ACCA does not currently award the AQs on a standalone basis. ACCA has always awarded a combined practising certificate and audit qualification (PCAQ) to eligible members. However, this means that no member seeking the AQ for the UK can be awarded it without also obtaining a PC and the PC requires two years of continuous ACCA membership and two years of supervised post-membership experience. 

Currently, ACCA members are required to complete a Practising Certificate Experience Form (PCEF) and Audit Experience Form (AEF) to meet the AQ requirements but a separate AQ is not awarded once these have been approved. The PCEF requires post-membership achievement of a range of competences including technical and non-technical (practice related) competences some of which are required in areas other than audit. This means that members are required to meet the PC requirements before the AQ is awarded. Once the PCEF, AEF and PC application form have been approved, a combined PCAQ is awarded at that point. 

Also, ACCA’s requirements are not in line with the other bodies. Whereas ACCA has always awarded a combined PCAQ to eligible members, the other bodies award the PC and AQ separately at the point at which the member meets the specific requirements for each award.  

ACCA’s requirement of obtaining the AQ at the same time as the PC also requires those applying for the AQ to demonstrate competence in areas other than audit and at a level required of those wishing to gain a PC. The requirement to have been a member of ACCA continuously for a period of not less than two years is linked to the PC requirements and all the bodies have this requirement for the PC but only ACCA has it for the AQ as well.

Removing the link between the PC and the AQ, making them separate awards, means that students and members will no longer need to demonstrate competence in areas other than audit. It also means that the AQ can be awarded at a time separately from the PC, thus giving greater flexibility to applicants to allow applicants to apply for the AQ at the point at which they have achieved the requirements. Also, members applying for a PC will be able to demonstrate that they are competent to carry out the work in practice, irrespective of whether this includes audit.  

There are two main changes. First, you no longer require two years of supervised post-membership experience to achieve the AQ. Second, you no longer need to be a member of ACCA continuously for a period of at least two years. This means that ACCA students can gain the required supervised experience for the AQ whilst on their journey to ACCA membership, alongside their PER, and apply for the AQ at the earliest opportunity. Members can also apply later in their career after admission to membership.

There are no changes to the overall amount of supervised experience required to achieve the AQ (3 years), the amount of audit experience required in the three years (at least 44 weeks of audit experience, with at least 22 weeks specifically in statutory audit), the audit competences, the supervision requirements and the examination requirements. Further details are available on our website here.

No. You must be a member to apply but you can gain the required experience whilst on your journey to ACCA membership alongside your PER so you will be able to apply at the earliest opportunity after admission to membership rather than waiting a further two years.

No. To sign off audit reports you will be required to obtain a PC (see below) and responsible individual (RI) status (see below) in a firm holding a UK auditing certificate from ACCA.

You will need to document your supervised experience in the UK audit qualification application form, available on our website here. Within the application form there are training records called Audit Qualification Experience Forms (AQEF) where you need to record your supervised experience. Therefore, whilst students can record their PER online via My Experience, they will need to record their AQ experience separately in the AQEF.

Once your AQ application form has been approved and accepted by ACCA you will be awarded the AQ.

Examples of the narrative required for the audit competences statements are available within the guidance notes which can be found on the website here. These are for guidance purposes only - do not copy and paste them when completing your own AQEF. ACCA may use plagiarism detection software. Copying and pasting from the examples may indicate that you have not achieved the required breadth of experience towards the award of an audit qualification. Copying and pasting may also be regarded as supplying false, inaccurate and/or misleading information raising questions about your integrity, which may result in referral to ACCA Complaint Assessment department for consideration as to possible disciplinary action.

There are detailed AQEF guidance notes which contain detailed information about the behaviours that need to be demonstrated. They are available on our website here.

This should be the date that you achieved the element and not the date that you are completing the form. The dates should not all be the same or the same date that your employer signs off the form. Competencies are gained in stages over different periods. Your AQEF should show progression and development with some competencies gained earlier than others.

Your AQEF should be completed on an ongoing basis and not retrospectively. However, if retrospective completion is unavoidable it must be to the same standard and in the same level of detail as if your experience had been recorded on an ongoing basis.

