Australia
Australia, a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in any level of government is
expected either to be a Chartered or Certified Practicing Accountant. The
qualification of a Chartered or Certified Practicing Accountant requires a
minimum of a three-year degree, articles served over a three-year period and
a further training course designed by the relevant professional body. Those
who desire to move from a specialist senior management position to general
management usually use their credits towards an MBA qualification and
concentrate on study units relating to general and strategic management and
industry-specific units.

The United Kingdom and Ireland
The United Kingdom and Ireland, Financial Managers in Public Administration
are expected to be members of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and
Accountancy (CIPFA) and to comply with their requirements. CIPFA promotes
public sector finance management interest through its professional
qualification and continuing professional development scheme; and through
its regulatory role comprising the setting of professional standards and the
maintenance of a professional disciplinary scheme for members.
Kenya
Kenya Accountants and Secretaries National Examination Board (KASNEB)
is an examination body which registers learners and sets administers and
manages accounting, finance, administration and management examinations
both at professional and technician levels.
The examinations of the Board are recognised worldwide and are comparable
to similar professional examinations (ACCA and CIS) in the world.

The Board administers the following four major examinations:
The Certified Public Accountants (CPA) examination for those learners who
wish to qualify and work as professional accountants, auditors, finance
managers, tax and financial consultants. The CPA qualification has two
elective subjects on government finance and government Accounting. The
learning outcomes underlying this qualification are equivalent to SAQA’s NQF
level 7 outcomes
The Certified Public Secretaries (CPS) examination for those learners who
wish to qualify and work as corporate secretaries, company secretaries, town clerks, secretary managers, consultants and managers in industry and commerce; administrators

and human resources advisers in public and
private institutions. The CPS qualification has two elective subjects on
government finance and government Accounting. The learning outcomes
underlying this qualification are equivalent to SA’s NQF level 7 broad
outcomes. This is the highest qualification that must be held by candidates
seeking to fill Municipal Managers (Town Clerk) and Treasurers positions in
Kenya’s local government.
The Kenya Accounting Technicians Certificate (KATC) examination for
those learners who wish to obtain a qualification as specialised middle-level
accountants, who are also known as accounting technicians. The learning
outcomes of this qualification closely match those attributable to accounting
technicians’ qualifications registered at an NQF level 5 in South Africa.
The Kenya Administration and those learners who wish to
administrative officials, section administrators in the Management Examination (KAME) is for
obtain a qualification as supervisors, heads and first-level managers and
public and private sectors.
Middle managers in administration in the Kenyan government or local
governments are expected to hold either the KATC or KAME Qualifications.
Tanzania and Uganda
Faculties of economics and management sciences at universities tend to offer
subjects whose technical and academic content is closely aligned to the
examinations administered by KASNEB. It follows that there is an insignificant
coverage of public sector finance and accounting issues given that they tend
to receive a peripheral treatment in the CPS/CPA examinations administered
by KASNEB. The training situation is not materially different from that
prevailing in Tanzania and Uganda given that the two countries have tended
to adopt a similar approach to the training of management, accounting and
finance professionals.
Namibia
The University of Namibia has a certificate programme in Taxation and
Finance, which was designed in 2000 to equip those high school graduates
with experience in technical accounting issues in the central and local
government.
On the basis of the scope of subjects and related learning outcomes
addressed, this certificate programme can only be equated to finance
qualifications registered at an NQF level 5. This qualification provides a foundation to first degrees in accounting and finance at the same university.
The holders of this qualification require a further advanced degree in order to hold
the positions of CEOs or CFOs at municipalities.
This Certificate in Municipal Financial Management NQF Level 6 contains the
skills and knowledge required for the South African situation. This
qualification presents the learner with the necessary knowledge and skills
required to manage municipal finances. The competencies related to the
accounting function are assumed to be in place and are not dealt with in this
qualification.