

Communicating corporate culture, change, innovative spirits Communication breakdowns

Communication ethics

Groups dynamics; handling group conflicts, consensus building; negotiating and bargaining

Emotional intelligence – emotional quotient

Soft skills – personality traits; interpersonal skills; leadership.

2. Communication in Business Environment

Business Meetings – Notice, Agenda, Minutes, Chairperson’s speech

Press releases

Corporate announcements by stock exchanges

Reporting of proceedings of a meeting.

3. Basic Understanding of Legal Deeds and Documents

Partnership deed

Power of Attorney

Lease deed

Affidavit

Indemnity bond

Gift deed

Memorandum and articles of association of a company Annual Report of a company.

Paper 3: Cost Accounting and Financial Management

(One paper – three hours - 100 marks)

Level of Knowledge: Working knowledge

Part I: Cost Accounting (50 marks) Objectives:

To understand the basic concepts and processes used to determine product costs;

To be able to interpret cost accounting statements;

To be able to analyse and evaluate information for cost ascertainment, planning, control and decision making; and

To be able to solve simple cases. Contents:

Introduction to Cost Accounting

Objectives and scope of cost accounting

Cost centres and cost units

Cost classification for stock valuation, profit measurement, decision making and control

Coding systems

Elements of cost

Cost behaviour pattern, separating the components of semi-variable costs

Installation of a costing system

Relationship of cost accounting, financial accounting, management accounting and financial management.

Cost Ascertainment

Material Cost

Procurement procedures - store procedures and documentation in respect of receipts and issue of stock, stock verification

Inventory control - techniques of fixing of minimum, maximum and reorder levels, economic order quantity, ABC classification; stocktaking and perpetual inventory

Inventory accounting

Consumption - identification with products of cost centres, basis for consumption entries in financial accounts, monitoring consumption.

Employee Cost

Attendance and payroll procedures, overview of statutory requirements, overtime, idle time and incentives

Labour turnover

Utilisation of labour, direct and indirect labour, charging of labour cost, identifying labour hours with work orders or batches or capital jobs

Efficiency rating procedures

(v) Remuneration systems and incentive schemes.

Direct Expenses

Sub-contracting – control on material movements, identification with the main product or service.

Overheads

Functional analysis – factory, administration, selling, distribution, research and development

Behavioural analysis – fixed, variable, semi variable and step cost

Factory overheads – primary distribution and secondary distribution, criteria for choosing suitable basis for allotment, capacity cost adjustments, fixed absorption rates for absorbing overheads to products or services

Administration overheads – method of allocation to cost centres or products

Selling and distribution overheads – analysis and absorption of the expenses in products/customers, impact of marketing strategies, cost effectiveness of various methods of sales promotion.

Cost Book-keeping

Cost ledgers – non-integrated accounts, integrated accounts, reconciliation of cost and financial accounts.

Costing Systems

Job Costing

Job cost cards and databases, collecting direct costs of each job, attributing overhead costs to jobs, applications of job costing.

Batch Costing

Contract Costing

Progress payments, retention money, escalation clause, contract accounts, accounting for material, accounting for plant used in a contract, contract profit and balance sheet entries.

Process Costing

Double entry book keeping, process loss, abnormal gains and losses, equivalent units, inter-process profit, joint products and by products.

Operating Costing System

Introduction to Marginal Costing

Marginal costing compared with absorption costing, contribution, breakeven analysis and profit volume graph.

Introduction to Standard Costing

Various types of standards, setting of standards, basic concepts of material and labour standards and variance analysis.

Budgets and Budgetary Control

The budget manual, preparation and monitoring procedures, budget variances, flexible budget, preparation of functional budget for operating and non-operating functions, cash budget, master budget, principal budget factors.

Part II: Financial Management (50 marks) Objectives:

To develop ability to analyse and interpret various tools of financial analysis and planning;

To gain knowledge of management and financing of working capital;

To understand concepts relating to financing and investment decisions; and

To be able to solve simple cases.