The form must be signed off by your supervising principal, who must be a UK statutory auditor or a statutory auditor under paragraph 9(4) of Schedule 11 to the Companies Act 2006, such as statutory auditors practising in EEA states and Gibraltar.

Yes, you will need to complete a separate form for each employer.

As a guideline, three years of full-time experience equates to 4,620 hours of working time (approximately 35 hours per week). ACCA, however, recognise that not all members work full-time hours. We want to ensure that members who work part time have equal opportunities to further their career and obtain an audit qualification. If you are working part-time you are still required to go through the same rigorous process as a member working full-time. However, more than three years of work experience in order to meet the time requirements. Guidance about part-time experience is available on our website here.

Guidance and webinars are available on our website here. Make sure you read all the guidance and view the webinars before submitting your form as it may reduce the likelihood of being asked to provide additional information.

The issue of fees is still under consideration. There is no fee for the AQ in 2025. 

No, once awarded the AQ remains with you indefinitely.

No, you already hold the AQ so you will not need to re-apply for a standalone AQ. If you wish to be a responsible individual in the future or count towards the control requirements for a firm’s auditing certificate you should indicate on the relevant application forms that you already hold the AQ for the UK.

You need to complete the UK audit qualification application form and the AQEF within that.

Supervised experience achieved on UK audits does not count towards the award of an Irish AQ. Therefore, to obtain the Irish AQ you will need to meet the supervised experience requirements for an Irish AQ in full, record that experience in the AQEF in the Irish AQ application form and successfully complete the Irish variants of the relevant ACCA examinations required for the Irish AQ. Further details about the requirements for the Irish AQ are available on our website here.

The UK AQ is only awarded to members so if you are not already a member of ACCA you will need to apply for membership and follow the standard requirements. If, however, you are a third country auditor and there is a free trade or regulator recognition agreement between the UK and the third country you can apply for responsible individual status in a firm holding (or applying for) a UK auditing certificate. You do not need to apply for ACCA membership or the UK AQ but you will need to pass an aptitude test or adaptation period and apply for responsible individual status (see below) and regulated non-member status if not a member (or not eligible for membership) of ACCA (see below). 

The UK AQ is only awarded to members so if you are not already a member of ACCA you will also need to apply for direct ACCA membership. If, however, you wish to be responsible for audit work in a firm holding (or applying for) a UK auditing certificate you do not need to apply for ACCA membership or the UK AQ but you will need to apply for responsible individual status (see below) and regulated non-member status if not a member (or not eligible for membership) of ACCA (see below).

You do not need to apply for the AQ from ACCA too. However, if you intend to be responsible for audit work in a firm holding (or applying for) a UK auditing certificate you will need to apply for a PC and RI status from ACCA (see below).

Full details are available on our dedicated AQ page.

No, the PC requirements remain the same – three years of supervised experience in an ACCA approved employer, two years of which must be post-membership. Further information is available on our website here.

You need to record your experience in either the Practising Certificate Experience Form (PCEF) or the Approved Employer Practising Certificate Experience Requirement confirmation form and also complete the PC application form. The forms are available on our website here.

No. To sign off audit reports you will also be required to obtain responsible individual (RI) status (see below) in a firm holding a UK auditing certificate from ACCA.

Yes, you can apply for both at the same time but separate authorisations will be issued if your applications are approved. 

An RI is a person who is a statutory auditor in a statutory audit firm who signs, or holds themselves out as being available to sign, an audit report. Holding a PC and an AQ will not entitle a member to sign off audit reports; the additional RI status will be required. 

ACCA does not currently have a formal status of ‘Responsible Individual’ (RI), separate from the combined PCAQ. In the UK the combined PCAQ enables a member to act as a statutory auditor in a firm holding an auditing certificate from ACCA or the equivalent from another RSB in the UK, subject to providing details of recent audit experience and audit-related CPD. With effect from 1 January 2025 a principal or employee in a firm who is a statutory auditor and wishes to be responsible for audit work and sign audit reports must hold RI status.

For an ACCA member you must hold the AQ (or be an approved third country auditor) and a PC. You must also demonstrate that you have achieved adequate, recent audit experience and audit-related CPD in the two years immediately preceding your application. You must also be fit and proper. The requirements are available on our dedicated RI page.

