The Financial Data Analyst (FDA) certification exam, operated by the Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants (KICPA), will be upgraded to a practical, work-oriented qualification exam utilizing the 'ValueSearch' data from NICE Information Service starting next month.
On April 25, the KICPA announced that this change would take effect with the 8th FDA certification exam, scheduled for May 17. The KICPA explained, "From now on, candidates will extract and analyze real corporate data based on ValueSearch, Korea's leading corporate and financial market data solution, and will take an exam designed to solve problems in a manner similar to real business environments."
The FDA certification exam, launched in 2022 with its first session held in January 2023, is the only integrated qualification in Korea that verifies accounting, statistics, data analysis, and IT skills. The exam comprehensively tests candidates on basic accounting knowledge, database utilization, statistical analysis skills, and practical abilities in Python and computer-assisted audit software (Fraudit). In addition, the exam includes practical analysis tasks such as trial balance analysis and journal entry review based on actual vouchers and transactions, forecasting using Python, and fraud detection using Fraudit. Notably, the exam assesses analytical skills directly connected to accounting and audit practices, such as voucher-based accounting information analysis, detection of management inefficiencies using Fraudit, and problem-solving based on disclosure data.
A KICPA official stated, "Recently, the demand for data-driven audit and analysis capabilities has been rapidly increasing due to the strengthening of internal controls and the advancement of accounting audits in companies. The FDA certification exam, as a practical analysis qualification based on real data, will open a new chapter in the fields of accounting and data analysis."
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