Contents:

1. Scope and Objectives of Financial Management

Meaning, importance and objectives

Conflicts in profit versus value maximisation principle

Role of Chief Financial Officer.

2. Time Value of Money

Compounding and discounting techniques – concepts of annuity and perpetuity.

3. Financial Analysis and Planning

Ratio analysis for performance evaluation and financial health

Application of ratio analysis in decision making

Analysis of cash flow statement.

4. Financing Decisions

Cost of Capital – weighted average cost of capital and marginal cost of capital

Capital Structure decisions – capital structure patterns, designing optimum capital structure, constraints, various capital structure theories

Business risk and financial risk – operating and financial leverage, trading on equity.

5. Types of Financing

Project financing – intermediate and long term financing

Negotiating term loans with banks and financial institutions and appraisal thereof Introduction to lease financing

Venture capital finance.

6. Investment Decisions

Purpose, objective, process

Understanding different types of projects

Techniques of decision making: non-discounted and discounted cash flow approaches - payback period method, accounting rate of return, net present value, internal rate of return, modified internal rate of return, discounted payback period and profitability index.

Ranking of competing projects, ranking of projects with unequal lives.

7. Management of working capital

Working capital policies

Funds flow analysis

Inventory management

Receivables management

Payables management

Management of cash and marketable securities

Financing of working capital.

Paper 4: Taxation

(One paper - three hours – 100 marks)

Level of Knowledge: Working knowledge Objectives:

To gain knowledge of the provisions of Income-tax law relating to the topics mentioned in the contents below; and

To gain ability to solve simple problems concerning assessees with the status of ‘Individual’; and covering the areas mentioned in the contents below.

Contents:

Part I: Income-tax (50 marks)

Important definitions in the Income-tax Act, 1961

Basis of charge; rates of taxes applicable for different types of assessees

Concepts of previous year and assessment year

Residential status and scope of total income; Income deemed to be received / deemed to accrue or arise in India

Incomes which do not form part of total income

Heads of income and the provisions governing computation of income under different heads

Income of other persons included in assessee’s total income

Aggregation of income; set-off or carry forward and set-off of losses

Deductions from gross total income

Computation of total income and tax payable; rebates and reliefs

Provisions concerning advance tax and tax deducted at source

Provisions for filing of return of income.

Part II: Service tax (25 marks) and VAT (25 marks) Objective:

To gain knowledge of the provisions of service tax as mentioned below and basic concepts of Value Added Tax (VAT) in India.

Service tax (25 marks) Contents:

Service tax – concepts and general principles

Charge of service tax and taxable services

Valuation of taxable services

Payment of service tax and filing of returns VAT (25 marks)

VAT – concepts and general principles

Calculation of VAT Liability including input Tax Credits

Small Dealers and Composition Scheme

8. VAT Procedures.

Note: If new legislations are enacted in place of the existing legislations the syllabus will accordingly include the corresponding provisions of such new legislations in the place of the existing legislations with effect from the date to be notified by the Institute. Students shall not be examined with reference to any particular State VAT Law.

GROUP II
Paper 5: Advanced Accounting
(One paper – three hours – 100 marks)

Level of Knowledge: Working Knowledge

Objectives:

To have an understanding of the conceptual framework for the preparation and presentation of financial

statements;

To gain working knowledge of the professional standards and application of accounting principles to

different practical situations; and

To gain the ability to solve advanced problems in the case of different entities. Contents

Conceptual Framework for Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements

Accounting Standards Working knowledge of:

AS 4 : Contingencies and Events occurring after the Balance Sheet Date

AS 5 : Net Profit or Loss for the Period, Prior Period Items and Changes in Accounting Policies

The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates (Revised 2003)

Accounting for Government Grants

AS 16: Borrowing Costs

Leases

Earnings Per Share

AS 26: Intangible Assets

AS 29: Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets.

