The Capstone

The Capstone is the final level of the Qualification Programme (QP). It builds on QP students’ achievements from the previous Associate and Professional Levels, combined with the real-world experience gained by the time students come to sit the Capstone and further develops the enabling competences needed by professional accountants.

The Capstone focuses on the ability to deal competently with situations professional accountants regularly face, involving the integration and application of knowledge and skills from any part of the QP syllabus, across all fields of technical and enabling competence.

Passing the Capstone demonstrates to employers that students have the technical and soft skills necessary to succeed as professional accountants in the increasingly complex business world.

The Capstone comprises of three full-day workshops supplemented with interactive online materials, and the Final Examination.  For more information on the Capstone, please refer to the below and click here for the Capstone brochure.  Please read also the Capstone featured article “How does the Capstone of the Qualification Programme prepare the next generation of CPAs for the future?” published in our official magazine A Plus.  

What you can achieve – Learning outcomes of the Capstone

Upon completion of the Capstone, students will be able to integrate technical knowledge and professional skills across all areas of accounting and related fields in the analysis of complex professional problems and the formulation of solutions.

With the additional syllabus provided in the Capstone, the learning outcomes can be achieved by integration of technical knowledge and skills acquired from Associate and Professional Levels which are further enhanced in the Capstone Workshops and the Final Examination.  Please click here to understand more on the Capstone Syllabus.

The Capstone Workshops – A brand new learning experience

The objectives of the Capstone workshops is to train students to think laterally, and be able to develop multifaceted solutions in complex problems. The workshops are based on a single case and simulations, with supplementary information provided during the workshops where appropriate.   

The tasks in the workshops cover three main aspects: business acumen, leadership, and ethics through activities such as group discussion, presentation, and debriefing.  Students are required to demonstrate their ability to integrate knowledge acquired from previous levels and present their findings using the skills learned in order to complete the tasks.

During the workshops, students will be assessed based on their individual contribution, written assignment, and team presentation.  The workshops contribute 20% to the overall score for the Capstone.

Testimonials from facilitators and participants of trial-run Capstone Workshops

Capstone Workshops facilitators

Capstone Workshops participants

Final Examination

The Final Examination is a 4-hour open-book examination. It will be held a few weeks after the Capstone workshops. Full attendance of the Capstone workshops is the pre-requisite to sit the Final Examination.

The examination is based on one case with several open-ended questions that focus on case analysis and providing recommendations to solve complex professional problems.  Details about the case will be sent to students 5 working days prior to the examination.  During the examination, students are expected to integrate and apply their technical knowledge and professional skills across all areas of accounting and related fields to the questions.  The Final Examination contributes 80% to the overall score of the Capstone.

Learning resources

In order to enrich students’ learning experience, useful learning resources are provided to facilitate students to conduct research prior to attending the Capstone.  In addition to the existing learning materials for the Associate and Professional Levels, a wide variety of relevant learning materials, the assessment rubrics and an examination guide for students' preparation for the Capstone will be available soon through the QP Learning Centre.

Given that the Capstone is newly launched, two versions of pilot examination papers (Version 1; Version 2) based on the same case study are provided to illustrate that a variety of questions from different angles can be asked.  Also, the case background and additional information provided in the questions can be presented in different formats.

Examination timetable and fee schedule

With the newly launched Capstone, new sets of the examination timetable and fee schedule have been introduced accordingly.