From 1 October 2012 all first-time certificates/licences for the UK and Ireland will be issued valid to 31 December 2013 rather than 31 December 2012. The fees for first-time certificates/licences valid to 31 December 2013 can be viewed on the Certificate and licence fees page.
- PCTR Guide: UK, Ireland and Cyprus
- PCTR Forms: UK, Ireland and Cyprus (Word)
- PCTR Forms: UK, Ireland and Cyprus
- PCTR Examples: UK, Ireland and Cyprus
- FAQs Practising information
From 1 January 2010, members applying for a UK or Irish audit qualification will no longer be required to take the AOCT.
This is because The Financial Reporting Council - Professional Oversight Team accepts that Paper P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance provides the necessary test of a member’s audit competence and that AOCT was an unnecessary additional hurdle for ACCA members seeking the audit qualification in comparison to other bodies.
As part of this, ACCA has agreed to put in place some changes to its practical audit training requirements, which brings ACCA in line with the other bodies. The new arrangements have also been approved by IAASA – the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority.
For members wishing to achieve a practising certificate or practising certificate and audit qualification, the requirements are outlined below.
To obtain an ACCA practising certificate, members must complete three years’ relevant experience with an ACCA Approved Employer – practicing certificate development stream (AE-PCD). Two years of this training must be obtained after admission to membership and recorded in a Practising Certificate Training Record (PCTR) and verified by an appropriately qualified individual.
Members who hold a licence to practise – which is issued by a recognised local body or regulatory authority – can apply for an ACCA practising certificate without meeting ACCA’s practical experience requirements. However, the ACCA practising certificate awarded will be valid only in the country where the local licence allows the member to practise and will not be globally portable.
An ACCA practising certificate and audit qualification is only available to members who, in addition to providing general accountancy services, wish to undertake audit work in the UK, Republic of Ireland and Cyprus, where ACCA has specific legislative responsibilities to regulate members providing audit services.
To obtain the practising certificate and audit qualification for the UK, Ireland or Cyprus, in addition to holding an ACCA practising certificate, members need to achieve the audit qualification by meeting the following requirements:
- In the UK and Ireland, any student sitting paper P2, Corporate Reporting, on or after 1 January 2011 must ensure they sit the variant for the country to which the audit qualification applies.
- Students must also pass Paper P7, Advanced Audit and Assurance. Any student sitting P7 on or after 1 January 2011 must sit the the variant for the country to which the audit qualification applies.
- Complete the tax and law variants for the country to which the audit qualification applies.
- Complete three years of training in an AE-PCD (audit). Two of the three years must be under the supervision of a registered auditor. Of the three years training, at least 44 weeks of the training must be in audit, of which at least 22 weeks must be in statutory audits but this experience may be gained pre or post membership. The three years training and competences achieved must be recorded in the PCTR.
- (Please note that the transitional arrangements for members admitted prior to 1 January 2010, whereby they may complete three years of experience in an ACCA Approved Employer (Audit), two years of which must be post-membership, with at least 30% of the post-membership training in audit and at least 20% in statutory audit, will cease to apply on 31 December 2012.)
Amendments to the exemptions policy
ACCA has also made amendments to its exemptions policy in regard to the audit qualification in line with The Financial Reporting Council - Professional Oversight Team requirements.
Students who are awarded exemptions from all papers in the Fundamentals level of the syllabus are required to complete the Professional level within five years should they wish to subsequently apply for an ACCA practising certificate and audit qualification.
Similarly, for a UK practising certificate and audit qualification, students who first registered on or after 1 January 2010 and are eligible for exemption from all or part of the Fundamentals level based on a qualifications gained more than five years previously (at the date of initial registration as an ACCA student) will forfeit these exemptions and be required to complete the Fundamentals level exams.
Students who fail to meet this requirement will not be eligible to apply for a practising certificate and audit qualification.
Members wishing to obtain an ACCA practising certificate or a combined practising certificate and audit qualification which is valid in the UK, Republic of Ireland or Cyprus, should use the documents at the top of this page.