Advanced Issues in Partnership Accounts

Dissolution of partnership firms including piecemeal distribution of assets; Amalgamation of partnership firms; Conversion into a company and Sale to a company.

Company Accounts

Accounting for employee stock option plan, Buy back of securities, Equity shares with differential rights, Underwriting of shares and debentures, Redemption of debentures

Advanced problems for business acquisition, Amalgamation and reconstruction (excluding problems of amalgamation of inter-company holding)

Accounting involved in liquidation of companies, Statement of Affairs (including deficiency/surplus accounts) and Iiquidator’s statement of account of the winding up.

Financial Statements of Banking, Insurance and Electricity Companies Accounting for Special Transactions

Departmental and branch accounts including foreign branches Note :

If either old Accounting Standards (ASs), Announcements and Limited Revisions to ASs are withdrawn or new ASs, Announcements and Limited Revisions to ASs are issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in place of existing ASs, Announcements and Limited

Revisions to ASs, the syllabus will accordingly include/exclude such new developments in place of the existing ones with effect from the date to be notified by the Institute.

Paper 6: Auditing and Assurance (One paper – three hours – 100 marks)

Level of knowledge: Working Knowledge

Objective:

To understand objective and concepts of auditing and gain working knowledge of generally accepted auditing procedures and of techniques and skills needed to apply them in audit and attestation engagements and solving simple case-studies.

Contents

Auditing Concepts – Nature and limitations of Auditing, Basic Principles governing an audit, Ethical principles and concept of Auditor’s Independence, Relationship of auditing with other disciplines.

Auditing and Assurance Standards – Overview, Standard-setting process, Role of International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board and Auditing and Assurance Standards Board in India.

Auditing engagement – Audit planning, Audit programme, Control of quality of audit work–Delegation and supervision of audit work.

Documentation – Audit working papers, Audit files: Permanent and current audit files, Ownership and custody of working papers.

Audit evidence – Audit procedures for obtaining evidence, Sources of evidence, Reliability of audit evidence, Methods of obtaining audit evidence, Physical verification, Documentation, Direct confirmation, Re-computation, Analytical review techniques, Representation by management.

Internal Control – Elements of internal control, Review and documentation, Evaluation of internal control system, Internal control questionnaire, Internal control check list, Tests of control, Application of concept of materiality and audit risk, Concept of internal audit.

Internal Control and Computerized Environment, Approaches to Auditing in Computerised Environment.

Audit Sampling – Types of sampling, Test checking, Techniques of test checks.

Analytical review procedures.

Audit of payments – General considerations, Wages, Capital expenditure, Other payments and expenses, Petty cash payments, Bank payments, Bank reconciliation.

Audit of receipts – General considerations, Cash sales, Receipts from debtors, Other Receipts.

Audit of Purchases – Vouching cash and credit purchases, Forward purchases, Purchase returns, Allowance received from suppliers.

Audit of Sales – Vouching of cash and credit sales, Goods on consignment, Sale on approval basis, Sale under hire-purchase agreement, Returnable containers, Various types of allowances given to customers, Sale returns.

Audit of suppliers’ ledger and the debtors’ ledger – Self-balancing and the sectional balancing system, Total or control accounts, Confirmatory statements from credit customers and suppliers, Provision for bad and doubtful debts, Writing off of bad debts.

Audit of impersonal ledger – Capital expenditure, deferred revenue expenditure and revenue expenditure, Outstanding expenses and income, Repairs and renewals, Distinction between reserves and provisions, Implications of change in the basis of accounting.

Audit of assets and liabilities.

Company Audit – Audit of Shares, Qualifications and Disqualifications of Auditors, Appointment of auditors, Removal of auditors, Powers and duties of auditors, Branch audit, Joint audit, Special audit, Reporting requirements under the Companies Act, 1956.

Audit Report – Qualifications, Disclaimers, Adverse opinion, Disclosures, Reports and certificates.

