ICAN Syllabus Summary for Nov 2025 Curled out by: Kabiru Yusuf Aremu, ACA (08169069670) From:
From: Apex Professional Associates
ICAN New Syllabus Summary – Nov 2025
Business Environment (BE)
Content and % Weight
A. Business Process and Environment 25%
B. Role of professional accountants in business and society 15%
C. Management and Organizational Behavior 20%
D. Elements of Economics 20%
E. Technology and Data Analysis 20%
A. Business processes and environment - 25%
1. Nature of business, types and objectives
(a) Explain the nature, types and objectives of business organisation.
(b) Explain the basic characteristics, purposes, merits and demerits of the following types of
business organisation:
(i) Sole proprietorship;
(ii) Partnership:
· General partnership;
· Limited partnership; and
· Limited liability partnership
(iii) Limited liability and unlimited companies:
o Private
o Limited by shares
o Limited by guarantee
o Unlimited
o Public
(iv) Non-governmental organisations (NGOs);
(v) Public sector organisations;
(vi) Alliances;
(vii) Cooperative societies; and
(viii) Joint Ventures.
(c) Identify and explain the various business functions;
(d) Explain the importance of business to its stakeholders;
(e) Explain the different classifications of economic activities based on the following
occupations:
(i) Profession/Vocation;
(ii) Employment; and
(iii) Business.
(f) State the merits and demerits of each of the occupations listed above.
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ICAN Syllabus Summary for Nov 2025 Curled out by: Kabiru Yusuf Aremu, ACA (08169069670) From: Apex Professional Associates
2. Business and organisational structures and choices
(a) Explain the basic characteristics and purposes of the following organisational structures:
(i) Centralised;
(ii) Decentralised;
(iii) Matrix and mixed;
(iv) Networks; and
(v) Virtual arrangements.
(b) Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each of the organisational structures listed above.
(c) Identify the factors that may influence management choice of organisational structure.
(d) List and explain the consequences of poorly designed organisational structure.
(e ) Describe organisational chart
(f) Explain the usefulness and limitations of organisational chart.
(g) Explain the purposes of committees in the organisational structures of a business organisation.
(h) State the advantages and disadvantages of committees.
(i) Explain the functions of the following board committees:
(i) Audit committee; and
(ii) Remuneration committee.
(j) State and explain the roles of the following board members:
(i) Chairman;
(ii) Secretary;
(iii) Managing Director;
(iv) Executive Director;
(v) Non Executive Director; and
(vi) Independent Non Executive Director.
3. The business environment
(a) State the characteristics of business environment.
(b) Explain the impact of government policies on business.
(c) State the legal and regulatory frameworks that affect business operations.
(d) State and explain the two major models for analysing business environment.
(e) Identify and explain how firms can adapt to their environments.
(f) Explain the meaning and importance of the following:
(g) Globalisation/international business;
(h) Macroeconomic/national environment;
(i) Microeconomic/markets and industries; and
(j) Stakeholders.
(k) Explain the concept of environmental scanning, its methods and importance.
(l) Explain the various sources of information for environmental scanning.
(m) Identify and explain the steps involved in conducting a SWOT analysis.
(n) Explain the benefits of SWOT analysis to business firms.
(o) State the pitfalls of using SWOT analysis by firms.
(p) Describe the context environment in which an organisation operates, including the primary
political, economic, sociocultural, technological,
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ICAN Syllabus Summary for Nov 2025 Curled out by: Kabiru Yusuf Aremu, ACA (08169069670) From: Apex Professional Associates
(q) environmental, legal and regulatory aspects (PESTEL).
(r) Identify and explain the steps involved in conducting a PESTEL analysis.
(s) Explain the benefits of PESTEL analysis to business firms.
(t) State the pitfalls of using PESTEL analysis by firms.
(u) Define and explain the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and
sustainability practices by firms.
(v) List and describe ways that businesses can adopt in affecting their environment for the
benefits of all stakeholders.
B. The role of accountancy in business and society - 15%
1. Finance function
(a) List the roles and accounting functions within an organisation including:
(i) Financial reporting;
(ii) Management accounting; and
(iii) Treasury management.
(b) Explain internal checks and internal controls.
(c) Explain internal audit functions within and organisation.
(d) Explain the role statutory audit and assurance play in the performance of an organisation.
2. Ethics and code of corporate governance
(a) Define ethics and explain its importance to the professional accountant.
(b) Describe the roles of professional bodies and regulators in promoting ethical awareness
and discipline.
(c) State the fundamental principles of ethics.
(d) Explain the code of conduct as established by ICAN and IFAC for professional
accountants.
(e) Describe organisational values that promote ethical behaviours.
(f) Explain the concept of “acting in public interest”.
(g) Explain actions that could create ethical conflicts in a business.
C. Management and organisational behaviour - 20%
1. Basic management functions
(a) Give various definitions of management.
(b) Identify and explain types of management skill.
(c) Explain the following basic management functions, their importance and application in the
field of accounting:
(i) Planning;
(ii) Organising;
(iii)Controlling;
(iv) Coordinating;
(v) Directing; and
(vi) Supervising.
(d) Identify and explain the various management roles.
