A NEW professional designation for accountants will be rolled out this July.

The Certified Public Accountant (CPA) of Singapore designation, which accountants acquire by undergoing a qualification programme, will be gradually phased out, to be replaced by the new designation Chartered Accountant of Singapore (CA Singapore).

This comes alongside the launch of a new professional qualification programme - the Singapore Qualification Programme (Singapore QP).

The new programme will be administered by the Singapore Accountancy Commission (SAC), a statutory body launched on April 1 under the Ministry of Finance.

Minister of State for Finance and Transport Mrs Josephine Teo was guest-of-honour at the launch.

The three-year postgraduate programme, which is also open to those without a background in accounting, consists of six modules, five examinations and has a three-year work experience requirement.

In comparison, the current CPA qualification requires accounting graduates to attend a five day pre-admission course and have three years of relevant work experience.

While existing accounting professionals and students will still have the option of acquiring the CPA qualification, all CPAs will eventually have their designations changed to CA Singapore after the new accounting commission completes the transitions.