CINA^® – English

The CINA^® – Certificate in International Accounting course provides participants with comprehensive and solid practical training in IFRS and US-GAAP using a combination of written self-study training material and one week of classroom training. The similarities and differences between IFRS and US-GAAP and the accounting requirements according to German commercial law (HGB) are also discussed in detail. In addition to receiving a qualification based on the current IFRS accounting standards, you will be provided with information on the very latest or upcoming changes to these standards. The self-study training material contains detailed information on current changes to topics such as revenue recognition (IFRS 15), financial instruments (IFRS 9) and lease contracts (IFRS 16). After passing the final exam, participants are entitled to use the nationally recognised CINA^® – Certificate in International Accounting accreditation. The CINA^® accreditation is legally registered with the German Patent and Trademark Office and may only be awarded by the Akademie für Internationale Rechnungslegung.

Course objective

The course provides participants with solid knowledge and practical skills in HGB, IFRS and US-GAAP, together with an accreditation in the form of the CINA^® – Certificate in International Accounting.

Course contents

• Basic principles of IFRS and US-GAAP
• Balance sheet: intangible fixed assets; property, plant and equipment; inventories; accounting for long-term contract manufacturing; receivables; investments; financial instruments; financial assets; provisions; liabilities; prepaid expenses; equity; deferred taxes
• Income statement: cost of sales method; revenue recognition
• Earnings per share, interim reporting, statement of cash flows, segment reporting, other notes disclosures, consolidation, practical conversion issues

Target group

Our certificate course is aimed at technical staff and managers who want to show proof of their comprehensive knowledge of international accounting rules. The CINA^® certificate course provides a consistent and certified knowledge base for accounting and related issues within a professional organisation. Approximately one-third of participants come from large corporations, one-third work for medium-sized businesses and one-third are participants who are self-employed in independent professions. The CINA^® course meets the professional needs of certified auditors and audit staff in general, business consultants, tax advisers and legal advisers, as well as accountants, controllers, internal auditors and professionals in the financial sector and related businesses. It is also useful for software consultants and developers and other professionals with a hands-on role, who will benefit from the CINA^® training qualification with its practical education in accounting and financial reporting.

Distribution of the self-study training material

Each week one lesson from the self-study training material will be sent to you, starting 14 weeks ahead of the classroom training week. If you prefer, we are happy to send you the complete self-study training material (lessons 1 to 12) in one package.

Virtual classroom training hours

Monday through Thursday: 09:00-17:30
Friday: 09:00-12:30
Saturday: 09:00-12:00 (Online Exam)

Fees and accommodation

The fee includes the cost of the self-study material, the classroom training and on-site catering. If accommodation is required, please make a reservation at the conference hotel at your own expense. A limited number of rooms is reserved for our participants at each conference hotel. We will provide you with the details of the terms and conditions immediately following your registration, together with the acknowledgement of registration.

Programme

1. Phase: Self-study training

Each participant receives the 12 lessons of the self-study training material over a period of 14 weeks ahead of the classroom training week. That material provides comprehensive explanations of all the important accounting standards. We use case studies to provide practical examples of the application of the standards. The average length of each lesson is 20 pages, and each lesson requires between five and ten hours of self-study to work through it. The academy tutors can be contacted by email or telephone throughout the self-study period to discuss any questions you may have. Completing the self-study training lessons ensures that all participants have approximately the same level of knowledge by the time the classroom training week starts.

2. Phase: Classroom training week

After the period of self-study training, the on-site classroom training (one week from Monday through Friday) offers the chance to discuss and examine the contents of the 12 self-study lessons in more detail using numerous case studies and practical examples from annual reports. The training week will be undertaken in small groups of no more than 25 participants. Participants will get practice in how to apply the accounting standards themselves. Furthermore, there will be plenty of opportunities for contact with the academy’s tutors as well as with other course participants to discuss any questions in groups or on an individual basis. The classroom training week focuses on practical examples. It is therefore essential to have worked through and completed the self-study training material in advance in order to be familiar with the subject-matter.

3. Phase: Exam

The three-hour-long exam on the last day of the classroom training week (Friday) will be taken under realistic exam conditions, and will consist of numerous short questions and case studies taken from and based on the subject matter studied during the week. To assist in solving the exam questions participants are allowed to use the IFRS standards. A score of 75% is required to pass the exam. The exam is voluntary; if they prefer, participants can take part in the course only, and receive a normal participation certificate. Participants who received all the self-study training material and attended the classroom training week but did not pass the exam are entitled to a 30% price discount if they would like to take part in the on-site course again. There is no charge for taking the exam a second time. On average, 80% of all participants pass the exam.

Certificate

CINA^® – for over a decade the seal of quality for solid practical training

The nationally recognised CINA^® accreditation documents that you have a proven comprehensive knowledge of working with international accounting standards. CINA^® enables you to demonstrate your solid practical training to employers and customers. The CINA^® course is an established part of the training and continuing education programmes of many well-known companies.

The CINA^® course and the Certificate in International Accounting accreditation were first offered in the autumn of 2002. To date more than 6,000 participants have completed the course. CINA^® is a business initiative of the Akademie für internationale Rechnungslegung, the first professional training company across German-speaking countries to specialise exclusively in providing IFRS and US-GAAP education.

Participation requirements

It is of advantage for participants to have good commercial and accounting skills as well as a good practical knowledge of the accounting requirements in accordance with HGB and tax law.

Method

12 lessons of self-study training material with online support provided by the academy course tutors, followed by online training including comprehensive case studies and practical examples which will enable participants to apply the accounting standards in any professional environment.

What our participants say about this seminare

„The self-study material is written in a comprehensive and understandable way. The comparison to German GAAP and the past exam questions after each topic are very helpful. In the webinar we are in a small group and have sufficient time for questions and discussion. The lessens were hold at a high level and the docent combined the theory with interesting examples. A nice time with the vivid group and a lot of knowledge acquired afterwards. I can really recommend the CINA^® English Seminar."
(Min Kong, Group Accounting, Techem Energy Services GmbH, Eschborn)

„Both the self-study & seminar material were very solid and well organized. Taking part of the one week Seminar sessions to review the individual standards based on real examples made all the difference to consolidate the knowledge. The exchange with the Docent and all participants was vivid and super interesting. I can only recommend the CINA^® English Seminar. Surely the acquired knowledge will help a lot going forward"
(Juliana Silva, Finance Field Solutions/Reg.Science EMEA, Bayer AG, Leverkusen)

„CINA^® is a comprehensive and well-designed course. It covers a wide range of topics and still can go into sufficient detail to provide a strong understanding of IFRS and differences with German GAAP and US-GAAP. The study material and the accompanying questions from previous exams provides a strong foundation, which is then capped by a week of online sessions. The online sessions are an excellent opportunity to get clarifications and ask questions. I would strongly recommend CINA – English seminar to any accounting professional.
(Advait Kulkarni, Global Process Manager, Bayer AG, Ballwin, USA)