In the case of a conventional face-to-face course, this usually involves around 8 hours per week at the school on site and 6 - 8 hours of self-study at home over one and a half to two years. Those who complete this continuing education, further training only as a specialist in finance and accounting self-study need to spend 14 to 16 hours a week accordingly. Learning then takes place via online tools, explanatory videos, financial simulations, infographics, etc. Incidentally, some schools offer the first part of the course as self-study and the rest as face-to-face teaching.

This learning content is covered in the Finance and Accounting Specialist course and tested in the professional examination:

• Accounting
• Taxes
• Wages and social security

The results of a survey conducted by Ausbildung-Weiterbildung.ch answer this question as follows: 68 % of respondents would like to see whether this course meets their needs. 19 %, on the other hand, say that the title of specialist in finance and accounting with a federal certificate is often requested in job advertisements. The course was actively recommended to 13% of survey participants. The additional comments from respondents revealed three further reasons for their interest in the finance and accounting specialist course:

• Learning content - "It contains exactly the areas that I want to do during my working hours." and "Because I like working with numbers."
• Confirmation of qualification - "My profession is accountant and I have been working as a chief accountant for many years. I would like to have my profession confirmed and improve my knowledge.", "I have already obtained a certificate in the same field in Spain.", "I have completed the Bilanzbuchhalter in Germany and would now like to work in Switzerland. My children are big enough (16, 14 and 13 years old)." and "Adaptation with diploma to my professional experience"
• Expanding knowledge - "deepening existing specialist knowledge", "gaining more experience" and "I would like to expand my specialist knowledge and skills" and "I have already worked in accounting for 3 years. Now my husband is self-employed and I do his bookkeeping. I would therefore like to acquire more knowledge."

The continuing education, further training for the Federal Professional Examination in Finance and Accounting is suitable for people who work in the fields of accounting, fiduciary services or taxes at clerk level. The continuing education, specialist in finance and accounting provides the necessary professional competence to take on a managerial role in business or administration in the aforementioned professional fields.

The following course content is taught in the finance and accounting specialist training course in preparation for the professional examination:

• Financial accounting
  Accounting and financial statements as well as special problems such as restructuring and liquidation
• Balance sheet and performance analysis
  Balance sheet and performance analysis, activity analysis, DuPont key figure system
• Law
  Contract law, corporate law, debt collection and bankruptcy law, criminal law
• Cash flow statement
  Financial plan and liquidity budget
• Consolidated financial statements
  Consolidation techniques, legal basis, inclusion of subsidiaries
• Operational accounting
  Cost accounting and calculation: elements, data collection and evaluations
• Financial management
  Cash management, financing, derivatives
• Investment calculation
  Static and dynamic methods
• Organization
  Structural and process organization, data security and retention obligations, internal control system
• Taxes
  Value added tax, withholding tax, direct and other taxes, double taxation agreements
• Wages and insurance
  AHV / IV / EO / FAK / ALV, UVG, KTG and BVG as well as property insurance

A survey of training graduates provides a guideline for the time and effort required for the specialist certificate in accounting self-study. According to this survey, graduates of further education courses have made the following efforts:

• 1 percent less than 1 h per week
• 8 percent 1 to 2 h per week
• 20 percent 3 to 4 h per week
• 18 percent 5 to 6 h per week
• 19 percent 7 to 8 h per week
• 11 percent 9 to 10 h per week
• 8 percent 11 to 15 h per week
• 15 percent more than 15 hours per week

Graduates of the specialist certificate in finance and accounting acquire comprehensive knowledge in the subjects of finance and accounting, taxes, law, wages and social insurance. They acquire the necessary specialist and practical skills to carry out qualified processing or a managerial function in the commercial sector or in the field of accounting or fiduciary services.

The education platform Ausbildung-Weiterbildung.ch surveyed people interested in continuing education in finance and accounting and the results were as follows:

• 58 % act on the basis of an online evaluation
• 23 % make a request to schools on recommendation
• 19 % requested schools that they already knew beforehand

The following answers were given when respondents were given the opportunity to state other reasons why they had enquired about the specialist finance and accounting course:

• Locality - "close to home", "nearby" and "I need to find a school in Canton Zug"
• Forms of teaching - "Because you can attend school in distance learning", "Online teaching", "Distance learning possible", "I don't necessarily want to have to attend face-to-face classes anymore" and "eLearning"
• Lesson days - "Saturday course" and "read all offers and this school suits me best (flexible)"
• Lesson times - "Evening classes" and "Entry possible at any time"
• Educational offer - "Because the school offers this training"
• Method of finding - "Google", "I looked on the Internet", "Internet", "Ausbildung-Weiterbildung.ch" and "by chance via job advertisement"
• Quality and reputation - "I will complete further training in finance and accounting. Your school is in Winterthur and has a good reputation."
• Job advertisement - "accidentally via job advertisement"

Professional experience for the specialist certificate in finance and accounting is verified on the basis of references or work certificates. These must provide evidence of the professional experience - with activities, duration of employment and details of the workload. They must be enclosed with the application for the examination.

