The first practice statement, IEPS 1, Approaches to Developing and Maintaining Professional Values, Ethics, and Attitudes, provides guidance to IFAC members and associates on how to achieve good practice in developing and maintaining professional values, ethics and attitudes in accordance with the requirements in International Education Standard 4, Professional Values, Ethics and Attitudes.

IEPS 1 identifies a number of methods for the delivery of ethics education, stressing the importance of workplace learning and assessment. It also identifies continuing professional development as the means for member bodies to ensure that professional accountants continue to develop professional values, ethics, and attitudes throughout their careers.

"Ethics education is a lifelong commitment that starts when an individual begins training to become an accountant and continues throughout a professional accountant's career," said Henry Saville, IAESB Chair. "Ethics education programs enhance professional accountants' ethical judgment and decision making. This practice statement meets the challenge of assisting member bodies to develop these skills in current and future professional accountants."

IEPS 2, Information Technology for Professional Accountants, outlines the knowledge and skills necessary to prepare professional accountants to perform competently in the IT environment. All professional accounting candidates are expected to have a knowledge and understanding of at least one of three roles -- manager, evaluator or designer of information systems, or a combination of these roles.

The practice statement identifies the competency elements that IFAC member bodies can include in the IT knowledge component of prequalification professional accounting education programs. It also provides guidance on teaching and assessing IT at the prequalification stage, as well as implementing post-qualification development of IT knowledge and competences.

"The new practice statement addresses the ongoing challenge that professional accountants worldwide experience, that of maintaining competence to keep pace with the rapid changes occurring in the IT environment," said Saville. "The guidance provides details of the knowledge and skills required of professional accountants in the IT environment to prepare them to use information technology, work in the information technology environment, and rely on information technology."

The two practice statements can be downloaded free-of-charge from the IFAC online bookstore at http://www.ifac.org/store.