For non-ACCA members you must hold an appropriate qualification (or be an approved third country auditor) and a PC. You must also demonstrate that you have achieve adequate, recent UK audit experience and audit-related CPD in the two years immediately preceding your application. You must also be fit and proper. The full requirements are available on dedicated RI page.

The application form is available on the RI page. Specific sections of the application form must be completed by you and other sections must be completed the firm’s Compliance Principal. You will, among other things, be required to provide details of recent UK audit experience and audit-related CPD. 

There is no fee for RI applications.

Nothing, you will be ‘grandfathered’ into RI status in 2025.

Your RI status will cease.

No, only a principal or employee in a firm holding a UK auditing certificate can be an RI.

Ireland is an approved third country to the UK. Therefore, if you are already a UK RI you may apply for Irish RI status in a firm holding (or applying for) an Irish auditing certificate by completing an aptitude test comprising either:

• the tax and law examinations of CAI (who administer the aptitude test), or 
• obtaining adequate, recent experience and audit related CPD relating to Irish audits and submit evidence of that to ACCA. 

If you successfully complete the aptitude test you can apply to ACCA for Irish RI status. If your RI application is approved you will not be awarded an Irish AQ but as an approved third country auditor you will be eligible to sign off Irish audit reports on behalf of the firm.

Please contact authorisation@accaglobal.com for further information about the aptitude test.

No.

Yes, you do not need to be an RI to count towards the percentage control requirements for the FAC. RIs are those who are responsible for the signing off audit reports but they may not be principals in the firm or exercise any control in the firm. The requirement is that the firm must be controlled by ‘qualified persons’ which means an individual holding an appropriate qualification (i.e. a UK audit qualification or an approved third country qualification) or a firm holding a UK auditing certificate. 

Yes, the firm must be controlled by ‘qualified persons’ which includes approved third country auditors.

Your firm will need to complete the firm’s auditing certificate application form for Ireland and the RIs must complete the RI application form for Ireland (see above). To be eligible for a FAC for Ireland your firm will need to meet additional requirements, including control by qualified persons for Ireland. For an Irish FAC a qualified person means a person who is eligible to be a statutory auditor in the Republic of Ireland or in any other member state or, in relation to a firm, a firm that is approved as a statutory audit firm in the Republic of Ireland or in any other member state. In addition, the administrative or management body of the firm must have a majority of individuals who are qualified persons or, if the body consists of only two persons, at least one of them is a qualified person and has a casting vote.

No but the issue of fees is still under consideration. There is no fee for the additional FAC in 2025.

Your firm will need to submit another application form but there will be no additional fee in 2025.

Yes.

The Compliance Principal is a principal of the firm or a member of its management board and is responsible for the firm’s compliance with the ACCA Rulebook and any relevant obligations of a competent authority, and who is the primary contact with ACCA. Firms must notify ACCA of the identity of the Compliance Principal. For firms holding, or applying for, an auditing certificate the Compliance Principal must be a statutory auditor.

Regulated non-member is a formal status in which non-members agree to be bound by ACCA’s rules and regulations insofar as they are applicable to them.

A regulated non-member is an individual who is a principal in a firm holding a UK auditing certificate from ACCA who is not a member of ACCA or another RSB. A third country auditor who wishes to be a responsible individual in a firm holding a UK auditing certificate but is not eligible for direct membership of ACCA because there is no Mutual Recognition Agreement between ACCA and the other country needs to hold regulated non-member status.

A firm that is a principal in a firm holding a UK auditing certificate from ACCA that is not a member of ACCA or another RSB is also a regulated non-member (eg a corporate principal).

They must be fit and proper and complete an application form, available on our website here. Regulated non-members who wish to be RIs (eg third country auditors) must also apply for RI status.

In some firms the principals are other firms (eg corporate principals) rather than individuals. A firm is treated as a non-ACCA ‘member’ if it is not eligible to use the description ‘Chartered Certified Accountants’ i.e. at least half of the principals are not ACCA members and the ACCA members don’t control at least 51% of the voting rights.

The application form for the firm is the same as for an individual.

The issue of fees is still under consideration. There is no fee for regulated non-member status in 2025.