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New Student Prospectus: 2011/12

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Click below to download the new Student Prospectus for 2011/12 and find out more about how to become an Accounting Technician.

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College Support

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We provide a range of support services to colleges, coordinators and lecturers to assist them in delivering our qualification.

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Course materials for our licenced colleges to assist you in delivering the Accounting Technicians Ireland qualification to students.

Integrated Accounting Systems (IAS)

Integrated Accounting Systems (IAS) was introduced as a core Second Year subject in September 2008. The course comprises of three sub-sections:

  1. Payroll
  2. Computerised Accounts
  3. Spreadsheets

For the Accounts portion of the course, colleges can opt to use either TAS Books or Sage 50 Accounts in the Republic of Ireland. Sage 50 Accounts is used by colleges in Northern Ireland. The Payroll section is delivered using Sage Payroll in Northern Ireland and Sage Quickpay in the Republic. The Spreadsheets section uses Microsoft Excel.

Important dates:

25th September 2010, DublinROI IAS Liaison Day, download your booking form here
2nd October 2010, BelfastNI IAS Liaison Day, download your booking form download your booking form here
10th December 2010Closing date for sending the IAS list of students to Accounting Technicians Ireland
21st February 2011IAS exam papers available to colleges
1st – 19th March 2010IAS exam – first sitting
1st – 30th April 2010IAS exam – second sitting

IAS software

Again this year TAS/SAGE Software is providing the software for the Integrated Accounting Systems module.

 

Software provided for IAS 2010/2011

IAS TAS ROI study package covers:

  • Accounting software: TAS Books v.1.04
  • Payroll software: Sage Quickpay 2010 v.10.2
  • MS Excel (version 2007 and later)

IAS SAGE ROI study package covers:

  • Accounting software: Sage 50 Accounts v. 16.0.17.156
  • Payroll software: Sage Quickpay 2010 v.10.2
  • MS Excel (version 2007 and later)

IAS SAGE NI study package covers:

  • Accounting software: Sage 50 Accounts v. 16.0.17.156
  • Payroll software: Sage Payroll UK 2010 v.16.01.040
  • MS Excel (version 2007 and later)

For software registration details please check page 10 of the IAS Lecturers Information Pack 2010/2011 available below.

IAS manual

The IAS manual is produced covering the entire IAS course comprehensively, incorporating Sage Quickpay (ROI), Sage Payroll UK (NI), TAS Books 2, Sage 50 Accounts and MS Excel. There are three versions of the IAS manual: IAS TAS ROI, IAS SAGE ROI and IAS SAGE NI.
The Accounting Technicians Ireland manual for IAS TAS and IAS SAGE will be available to purchase on the web site for all students from 1st of September. IAS lecturers will receive a complimentary copy of the relevant workbook in September.

IAS tutorials

This year Accounting Technicians Ireland is running a IAS tutorials in Belfast, Dublin, Galway and Cork. These tutorials are full-day revision sessions and they will cover the complete IAS syllabus. The closing date to book a place for a tutorial is 3rd December 2010.

Tutorial Dates:

  • Dublin - 12th February 2011
  • Cork - 12th February 2011
  • Galway - 19th February 2011
  • Belfast - 19th February 2011

IAS Examination

First Sitting – March 2011

The IAS exam can be carried out at any time between 1st and 19th March 2011 (first sitting) and in April 2011 (second sitting) but not beforehand.

There will be two different IAS exam papers available. The lecturer should choose which of the exam papers will be completed at any specific exam sitting, ensuring that no two groups sit the same exam paper.

Students should apply to sit the IAS exam before 3rd December 2010.

Lecturers should provide Accounting Technicians Ireland with a list of students sitting the IAS exam in 2010-2011 before Friday, 10th of December 2010.

Exam materials:

  • Lecturer CD with the IAS exams,
  • Student CDs with IAS exam set-ups
  • A memory stick to save students’ exams

Exam materials will be couriered to college coordinators in the week commencing on Monday, 21st February 2011. Please contact Accounting Technicians Ireland immediately if you are missing any of the above elements in your Exam pack or if the CDs are unreadable.

