ACCA’s Professional Development Programme enables ACCA members and future members to obtain the required practical experience to obtain ACCA’s South Africa Audit Qualification (SA AQ). The SA AQ recognises the wide range of experience and competence that the individual has obtained and allows them to seek further career progression by becoming eligible to register onto South Africa Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors' (IRBA) Audit Development Programme (ADP). Upon successful completion of the ADP programme, the individual could then obtain a Registered Auditor (RA) status in South Africa.

ACCA’s PDP consists of a set of requirements, which must be met to be eligible for the SA AQ. A summary of these is provided below, however, please refer to Annexure 1 of the Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) policy for the full details.

• Achieve the minimum required Performance Objectives as part of ACCA’s Practical Experience Requirement (PER);
• Complete 36 months of experience in one or more accounting or finance-related role, which is verified by a suitably qualified training principal.
• Demonstrate achievement of the required nine audit competences and complete the Competence-Based Submission. These form part of the SA AQ application form.
• All of the above must be documented in ACCA’s approved documents and systems. For the PER, this is documented in the online My Experience record, which can be accessed via myACCA. 

Recognised Prior Learning Policy

Our Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) policy is designed to facilitate credit attainment within ACCA's Professional Development Programme (PDP). Upon successful completion of the requirements of ACCA’s PDP, ACCA members will be eligible to apply for the South Africa Audit Qualification (SA AQ). Once this is awarded, the ACCA members will be able to register onto South Africa Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors' (IRBA) Audit Development Programme (ADP). Should any ACCA member find themselves unable to fulfil all the outlined criteria, our PDP offers a pathway to work towards meeting these requirements. We are committed to supporting your professional growth every step of the way.

Members and future members that are applying for the South Africa Audit Qualification on the basis on the RPL policy must complete the following application forms:

• South Africa Audit Qualification application form (coming soon)
• South Africa Audit Qualification – RPL candidates form

Fees

In addition to the regular ACCA fees there are two additional administration fees that are payable in relation to members and future members in South Africa:

• Training Agreement registration fee – this fee is payable for each ACCA future member who is undertaking their studies at a registered Approved Employer and under a signed Training Agreement. This one-off fee is payable by the Employer upon the registration of each Training Agreement.
• South Africa Audit Qualification application fee – this fee is payable upon the submission of the member’s application form to ACCA.
• The current 2024 licensing fees are specified below: