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An exemption from completing Parts 1 and 2 of the Practising Certificate Experience Forms (PCEF) is available for members who have gained all three years of their experience with employers that are registered under the ACCA Approved Employer Practising Certificate Development (audit) stream. Instead of completing Parts 1 and 2 of the PCEF members must complete an ‘Approved Employer PCER confirmation form’. Members must also complete Part 3 (audit units) of the PCEF. Read about the changes.

If you are applying for a practising certificate and audit qualification you must, in addition to the Approved Employer PCER confirmation form, complete Part 3 (audit units) of the PCEF (see below).

For further information including FAQs, guidance notes and the Approved Employer PCER confirmation form please click here.

Please watch our webinar series and make sure you have read and understood the relevant guidance documents which includes comprehensive examples.

When you submit your practising certificate application please remember to:

• Check your submitted documents are accurate and complete
• Make sure your Approved Employer PCER confirmation form and PCEF (Part 3) meets the requirements set out in the guidance and videos
• Use your registered e-mail address
• Make sure you read the top 10 PCEF tips

To apply for an ACCA practising certificate and audit qualification for the UK (including Channel Islands and Isle of Man) or Ireland, you must show that you have achieved:

• three years of supervised experience in an ACCA approved employer - practising certificate development (audit) stream, two of which must be post-membership.  You can contact ACCA Connect for details of Approved Employers or alternatively access the ACCA Approved Employer Directory
• You record this experience in the Approved Employer PCER confirmation form and Part 3 of the practising certificate experience forms (PCEF).  
• Experience must be supervised by an appropriately qualified individual.  The definition of this is set out in Appendix 1 of the PCEF Part 1
• at least 44 weeks (1540 hours) of audit training in the three years. For the UK at least 22 weeks (770 hours) must be specifically in statutory audit work, and for Ireland – 44 weeks.
• To be eligible for a UK practising certificate and audit qualification you must pass the UK variants respectively of papers Corporate and Business Law (LW), Taxation (TX) and Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA), and the UK or International variant of Strategic Business Reporting (SBR) 
• To be eligible for an Irish practising certificate and audit qualification you must pass the Irish variants respectively of papers Corporate and Business Law (LW), Taxation (TX), Strategic Business Reporting (SBR) and Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA).

Irish practicing certificate and audit qualification note - If exams are completed prior to 1 January 2011, P2 and P7 do not require Irish variant. 

UK practicing certificate and audit qualification note - If P7 exam is completed prior to 1 January 2011, P7 does not require UK variant. Both the international and UK variants are acceptable for P2. 

If you were granted exemptions from the tax and/or law papers when you registered as an ACCA student but your prior qualification lacked sufficient coverage of UK or Irish tax and/or law, you will need to pass the UK or Irish variants of the tax and/or law papers.

Please note: registrations from 1 January 2016

If you registered for the ACCA Qualification on or after 1 January 2016, you must show you have:

• successfully completed all the relevant Strategic Professional examinations, or equivalent examinations from a previous syllabus, within five years from the date on which you completed the Applied Knowledge and Applied Skills level examinations (or equivalent)
• successfully completed all the relevant Applied Knowledge and Applied Skills level examinations, or equivalent examinations from a previous syllabus, within five years of becoming eligible to sit these examinations*

* If you accepted exemptions from all or part of the Applied Knowledge and Applied Skills level of the syllabus (or equivalent) on the basis that you gained those qualifications more than five years previously (from the date you initially submitted the qualifications as an ACCA student), you will need to pass those exempted examinations.

Please note: registrations from 1 April 2019

If you wish to apply to apply for a practising certificate and audit qualification for Ireland and you registered for the ACCA Qualification on or after 1 April 2019, you should only accept exemptions from Corporate and Business Law (LW) and Taxation (TX) examinations if your previous qualification is equivalent to university level in Ireland.

A previous qualification may be regarded as being equivalent to university level in Ireland if it is, or forms part of, an award which is accredited at:

• Level 7 or above on the National Framework of Qualifications in Ireland;
• Level 6 or above on the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; or
• Level 9 or above on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework.

If you accept exemptions from the Corporate and Business Law (LW) and/or Taxation (TX) examinations on the basis of a previous qualification which was not equivalent to university level in Ireland you will need to forfeit these exemptions and pass those exams.

Start your application for an ACCA practising certificate and audit qualification

Download the application form for an ACCA practising certificate.

Complete and return your Approved Employer PCER confirmation form, PCEF (Part 3) and practising certificate application form to authorisation@accaglobal.com and we will assess your eligibility and notify you of the outcome. If your application is approved we will send you an invoice for the fee.

The application fee for a practising certificate and audit qualification is £591. Practising certificates must then be renewed on an annual basis before 31 December. 

Audit experience achieved outside of the UK

The Financial Reporting Council has stated that statutory audit work undertaken in certain territories is equivalent to statutory audit work undertaken in the UK and can therefore count towards the award of a UK practising certificate and audit qualification. This applies to the following territories and from the following dates:

Applicants in these territories must also meet all the other requirements outlined above to be eligible for a UK practising certificate and audit qualification.

* Only experience gained in ordinary audit as defined by Swiss law can count as UK statutory audit work.

To apply for an ACCA practising certificate and audit qualification for Zimbabwe, please contact the ACCA Zimbabwe office.