Quick start guide

AN INTRODUCTION TO AND OVERVIEW OF

FOUNDATIONS IN PROFESSIONALISM (FIP)

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Introduction
Welcome to the Foundations in Professionalism module, which is a key component of the ACCA
Foundations in Accountancy (FIA) Qualifications. It is comprised of 4 units - 3 learning units,
focusing on what it means to act professionally and ethically in the workplace, plus the FIP final
assessment.

The three learning units of the module are the same as the first three units of the ACCA Ethics and
Professional Skills (EPSM) module, which is part of the ACCA Qualification. If you successfully
complete FIP and go on to study EPSM in the future, you will be given an exemption from the first
three learning units of EPSM.

The module will make finance professionals more attractive to employers by increasing their
effectiveness in the workplace and enhancing their career potential. Online and interactive, it helps
focus your thinking on real world work scenarios, developing your understanding and skills on how
to approach the challenges presented.

Guidance and support

If you require any guidance and/or support in relation to FIP, please visit our FAQ page here where
you can find answers to frequently asked questions. Alternatively if you can't find an answer
Contact Us today.

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Accessing the module
The module content is fully responsive and is designed to work on all devices (smartphones,
tablets, laptops, desktops), operating systems and up-to-date internet browsers. We recommend
using a laptop or desktop with a Chrome browser for optimal viewing.

Progress and completion

Progress and completion of the module will be tracked via the main course page as shown below.
The main course page provides quick access to each unit and gives a summary of your progress.
Once you have completed a unit, there will be a tick on the left-hand side of the unit folder as
shown here for unit 1.

As mentioned in the introduction above, the 3 FIP learning units are the same as the first 3 EPSM
units. The FIP units are therefore labelled as ‘EPSM’, for example ‘EPSM Unit 1: Ethics and
Professionalism’ as shown below.

When you first log in you will only have access to Unit 1: Ethics and professionalism. Once you
have completed Unit 1, Units 2 and 3 will become available. You can complete those units in any
order you choose, although we recommend that you complete them in numerical order. Finally,
Unit 4, the FIP final assessment will become available once Units 2 and 3 have been completed.

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Units
Unit 1: Ethics and professionalism. This unit introduces you to broad ethical and professional
values which underpin all the other professional skills and behaviours which are explored in this
module.

Unit 2: Personal effectiveness. This unit is about maximising the quantity and quality of your
work output and how you communicate and interact with others, making the most of the resources
you have.

Unit 3: Communication and interpersonal skills. This unit is specifically about how we
communicate effectively with others in a business environment, including clients, customers,
colleagues and external authorities.

Unit 4: Final assessment. At the end of the module, you are required to demonstrate your
learning across the 3 learning units by answering 8 multiple choice questions drawn from a bank of
questions. If you achieve 50% or more in this test you will have successfully completed the
module.

Navigation through the module

Navigation and interaction throughout the module is simple. All units are accessed via the main
course page (shown on page 2 of this document), and different sections within the units are
accessed from the menu bar on the left-hand side of each unit as shown below.

To progress through each section simply scroll down as you work through the content. If you wish
to review earlier content you can either scroll back up or alternatively, use the menu bar on the left-
hand side to move to earlier sections.

If you wish to go back to the main course page, you can select the back button located at the top of
the menu bar in each unit.

Back
button to
return to
main
course
page

Menu bar

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Once you have completed a section within a unit, Completion bar
the circle on the menu bar which is adjacent to the
name of the section will change from an open circle
to a filled-in circle. In order to complete a unit, every
section within that unit must be fully worked
through, at which point the completion bar at the top
will display ‘100% complete’.
Complete sections
If you reach the end of a unit and the completion
bar displays less than 100% complete, please
review the list of sections in the menu bar to see
which sections you have not yet fully completed.

In order to progress through FIP, each unit must be

100% complete. Incomplete sections

Videos

There are a series of videos throughout the module to support your learning.

To begin each video you should press the play button in the middle of the video screen as shown
below. Once a video is playing, you can pause and resume it by pressing the play/pause button.

You can also skip or go back through the video by dragging the slider at the bottom of the screen.

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Interactive content

In all units some content will be presented to you in an interactive style. You may need to view
content in the following ways:

(1) Selecting multiple tabs:

(2) Scrolling horizontally using the arrows provided:

(3) Expanding headings using the + symbol to reveal further information:

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(4) Selecting hotspots to reveal more information:

Ensure you have worked through all content within a section before you move on to the
next section. This means:

• Reading all content that is displayed when scrolling vertically

• Reading all interactive content
• Watching all videos

Activities
There are several activity types you will encounter in the module.

These include drag and drop, ranking and hotspot activities, as well as multiple choice questions
and free response reflective exercises. All of these activities are designed to help you put into
practice what you have learned.

Drag and drop Typically require you to drag answers to questions into drop zones

Ranking These are similar to drag and drop and require you to re-order items by
dragging and dropping them into the correct order

Hotspot Require you to select one or more pre-defined area(s) on an image or

graph to reveal further information

Multiple choice Require you to select the correct answer(s) from the options provided
questions

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Reflective exercises

Throughout the module there are certain activities which require you to complete a report, write
free text or produce a presentation or spreadsheet. To complete these activities, you will need to
work on a separate document. In each case, you will either be:

• directed to use a word processor such as Word or Pages or a presentation software package
such as PowerPoint, or

• a template will be provided for you to download, as shown below.

We recommend that these activities are completed on a desktop computer or a laptop for the best
experience.

You should save these activities in a dedicated folder on your device to allow you to refer back to
them should you wish to do so, either during your FIP studies or at a later point.

Quizzes
Throughout the module you will be required to attempt quizzes which you need to pass in order to
progress.

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If you do not pass a quiz you can retake it until you have scored the passing mark of 50%. In some
cases, it may help to review the content in that section again or alternatively you can just re-take
the test straight away. Immediate feedback is given on most quizzes.

End of module final assessment

As explained earlier in this introduction, your final test of competence is to successfully pass an
objective test in Unit 4 of the module, which consists of 8 questions relating to the 3 learning units
of the module and it tests the knowledge and skills within those units.

You are now ready to begin FIP, starting with Unit 1. You can access this guidance again at any
time on the main course page.

Good luck!

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