Specialist in finance and accounting (FPE)  (Thun):
2 Provider - 2 Training locations

Holders of the federal certificate have sufficient professional experience as a finance and accounting specialist for qualified work in the field of accounting and controlling. Following the federal professional examination in finance and accounting, successful graduates are eligible to take the higher professional examination "Swiss Certified Expert in Accounting and Controlling".

The Finance and Accounting Specialist course prepares students specifically for the Federal Professional Examination. It teaches practice-oriented specialist knowledge from various areas of the financial world:

• Financial accounting
  Fundamentals of accounting, preparation of annual financial statements and special topics such as reorganizations and liquidations
• Balance sheet and performance analysis
  Analysis of balance sheet and income statement, calculation of key figures including DuPont scheme and activity analyses
• Law
  Relevant legal principles such as contract law, company law, debt collection and bankruptcy as well as criminal law
• Cash flow statement
  Preparation of financial plans, budgeting of liquidity and analysis of cash flows
• Consolidated financial statements
  Consolidation of financial statements, legal framework and presentation of subsidiaries
• Operational accounting
  Cost accounting, calculation, internal data collection and business evaluations
• Financial management
  Basics of cash management, forms of financing and the use of derivatives for hedging purposes
• Investment calculation
  Valuation of investments using static and dynamic methods
• Organization
  Structural and process organization, internal control systems, data security and statutory retention obligations
• Taxes
  Knowledge of VAT, withholding tax, direct taxes and international agreements to avoid double taxation
• Wages and insurance
  Accounting and administration of social insurance (AHV, IV, EO, FAK, ALV, UVG, KTG, BVG) and property insurance

The wide-ranging specialist in finance and accounting training enables you to develop sound specialist expertise in all key areas of finance and accounting. It thus creates a solid basis for demanding specialist or management functions in accounting, controlling or financial consulting.

Important: Each school determines the specific content and focus of its training in addition to the Federal Professional Examination regulations. It is therefore recommended that you enquire about the exact course content directly with the desired school.

According to graduates, training as a finance and accounting specialist will enable you to achieve the following:

• Thorough specialist training in finance and accounting
• perform qualified activities in all areas of financial and operational accounting
• also perform fiduciary duties competently and reliably
• perform a management function in accounting as a specialist in finance and accounting in an SME or work as a commercial manager
• Much of what you have learned can be used in everyday working life, e.g. payroll and social security, financial accounting, taxes, law and VAT law
• receives good input and suggestions for the job
• Very good targeted preparation for the Federal Diploma of Higher Education in Finance exam
• Develop into an expert in the fields of fiduciary services, accounting and controlling, taxes or auditing

Professional experience for the specialist certificate in finance and accounting is verified on the basis of references or work certificates. These must provide evidence of the professional experience - with activities, duration of employment and details of the workload. They must be enclosed with the application for the examination.

The education platform Ausbildung-Weiterbildung.ch surveyed people interested in continuing education in finance and accounting and the results were as follows:

• 58 % act on the basis of an online evaluation
• 23 % make a request to schools on recommendation
• 19 % requested schools that they already knew beforehand

The following answers were given when respondents were given the opportunity to state other reasons why they had enquired about the specialist finance and accounting course:

• Locality - "close to home", "nearby" and "I need to find a school in Canton Zug"
• Forms of teaching - "Because you can attend school in distance learning", "Online teaching", "Distance learning possible", "I don't necessarily want to have to attend face-to-face classes anymore" and "eLearning"
• Lesson days - "Saturday course" and "read all offers and this school suits me best (flexible)"
• Lesson times - "Evening classes" and "Entry possible at any time"
• Educational offer - "Because the school offers this training"
• Method of finding - "Google", "I looked on the Internet", "Internet", "Ausbildung-Weiterbildung.ch" and "by chance via job advertisement"
• Quality and reputation - "I will complete further training in finance and accounting. Your school is in Winterthur and has a good reputation."
• Job advertisement - "accidentally via job advertisement"

Continuing education, further training in finance and accounting opens up numerous advantages for professional and personal development. Graduates report that the training enabled them to develop both professional and social skills. The most important effects according to our survey were

• 66% stated that they had significantly expanded their professional skills.
• 25% benefited from a noticeable increase in their self-confidence.
• 24% improved their confidence, e.g. in presentations or customer meetings.
• 23% reported better self-management in their day-to-day work.
• 16 % were able to record a wage increase.
• 12% improved their teamwork skills through practical learning content.
• 11% optimized their time management and the efficient organization of tasks.
• 9% achieved a promotion or increased responsibilities as a result of continuing education, further training.

Overall, continuing education, further training in finance and accounting shows that investing in professional development not only pays off in terms of expanding skills, but also in terms of self-confidence, career opportunities and professional development. Participants gain security, can apply their specialist knowledge in a targeted manner and position themselves better within the company.

The continuing education, further training for the Federal Professional Examination in Finance and Accounting is suitable for people who work in the fields of accounting, fiduciary services or taxes at clerk level. The continuing education, specialist in finance and accounting provides the necessary professional competence to take on a managerial role in business or administration in the aforementioned professional fields.

Graduates of the specialist certificate in finance and accounting acquire comprehensive knowledge in the subjects of finance and accounting, taxes, law, wages and social insurance. They acquire the necessary specialist and practical skills to carry out qualified processing or a managerial function in the commercial sector or in the field of accounting or fiduciary services.