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ICAN Syllabus Summary for Nov 2025 Curled out by: Kabiru Yusuf Aremu, ACA (08169069670) From: Apex Professional Associates
2. Management, individual and organisational behaviour
(a) Explain the nature and significance of formal and informal organisation.
(b) Explain the role and importance of organisational culture.
(c) Explain the relationship between leadership and management.
(d) State the roles of individual and group behaviour in organisations.
(e) Identify and explain conflict management and various resolution mechanisms.
(f) Explain the nature and significance of team formation, development and management.
(g) Explain the concept of employee motivation and its relationship with productivity.
(h) State and explain the various management theories with emphases on scientific,
administrative and other modern management theories; such as Frank and Lillian Gilbreth's
motion theory, Hertzberg's Hygiene, Motivation factor theory and other related theories.
(i) Explain the uses of technology business modelling.
(j) Explain project management.
(k) Explain emotional intelligence.
(l) Explain social thinking.
3. Communications in business
(a) Explain the basic elements of communication.
(b) Explain verbal and non-verbal communication.
(c) State the principles of effective listening.
(d) Explain organisational communication:
(i) Formal and informal; and
(ii) Internal and external.
(e) Explain methods of business communication.
(f) State the barriers to effective communication.
(g) State the different communication patterns.
(h) Explain the process and conduct of meetings.
(i) Explain the basic elements of report writing.
(j) Explain the process of electronic communication.
4. Digital Communication
Explain:
(a) Email systems and its utilisation;
(b) Website platforms and their utilisation;
(c) Uses and management of social media accounts;
(d) Uses and management of social media pages; and
(e) Digital marketing.
D. Elements of microeconomics and macroeconomics - 20%
1. Introduction to economics and the market
(a) Explain basic economic concepts.
(b) Explain microeconomics and macroeconomics.
(c) Identify and explain basic economic problems.
2. Demand and supply, and price mechanism
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ICAN Syllabus Summary for Nov 2025 Curled out by: Kabiru Yusuf Aremu, ACA (08169069670) From: Apex Professional Associates
Explain:
(a) Concepts of demand and supply;
(b) Application of demand and supply; and
(c) Market determination of equilibrium price and quantity.
3. Costs, revenue and productivity
Identify and explain cost, revenue and profit concepts
4. Market structures
Identify and explain:
(a) Perfect competition (shut-down point for a perfect competitive firm);
(b) Pure monopoly; and
(c) Monopolistic competition.
5. Market failure, externalities and interventions
Identify and explain market failure, types of externalities and interventions.
6. National income accounting
Explain:
(a) Basic concepts of national income;
(b) Methods of computing national income;
(c) Problems of measuring national income; and
(d) Uses of national income estimates.
7. Financial institutions
Explain the following:
(a) Central banking;
(b) Universal/commercial banking;
(c) Development banking;
(d) Other financial institutions;
(e) Money and capital markets; and
(f) Foreign exchange markets (NAFEM, NAFEX, interbank rates, etc).
8. Issues in monetary and fiscal policy
Identify and explain:
(a) Monetary policy variables; and
(b) Fiscal policy variables.
9. Issues of inflation and unemployment
Identify and explain:
(a) Inflation – types and causes;
(b) Unemployment – types and causes; and
(c) Phillips curve.
10. Issues of economic growth and development
Explain:
(a) Economic growth and development;
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ICAN Syllabus Summary for Nov 2025 Curled out by: Kabiru Yusuf Aremu, ACA (08169069670) From: Apex Professional Associates
(b) Sources of economic growth; and
(c) Economic planning.
E. Technology and data analysis - 20%
1. Business uses of computers and information technology (IT)
(a) Explain the following:
(i) Database systems;
(ii) Accounting software;
(iii)Spread sheet applications;
(iv) Enterprise resource planning (ERP);
(v) Artificial intelligence (AI); and
(vi) Customer relationship management (CRM).
(b) Describe how the application of big data and data analytics can improve business operations.
(c) Define cybersecurity.
(d) List the key risks to data that can occur through cyber attacks.
(e) List and explain actions that can be put in place to mitigate cyber attacks.
2. E-commerce and electronic businesses
(a) Explain:
(i) Business case scenarios for firms' e-commerce proposition;
(ii) IT policies as stepping stone to e-commerce and e-business;
(iii)Making choices for e-commerce and e-business deployment;
(iv) Benefits and challenges of e-commerce and e-business;
(v) Business operations outsourcing methodologies; and
(vi) Data centre disaster recovery, contingency plans and recovery alternatives.
(b) Discuss the following concepts in relation to e-commerce:
(i) IT infrastructure requirements for e-commerce and e-business;
(ii) The internet as the backbone for e-commerce;
(iii)Social media platforms;
(iv) E-commerce models;
(v) Payment systems including mobile payment platforms; and
(vi) Digitisation of the middleman with examples such as Amazon, eBay, Konga, JiJi, etc.
3. Emerging technologies and the accountancy profession
Explain the following emerging technologies and how they affect business operations:
(a) Cloud computing;
(b) Block chain;
(c) Fintech;
(d) Statistical Modelling;
(e) Internet of things (IoT);
