ICAS president Grenville Johnston said that there was "insufficient market demand for an all-embracing qualification of the sort proposed." He also echoed the same concern as the Irish institute that "the business plan is unviable." Instead, he said, the Scottish Institute would continue to develop and promote its own qualification, which includes business advisory skills.

The Irish Institute said that, while it remains genuinely supportive of the idea of an international designation, it has a number of "significant concerns" about the viability of the model outlined in the draft business plan.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, another participating body, is also understood to have similar concerns. The business plan will be discussed at its council meeting on Oct. 4 and there is a strong possibility that it also will withdraw from direct involvement.

The plans to develop a new portable international business qualification, to be known as cognitor, were first announced in April. The task force set up to assess the areas of competence to be covered, has spent the summer consulting with other professions to gain support and drawing up the business plan. This was unveiled at a meeting of senior officers and executives of the eight bodies on Sept. 11 in New York, and now has to be approved by the eight councils before it can get the go-ahead. Details have not yet been released publicly.

According to one source, among the eight there are "varying levels of concern" about the proposals. Accountancy Online understands that there are four major sticking points. The first is the distinctly North American flavor of the proposals, which the three bodies do not believe can be adapted in a way that would be attractive to potential candidates in the UK and Ireland.

They are worried about the low level of support for the idea among the international accountancy firms - which, it had been hoped, would provide a significant proportion of the trainee cognitors. And they are concerned about the introduction of a brand that could end up competing with the institutes’ own qualifications.

Last - and certainly not least - the three are understood to be horrified by the costs involved, not least the amount of money that has been earmarked for the marketing budget.

The ICAI council discussed the business plan at its meeting on Sept. 21. "With regret," said ICAI president David Simpson, "the council decided that it had no option but to withdraw from direct participation in the project at this time."

However, he added, the institute remained "committed" to working with the other bodies in developing "a portable qualification which will meet the challenges facing accountants in today’s globalized, rapidly evolving economy."

The eight bodies originally involved in the project are: the chartered accountancy institutes of Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and South Africa, and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Send comments to information@smartpros.com

Copyright 2000 AccountancyMagazine.com. Used with permission.