The course has been designed in 3 stages and has been developed to dovetail with a trainees work placement and the practical work skills they acquire; at each stage successful students can apply for membership and receive designatory letters; Certificate level: the modules at this stage are the building blocks of any career in accountancy or financial management; from double-entry bookkeeping, to preparing and interpreting financial statements and management accounts; this level gives the student the right grounding for their career; Diploma level: building upon knowledge gained at certificate level, the diploma focuses on specific public sector business skills and financial topics; it covers areas such as whole of government accounts procedure, public sector reporting frameworks and public sector borrowing; although this level focuses on public sector issues the overall knowledge can easily be transferred into the private sector companies; Final Test of Professional Competence: this is the last stage in becoming a chartered public accountant; it is the culmination of all the skills learnt throughout the qualification and gives students a more focused strategic financial management overview of running major projects and large complex organisations.