Those interested in further training as an accounting specialist would like to gain the following insights from an information event at the school:

• Get 70 percent key data on the course
• 63 percent Getting to know training methodology
• 62 percent learn more about learning materials
• 55 percent Getting to know the school
• 53 percent Information on career opportunities
• 35 percent Information on course evaluation and success rates for accounting specialists
• 34 percent Clarify individual questions
• 28 percent Conduct discussions with teachers
• Conduct 24 percent graduate interviews
• 23 Information on the Swiss education system
• 16 percent View into the classroom

The tasks in Finance and Accounting Specialist jobs are:

• Keeping business and financial accounts
• Organizing and monitoring accounts receivable and accounts payable, monthly and quarterly reports
• Prepare balance sheet, income statement and annual financial statements
• Responsibility for the chart of accounts and the account assignment guidelines
• In the area of operational planning and budgeting
• Visualizing key figures and creating statistics and special accounts
• Monitor the company's financing (ratio of equity, debt and cash management), review investments and their financial impact
• Supporting company management with knowledge of financial markets for important decisions
• Depending on the company and function, also processing leasing contracts and export financing dossiers or taking measures for consolidation
• Pre- and post-calculations for products, services and customers
• Collaboration on IT projects
• Organization of documentation and archiving of data
• Create a tax return
• Responsible for payroll accounting
• take a stand on issues relating to personnel and social insurance as well as labor law

According to graduates, training as a finance and accounting specialist will enable you to achieve the following:

• Thorough specialist training in finance and accounting
• perform qualified activities in all areas of financial and operational accounting
• also perform fiduciary duties competently and reliably
• perform a management function in accounting as a specialist in finance and accounting in an SME or work as a commercial manager
• Much of what you have learned can be used in everyday working life, e.g. payroll and social security, financial accounting, taxes, law and VAT law
• receives good input and suggestions for the job
• Very good targeted preparation for the Federal Diploma of Higher Education in Finance exam
• Develop into an expert in the fields of fiduciary services, accounting and controlling, taxes or auditing

Holders of the federal certificate have sufficient professional experience as a finance and accounting specialist for qualified work in the field of accounting and controlling. Following the federal professional examination in finance and accounting, successful graduates are eligible to take the higher professional examination "Swiss Certified Expert in Accounting and Controlling".

Finance and accounting specialists have the following responsibilities:

• Middle management
• Overall responsibility for finance and accounting (depending on the size of the company)
• Possible link to the Head of Accounting and Controlling
• Responsibility for the entire company when working independently
• Very high level of responsibility towards the company, employees, suppliers and customers due to the handling of confidential data

The following admission requirements apply to the Federal Professional Examination in Finance and Accounting:

• Federal Diploma of Vocational Education and Training (Federal VET Diploma), Baccalaureate,
  Specialized Baccalaureate, Advanced Federal Professional Examination (AFPE), certificate or diploma recognized by the examination board as an accounting clerk, Federal Professional Examination, Advanced Federal Professional Examination (AFPE), College of Higher Education, University or University of Applied Sciences and 3 years of professional experience in the field of finance and accounting with a workload of 80%.
• or none of the above qualifications and 6 years of professional experience in finance and accounting with a workload of 80%

In addition to all the above conditions:

• A computer science diploma recognized by the examination board
• Online modules in the management area
• No entry in the central criminal register in connection with the professional activity

SERI decides on the equivalence of foreign certificates or diplomas.

Our survey of graduates provided answers to the question "What are the benefits of further training?" (multiple answers possible):

• 66 percent Expansion of technical skills
• 25 percent increase in self-confidence
• 24 percent increase in confident appearance
• 23 percent better self-management
• 16 percent wage increase
• 12 percent Improvement in teamwork skills
• 11 percent Optimization of time management skills
• 9 percent Achievement of a promotion

With the FA Finance and Accounting course, you can expand your skills, gain more self-confidence, improve your self-management and sell yourself better as a specialist.