Matters pertaining to examinations are prescribed in By-Laws 37 and 40 of the Professional Accountants Ordinance.  Notwithstanding that By-Law 40(2) describes the Examinations Board* as an advisory board, pursuant to 461^st Council Meeting held on 17 March 2009, Council had delegated to the Examinations Board the power to conduct and control the examinations of the Institute and approve the appointment and remuneration of examiners, functions of which are specified in By-Law 40 (2)(a) and (b), and the power to sub-delegate to the Management operational matters relating to the examination.

Terms of Reference

1. To advise tactical goals and priorities for the Institute's Qualification Programme ("QP"), as developed by Management, for developing and nurturing newly-qualified CPAs and maintaining a premier, internationally recognized designation by key stakeholders, making reference to relevant education standards and market needs.
   
   
2. To provide comments on consultation documents issued by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) or other organisations in relation to initial professional development and give advice in developing the CPA qualifying process with reference to the International Education Standards (IES) issued by IFAC or other relevant standards and regulations.
   
   
3. To provide inputs to Management on changes to current policies, guidelines and procedures, including appeal mechanism, for examination, workshop, accreditation and exemption, and practical experience, so as to ensure that the QP competency requirements are kept relevant and maintained at the highest standard.
   
   
4. To approve the examination papers, timing and results of the QP and other professional examinations held by the Institute, accreditation and module exemption outcomes, study materials and learning outcomes, authorisations of employers/ supervisors relating to QP candidates' practical experience as well as the appointment and remuneration of examiners, assessors, workshop facilitators and other parties involved in the QP, accreditation and examination processes.
   
   
5. To receive and consider periodic reports from the Education and Training Department in respect of all matters relating to the QP and the Institute's professional examinations.
   
   
6. To conduct any other functions as may be specified by the Council from time to time.
   
   

*The "Examinations Board" refers to the Qualification and Examinations Board since the merger of the former Examinations Board and the former Accountancy Accreditation Board in 2010.