A leading BPO company which came onboard as a training partner being presented with a training partner certificate by Wickremasinghe, while Alwis and Herath look on

A section of the gathering, including CA Sri Lanka President Lasantha Wickremasinghe, Chief Guest SLASSCOM Chairman Mano Sekaram, Chairman of the CA Sri Lanka BPO Task Force, Arjuna Herath and CA Sri Lanka CEO Aruna Alwis

The inaugural course of the groundbreaking qualification for the Finance and Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) sector launched by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka), kicked off in July, with an aim to produce specialized professionals, who will give leadership to help Sri Lanka’s IT/BPOsector reach its ambitious goals of US$ 5 billion in exports by 2022. 
The programme was formally launched under the patronage of SLASSCOM Chairman Mano Sekaram, and a high profile audience comprising of corporate leaders and FAO specialists. 
The Certified Finance and Accounting Specialist (CFAS) qualification, is a 18-month course, and is open for part qualified professionals from the IT/BPM industry, as well as for students who have successfully completed the GCE Advanced Level examination in the commerce and accounting streams and hopes to pursue a career in the outsourcing industry. 
President of CA Sri Lanka, Lasantha Wickremasinghe said that the CFAS qualification will not only change the face of the FAO industry in the country, but the qualification will also be a stepping stone which will give Sri Lanka that all important edge to reach it’s ambition of becoming a global hub for outsourcing.  
“Many of you are aware that the BPO sector is a dynamic industry worth over US$1 billion. This is expected to increase to 5 billion US dollars by 2022. Therefore, to complement such a rapidly growing industry, we also need to produce professionals who possess the specialized skills to drive and give leadership to this industry so we can achieve the targets in the coming years. This is why the CFAS qualification is important, as it is a pertinent and a very relevant qualification exclusively for the outsourcing industry,” Wickremasinghe said. 
He said that the main advantages of the CFAS qualification is that it has the active participation SLASSCOM, and ICTA, while the qualification has also being endorsed by SLASSCOM. “CA Sri Lanka, SLASSCOM and ICTA have worked to ensure that this qualification will remain relevant years from now, and will be accepted not only here but also overseas,” Wickremasinghe added. 
The CFAS qualification is a joint initiative, mooted by CA Sri Lanka, in its capacity as the national body of accountants, and endorsed and supported by the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM) and Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), to produce finance and accounting professionals with suitable skills and knowledge specifically required for the FAO industry in the country. 
CFAS is an industry qualification leading to learners becoming FAO professionals, where technical and professional skills have been blended to cater to the designated job roles for the FAO industry. 
Chairman of the CA Sri Lanka BPO Task Force, Arjuna Herath said that the CFAS qualification will undoubtedly contribute to the enhanced standards of quality that Sri Lanka can offer the world as a FAO destination.
The CFAS qualification is offered at three levels; Trainee Associate, Senior Associate and Team Lead. The course which will cover a total of 12 learning modules, will focus on four major study areas; Finance & Accounting, Management Aspects, Process & Quality, and Professional Skills, and will be conducted over a period of three semesters. The lectures will be conducted by industry experts.