Special points in audit of different types of undertakings, i.e., Educational institutions, Hotels, Clubs, Hospitals, Hire-purchase and leasing companies (excluding banks, electricity companies, cooperative societies, and insurance companies).

Features and basic principles of government audit, Local bodies and not-for-profit organizations, Comptroller and Auditor General and its constitutional role.

Note: Candidates are expected to have working knowledge of relevant Auditing and Assurance Standards issued by the ICAI with reference to above-mentioned topics.

Paper 7: Information Technology and Strategic Management

(One paper – three hours – 100 marks)

Level of Knowledge: Working knowledge

Section A: Information Technology ( 50 Marks) Objective:

To develop an understanding of Information Technology and its use by the business as facilitator and driver. Contents:

1. Introduction to Computers

Computer hardware Classification of computers – personal computer, workstation, servers and super computers Computer components – CPU, input output devices, storage devices

BUS, I/O CO processors, ports (serial, parallel, USB ports), expansion slots, add on cards, on board chips, LAN cards, multi media cards, cache memory, buffers, controllers and drivers

Computer software

Systems software – operating system, translators (compilers, interpreters and assemblers), system utilities

General purpose software/ utilities - word processor, spread sheet, DBMS, scheduler / planner, internet browser and e-mail clients

Application software – financial accounting, payroll, inventory

Specialised systems – Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), artificial intelligence, expert systems, decision support systems – an overview

2. Data Storage, Retrievals and Data Base Management Systems

Data and information concepts: bits, bytes, KB, MB, GB, TB

Data organization and access

Storage concepts : records, fields, grouped fields, special fields like date, integers, real, floating, fixed, double precision, logical, characters, strings, variable character fields (Memo); key, primary key, foreign key, secondary key, referential integrity, index fields.

Storage techniques: sequential, block sequential, random, indexed, sequential access, direct access, random access including randomizing

Logical structure and physical structure of files

DBMS models and classification:

Need for database, administration, models, DML and DDL (query and reporting); data dictionaries, distributed data bases, object oriented databases, client server databases, knowledge databases

Backup and recovery – backup policy, backup schedules, offsite backups, recycling of backups, frequent checking of recovery of backup

Usage of system software like program library management systems and tape and disk management systems – features, functionalities, advantages

(f) Data mining and data warehousing - an overview

(a) Networking concepts – need and scope, benefits

Classification: LAN, MAN, WAN, VPN; peer-to-peer, client server

Components - NIC, router, switch, hub, repeater, bridge, gateway, modem

Network topologies – bus, star, ring, mesh, hybrid, architecture : token ring, ethernet transmission technologies and protocols – OSI, TCP/IP, ISDN etc.

Network operating system

Local Area Networks – components of a LAN, advantages of LAN

Client server technology

Limitation of single user systems and need for client server technology

Servers – database, application, print servers, transaction servers, internet servers, mail servers, chat servers, IDS

Introduction to 3-tier and “n” tier architecture (COM, COM+)

Data centres: features and functions, primary delivery centre and disaster recovery site Network security need; threats and vulnerabilities; security levels; techniques Internet and other technologies

Internet and world-wide web, intranets, extranets, applications of internet, internet protocols

E-commerce - nature, types (B2B, B2C, C2C), supply chain management, CRM, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Electronic Fund Transfers (EFT), payment portal, e-commerce security;

Mobile commerce, bluetooth and Wi-Fi

Flowcharts, Decision Tables.

Section B: Strategic Management (50 marks) Objectives:

To develop an understanding of the general and competitive business environment;

To develop an understanding of strategic management concepts and techniques;

To be able to solve simple cases. Contents:

Business Environment

General environment - demographic, socio-cultural, macro-economic, legal/political, technological, and global; competitive environment.

Business Policy and Strategic Management

Meaning and nature; strategic management imperative; vision, mission and objectives; strategic levels in organisations.