The remote practical experience supervisor (RPES) programme has been developed to help ACCA affiliates who do not have access to an appropriately qualified supervisor complete the practical experience requirement (PER). Affiliates will be matched with an ACCA member who can verify their work experience in conjunction with their employer and sign off their performance objectives once they are satisfied that the trainee has achieved the correct standard

You must be an affiliate and currently working in a relevant accounting or finance role but not have access to an IFAC qualified supervisor at or connected with (ie a consultant or external auditor/accountant) your employer.

The programme is not currently available to ACCA students.

Your remote supervisor will work with you and your line manager. They will verify your work experience and confirm that the details and examples that you have included within your performance objectives are true and accurate reflections of your own work. You’ll work with your RPES to arrange times to share your work and to discuss any feedback they have to help you meet your objective.

We expect that it will take around three months for a relationship to be established between yourself, your line manager and your remote supervisor. This will allow the remote supervisor to build an understanding of your experience and competence before they would feel ready to review and sign off performance objectives. Your remote supervisor will need to have meetings with you and your line manager to review your progress towards achieving the PER and for examples of your work to be shared.

The RPES programme should not be seen as a quicker route to membership. Remote supervisors are not permitted to sign off objectives that they are not confident, and have evidence of, being achieved. Due to this, if you are planning to move to a new employer in the near future, it may be more suitable to wait until your new employment has commenced before considering if the assistance of a remote supervisor is still required.

While we appreciate that your manager may be very busy, if you have access to a IFAC qualified supervisor via your workplace, you will not be eligible for the RPES programme.

If your external accountant, auditor or consultant is unsure if they are eligible to act as your supervisor, you can reassure them that this is this allowed. Many of our trainees have successfully progressed to membership in this way. If however, they do not wish to act as your supervisor, please contact RPES@accaglobal.com with details of your situation, to discuss what support may be available.

As with our current PER supervisor guidance, they cannot act as your supervisor as they do not have a business connection to your employer. Also, it would be a conflict of interest for a friend to act as your supervisor. You can, however, encourage them to join the RPES programme to assist future ACCA members.

There is no cost to join the RPES programme.

No, you should not provide your remote supervisor with payment as this is a voluntary role. If your supervisor requests payment or reimbursement, please contact RPES@accaglobal.com to report this.

As you will be sharing company information and examples of your work, your employer needs to be aware of this and agree to your participation in the RPES programme. This way they can highlight any data or privacy requirements you must adhere to. Your manager will also need to work with your remote supervisor to help them review your experience.

In order for a role to be counted towards your practical experience it must be supervised, therefore if you do not have a manager in your current position, you would not be eligible to join the RPES programme.

If you are having any difficulties or issues with the programme or your supervisor, please send details of this to RPES@accaglobal.com to request assistance.