In the case of a conventional face-to-face course, this usually involves around 8 hours per week at the school on site and 6 - 8 hours of self-study at home over one and a half to two years. Those who complete this continuing education, further training only as a specialist in finance and accounting self-study need to spend 14 to 16 hours a week accordingly. Learning then takes place via online tools, explanatory videos, financial simulations, infographics, etc. Incidentally, some schools offer the first part of the course as self-study and the rest as face-to-face teaching.

Finance and accounting specialists have the following responsibilities:

• Middle management
• Overall responsibility for finance and accounting (depending on the size of the company)
• Possible link to the Head of Accounting and Controlling
• Responsibility for the entire company when working independently
• Very high level of responsibility towards the company, employees, suppliers and customers due to the handling of confidential data

The following admission requirements apply to the Federal Professional Examination in Finance and Accounting:

• Federal Diploma of Vocational Education and Training (Federal VET Diploma), Baccalaureate,
  Specialized Baccalaureate, Advanced Federal Professional Examination (AFPE), certificate or diploma recognized by the examination board as an accounting clerk, Federal Professional Examination, Advanced Federal Professional Examination (AFPE), College of Higher Education, University or University of Applied Sciences and 3 years of professional experience in the field of finance and accounting with a workload of 80%.
• or none of the above qualifications and 6 years of professional experience in finance and accounting with a workload of 80%

In addition to all the above conditions:

• A computer science diploma recognized by the examination board
• Online modules in the management area
• No entry in the central criminal register in connection with the professional activity

SERI decides on the equivalence of foreign certificates or diplomas.

Participants and those interested in continuing education, further training in accounting would like to receive as much practical and meaningful information as possible at an information event. A survey shows which aspects are most important:

• 70 % would like key data on the course, such as duration, scope and completion options.
• 63% would like to learn about the training methodology and how the lessons are structured.
• 62% are interested in the learning materials and their use in self-study.
• 55% attach importance to getting to know the school themselves and gaining an impression of the premises.
• 53% would like to receive information on career opportunities after completing continuing education, further training.
• 35% are interested in course evaluations and success rates of graduates.
• 34% appreciate the opportunity to clarify individual questions directly with the people in charge.
• 28 % attach importance to discussions with teachers in order to find out more about their teaching style and expertise.
• 24 % would like to meet graduates and benefit from their experience.
• 23% are interested in information on the Swiss Education System in the context of continuing education, further training.
• 16% would like to take a look inside the classroom to experience the learning environment live.

These results show that prospective students not only value facts, but also practical insights, personal contacts and experience reports. A well-organized information event helps them to realistically assess continuing education, further training in accounting and to make an informed decision.

The results of a survey conducted by Ausbildung-Weiterbildung.ch answer this question as follows: 68 % of respondents would like to see whether this course meets their needs. 19 %, on the other hand, say that the title of specialist in finance and accounting with a federal certificate is often requested in job advertisements. The course was actively recommended to 13% of survey participants. The additional comments from respondents revealed three further reasons for their interest in the finance and accounting specialist course:

• Learning content - "It contains exactly the areas that I want to do during my working hours." and "Because I like working with numbers."
• Confirmation of qualification - "My profession is accountant and I have been working as a chief accountant for many years. I would like to have my profession confirmed and improve my knowledge.", "I have already obtained a certificate in the same field in Spain.", "I have completed the Bilanzbuchhalter in Germany and would now like to work in Switzerland. My children are big enough (16, 14 and 13 years old)." and "Adaptation with diploma to my professional experience"
• Expanding knowledge - "deepening existing specialist knowledge", "gaining more experience" and "I would like to expand my specialist knowledge and skills" and "I have already worked in accounting for 3 years. Now my husband is self-employed and I do his bookkeeping. I would therefore like to acquire more knowledge."

This learning content is covered in the Finance and Accounting Specialist course and tested in the professional examination:

• Accounting
• Taxes
• Wages and social security

The tasks in Finance and Accounting Specialist jobs are:

• Keeping business and financial accounts
• Organizing and monitoring accounts receivable and accounts payable, monthly and quarterly reports
• Prepare balance sheet, income statement and annual financial statements
• Responsibility for the chart of accounts and the account assignment guidelines
• In the area of operational planning and budgeting
• Visualizing key figures and creating statistics and special accounts
• Monitor the company's financing (ratio of equity, debt and cash management), review investments and their financial impact
• Supporting company management with knowledge of financial markets for important decisions
• Depending on the company and function, also processing leasing contracts and export financing dossiers or taking measures for consolidation
• Pre- and post-calculations for products, services and customers
• Collaboration on IT projects
• Organization of documentation and archiving of data
• Create a tax return
• Responsible for payroll accounting
• take a stand on issues relating to personnel and social insurance as well as labor law

In addition to the classroom lessons, the specialist certificate in accounting also requires a certain amount of self-study. To provide some orientation, a survey of graduates of continuing education, further training shows how much time they had to spend on self-study on average:

• 1 % invested less than 1 hour per week.
• 8 % spent 1 to 2 hours per week on self-study.
• 20 % studied 3 to 4 hours per week.
• 18% stated 5 to 6 hours per week.
• 19 % invested 7 to 8 hours per week in self-study.
• 11% studied 9 to 10 hours per week.
• 8 % were employed for 11 to 15 hours per week.
• 15 % spent more than 15 hours per week.

These figures show that the effort required for self-study can vary greatly and depends on individual learning habits, prior knowledge and learning speed. In order to successfully prepare for the accounting diploma exam, education experts recommend planning a realistic weekly schedule and allowing sufficient time, especially during the intensive exam phases.