Accounting Certification in the Russian Language

Abstract

Accounting certification in the former Soviet republics lacks credibility. Accountants are not familiar with International Financial Reporting Standards or International Standards on Auditing. Certifications can be bought. Audit opinions can be sold. Financial statements that are auditing by accountants holding a national certification from a former Soviet republic have no credibility in international capital markets.

A few years ago an attempt to solve this problem was made by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which started supporting a Russian language certification model that was based on the Canadian Certified General Accountant (CGA) exam. This certification model was tried first in five Central Asian republics and has now spread to Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. This paper reports on the progress that has been made in spreading this program throughout the former Soviet republics.

Keywords: accounting certification, ACCA, CIPA, IFRS, gender,International Financial Reporting Standards, transition economy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova

JEL Classification: M4, J16, F02, F21, G15, G18, G34, I2, J44, K22, L84, L86, O52