Our current allocation times have been reduced to around eight weeks and we are working hard to reduce that further. 

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:

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:

If exams are completed prior to 1 January 2011, P2 and P7 do not require UK or Irish variant.

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.

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

* 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.

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:

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.

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 [email protected] 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 £564. Practising certificates must then be renewed on an annual basis before 31 December. 

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.

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