ICFE Preparation Course

The ICFE is an internationally recognized certificate that is accepted by banks, companies, government agencies and finance firms around the world.  The ICFE exam evaluates your ability to be work successfully in multinational environments of finance and accounting.  The topics encountered in the IFCE exam are similar to the day to day situations that accounting and finance professionals encounter every day.  The themes of the tasks that will be on the exam are financial reporting, auditing, risk assessment as well as analysis, financial strategy, ethics, professionalism, company valuations, assets, software packages used in accounting, corporate governance, management accounting, budgetary processes, mergers, acquisitions, taxation, banking, forensic accounting, economic forecasts, foreign exchanges, insurance and the stock market.  You will be tested in the following four areas: reading, writing, listening and speaking.  If you want to study financial English further, we suggest that you enroll in our Financial English course that offers you a very in-depth look into the terminology and concepts of finance in English. 

The Reading section has a time limit of seventy-five minutes and is comprised of six parts.  You will be asked questions about your readings from finance and accounting journals, company reports and letters of correspondence. You will encounter multiple-choice questions, matching, word formation and fill in the blanks.  The tasks involved in this section include choosing the correct word to complete a sentence, matching related articles from a text and having to read critically in order to determine the main idea of a text. 

The Writing section has a two parts that need to be completed within seventy-five minutes.  In the first part, you will be evaluated on your ability to convey your message with clear, accurate language while using financial and accounting jargon.  You will have to write a short one-hundred and twenty to one-hundred and eighty word letter based on a given topic.  The second part assesses your ability to present arguments, evaluate ideas, summarize and persuade by writing a two-hundred to two-hundred and fifty word report based on a given rubric. 

In the Listening section, you are allotted a total time of forty minutes to finish four parts.  You will listen for specific information, opinions, details and main points of recorded lectures, briefings, interviews, or presentations.  You will have to answer multiple-choice questions about certain aspects of the dialogues or monologues that you just listening to.   Additionally, you will have to complete sentences based in information given to you in a monologue. 

The Speaking section’s time limit is roughly sixteen minutes and is comprised of four parts.  The first part is given in an interview format and the examiner will ask you questions about yourself, your studies and work experience in the fields of accounting and finance.  The second part requires you to choose between two finance-related issues speak for a whole minute about the one topic that you choose.  The third part is a collaboration between you and another test taker.  You and your partner will discuss a finance-related topic given to you by the examiner with reaching a decision about the topic being the desired outcome.  The fourth part also requires you to work with another test taker and discuss the topics with the test taker as well as the examiner.