Second Sitting – April 2011

Please note that the April sitting is considered as a repeat sitting. There will be one repeat IAS exam paper available. The IAS repeat exam can be carried out at any time between 1st and 30th April 2011. The college should organize the second IAS sitting and notify both: Accounting Technicians Ireland and student regarding the exam.

Students should send the IAS exam form and pay the appropriate exam fee before sitting the exam (second attempt: €70).

IAS Exam Structure

  1. Each college should notify students with details of the IAS Exam time, date and venue.
  2. Students are permitted to bring the following into the IAS Exam: pens, pencils, rubber, ruler and calculator. Red pens and highlighters are not permitted during the examination.
    • No other material can be brought into the exam or used during the exam. This includes any notes, manuals, past exams, etc. Mobile phones are specifically banned from the exam venue.
    • It is permissible to use the ‘help’ function within Sage Quickpay (ROI), Sage Payroll UK (NI), Tas Books v.1, Sage 50 Accounts and MS Excel during the Exam if required.
    • MS Excel is only permissible for the purposes of the Exam requirements and should not be accessed or employed for any other reason.
    • No other software (e.g. training or tutorial software) can be used during the course of the Exam.
  3. Supervision of the IAS exam can be carried out by the IAS lecturer or any other suitable supervisor. It is advised that the IAS lecturer and any other technical support person deemed necessary be present during the exam.
  4. Under no circumstances should the exam be shown to the student before the commencement of the exam itself.
  5. Accounting Technicians Ireland should be contacted at any time regarding a query in relation to any of the Exam procedures.
  6. Students are required to write their name and Accounting Technicians Ireland student number clearly on the Student Cover Sheet before commencement of the Exam.
  7. The duration of the IAS Exam is3 ½ hours. Printing can be carried out after the 3 ½ hour period, but no changes can be made to the students’ Exam after that time. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to manage this.
  8. All printouts, the Exam back-up and the Exam paper are required to be given to the Exam supervisor before the student exits the Exam venue.
    • All printouts and the Exam back-up should include the student’s name.
    • It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that all relevant material has been collected by the supervisor before they exit the Exam venue.
    • It is Lecturers/Invigilators responsibility that all required backups have been made by student and correctly copied to the memory key.
    • The Exam papers should be destroyed by the Course providers after the Examination, students must not remove the Exam paper from the venue.
  9. It is Lecturers/Invigilators responsibility to forward the attendance list to Accounting Technicians Ireland with all students’ names sitting the IAS exam.
  10. The hard copy scripts should be submitted to Accounting Technicians Ireland for correction within three days of completion of the first and repeat Exam and copies of these should not be retained by the lecturer, however it is strongly advised that a soft copy of all Exam datasets be retained by the Course provider in case of corruption in transit.
  11. Format of the Individual Student Exam Script to be returned for correction:
    • Exam script stapled once only to the Student Cover Sheet
    • Exam script should not be individually packed in any type of folder or enclosure.
  12. All IAS Exam papers will be corrected by the Examiner appointed by the Accounting Technicians Ireland. In the case of any failures, colleges will be notified with provisional student Exam results. If a student has failed the IAS Exam in March 2011 then the college should organize the second IAS sitting in April 2011. Should they be unsuccessful in the April IAS Exam, the next sitting will be in March 2012.
  13. Accounting Technicians Ireland will provide colleges with provisional results. Colleges may release provisional results to students in March/April, however, please note that all results are subject to approval by the Examination Board and official results will be issued to students in July 2011.
  14. Students must obtain a 70% grade to pass the Exam. Any student who obtains a grade of less that 70% is allowed to re-sit the Exam within April 2011
  15. It is not possible to compensate IAS. All students must achieve at least 70% to pass this subject.
  16. This subject will be included in the classification and determination of the final award. Thus, the final award will be determined by an average of the four second year subjects, subject to conditions.

Recommended minimum contact hours 43.50 hrs

  • Classroom contact: 40 hrs
  • Examination – 3.5 hrs

Lecturer's Information Pack for IAS is available here to download.

Need further help?
Should you have any queries in relation to IAS, contact Gosia Lakoma.