study

technical integration

Improve your
knowledge
and skills
A helpful guide from the examining
team of the key areas to consider when
preparing for Technical Integration exams
he Technical
Integration (TI)
exams are designed
to develop core technical,
commercial and ethical skills
in combination with technical
knowledge and understanding.
Progression from Professional
Stage, combined with work
experience, will prepare you
to take the next step into TI.
The Business Reporting exam
focuses on compliance issues;
the Business Change exam
focuses on planning scenarios.

Each exam is three and a half

hours long. The key
differences are as follows:
1. Business Reporting contains
four questions; Business Change
contains three questions. One
Business Change question is a
mini case study, worth at least
40 marks.
2. Two questions in the
Business Reporting exam are
unintegrated, dealing with only
one technical area corporate
reporting and taxation. The
remaining Business Reporting

questions and all the Business

Change questions integrate
two or more technical areas.
3. Business analysis is tested
only in the Business Change
exam. The technical material
of corporate reporting,
auditing, taxation and ethics is
common to both.

Corporate Reporting

The Professional Stage

Financial Accounting and
Financial Reporting exams
cover a high proportion of IAS/
IFRS. However, there are more
complex standards that are not
dealt with at Professional Stage,
or are only covered at a basic
level; these standards are
tested at TI. Where Professional
Stage material is tested at the
TI exams, it is combined with
higher skills including looking
at interactions between IAS or
making judgements where
the treatment of a transaction
is unclear.
Financial statement analysis
requires interpretation of
financial statements in the
context of a business scenario.
This may involve projecting
profit, or recalculating profit,
on a more meaningful basis
than that provided in published
financial statements, for a
particular purpose such as
corporate valuation.

Auditing

There are few differences in

the International Standards on
Auditing (ISA) covered at
Professional Stage. The key
distinction at TI is in their
application, involving complex
scenarios and difficult
judgements. TI integrates
auditing with corporate
reporting: auditing judgements
will often require simultaneous
financial reporting judgements.

Business Analysis

getty

Business Analysis takes

elements of Business Strategy
and Financial Management
from Professional Stage to a
higher level. One aspect is

vital april 2013

financial data analysis, which

includes interpretation of
financial and non-financial data.

Taxation

Taxation at Advanced Stage

relies heavily on the foundation
of knowledge and the ability to
prepare basic tax computations.
At Advanced Stage there is a
more emphasis on identifying
the appropriate treatment of a
transaction and the ability to
identify tax planning
opportunities. Where relevant,
it is important to consider the
interaction of different taxes.

Skills

Knowledge and understanding

of technical material alone is
not sufficient to pass TI exams.
Technical knowledge is applied
to complex scenarios in light
of specific commercial and
regulatory conditions, while
taking account of client
requirements. TI assesses
professional skills including
analysis, synthesis, and
communication, along with
commercial and ethical
awareness and the application
of professional judgement.
What is the difference
between knowledge and skills?
Well, you may know how to
play chess and the various
rules entailed, but this does
not make you a grandmaster.
The skills are in planning ahead,
developing and applying a
strategy. Accounting has many
more rules than chess; the skill
lies in applying these rules in
the context of the commercial
situation, developing practical
solutions and providing
realistic, commercial advice.
Ethical skills will demand
more than the implementation
of ethical rules. Rather, they
may require ethical judgement
to be exercised in complex
scenarios where the appropriate
ethical stance is unclear. For
instance, advising resignation
as the first response to every
ethical dilemma would not be
appropriate.

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