ACCA Practising Cert

ACCA Practising Cert

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Hi All

I know these questions keep coming up but I am after some practical advice from fellow practising accountants. I am soon to be an ACCA member but will have qualified through industry. I have wide experience (prep accounts, mgmt account, payroll, vat and taxes) but am not ashamed to admit have to look up certain specialist tax queries etc.

I am therefore looking to get my 3 years post qualification experience to get my practising certificate i.e. exc audit. The reason for this is that I already have a lot of friends asking me to help them out. They are willing to pay and I am confident I can do what they are asking easily. I also have a potentially large client base from an existing contact. This will only be part time to start with as I am employed and enjoy my work.

I am going to try and persuade my employer to become ACCA approved but wondered does anyone know what is entailed in practice?

The other option I have thought of is to persuade an ACCA registered practice to take me on with no salary and pay me the profits I generate for a management fee of course. Does this go on?

And finally I do not mind taking the final stage of ICAEW, if it is easier to practice once qualified.

Would really appreciate constructive advice and no I do not want to join AIA, IFA, IKEA or DFS etc!!!

Many thanks in advance

James

Replies (18)

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By Amna Khan
18th Aug 2008 18:45

ACCA Practising Certificate
James

I recently applied for my practising certificate with ACCA and received it shortly after. I needed two years post qualification experience and 1 year pre-qualification. I have gained all my experience through industry. You need to ring ACCA in regards to whether your employer needs to be ACCA approved. Depending on when you became a member, I think pre 2005 as long as your principal is a qualified accountant you may not need your company to be ACCA approved.

Like I said the best thing to do is ring ACCA they will let you know.

Hope this helps.

Amna

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By nilesh_m
13th Aug 2008 12:40

ACCA Practising certificate
To Joanne

May I ask, what type of certificate you applied for?

I work in industry and in process of applying for one. I would like to discuss with some one like you with similar to mine background. Would you be interested to talk to me? If you are, please contact me and here is my email [email protected].

Kind Regards

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Acc
By jonock
13th Aug 2008 09:16

ACCA
I also qualified via industry and was awarded a practising certificate based on my PQE. ACCA members' services in Glasgow were fantastic in helping me work out which route was best for me to apply. I rang them and gave in details of my circumstances stating that I wanted a certificate, but wasn't sure whether I would qualify and they guided me through every single stage. I couldn't praise them highly enough,.

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By AnonymousUser
24th Jul 2008 13:16

TO NH
HI NH,

I am from West London, but am willing to travel if needs be.

This is quite a big priority for me at the moment, big enough for me to even re-locate for.

Thanks.

Ronny.

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By AnonymousUser
24th Jul 2008 11:11

Alright, ANON
Let's see if their CEO (an FCCA) would come forward and reminisces his past crusading for the protection of the term 'accountant' by posting further his wise thoughts here for us to know further.


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By User deleted
23rd Jul 2008 10:33

AIA CEO is a FCCA
I am sure AIA CEO would be a helpful lot to you with his knowledge and vast experience as a FCCA member.

With ACCA, you need take only an Examination of Experience to fulfil ICAEW's requirements to become ACA, ie no need to take paper exams.

To "R", when you said "In our profession ANY tom dick or harry can call themselves "accountants" we have almost no barriers to entry.", did you realise that it is difficult to pass CCAB exams to become one too? There is still great value attached to it but the dominance by the CCAB has not proved their worth by not protecting the term 'accountant' as already implemented by the IAASA.

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By User deleted
22nd Jul 2008 18:18

Ronny
Where are you located?

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By AnonymousUser
22nd Jul 2008 12:50

TO NH
Hi,

I am currently an ACCA finalist and wanted to start working for an acca approved training practice in order to fulfil the criteria for the PC.

I am really interested in the profit related pay scenario mentioned. If possible, I would be happy to pay 'management fees' for the next three years for any practice to take me under their wing.

Thanks Ronny.

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By julieraikes
16th Jul 2008 22:32

Get some support
Im CIMA qualified and, like you had always worked in business. In January I set up my own practice, admittedly mainly to work with SME's as a part time FD - managing their finances and businesses throughout the year but as an accountant I am asked to undertake all the compliance work and have managed to do it.

My advice is dont take on specialist areas like Tax and do lots of research. Seek the support of fellow ACCA's in practice who you can call with any queries you come across or to double check your thoughts in the beginning.

Being in business is only different because you dont see the variety of business accounts but it gives you the advantage of looking at a business' situation from a broader perspective and understanding how they are getting to the numbers rather than just dealing with them.

Good luck!

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By User deleted
14th Jul 2008 14:30

reply
In my opinion the whole practising cert red tape nightmare by the ACCA is a total farce.

Take the legal profession who have protection for the term Lawyer. One year course and 2 years training (solicitor) or One year course and get called to the Bar. You can then either work in industry or legal practise (in any number of disciplines).

In our profession ANY tom dick or harry can call themselves "accountants" we have almost no barriers to entry. However to practise "by the ACCA rules" means taking 15 exams, 3 years signed work experience, yearly CPD, then apply for a Prac Cert 2 more years exp(another 17 page form and a million requirements). All to "allow" you to do exactly what any other person in the street can do! This is total madness!

The ACCA need to get a grip and provide a service for members (who pay almost £200 a year for a monthly magazine and almost nothing else). Having passed 15 exams and having 3 years signed experience is more than enough as a requirement to prove your worth.

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By nilesh_m
12th Jul 2008 17:54

ACCA Practising certificate
As per ACCA's rule you have to gain three years experience, one year can be bofore getting full membership and 2 years can be post membership training.

This training can be completed either in public practice or corporate and / or public sector.

I know that you mentioned that you are not interested in audit. If you want to apply for ACCA practising certificate and audit qualification you have to have three years training in public practice, which holds auditors licence. Two year have to be post-memberhisp.

Coming back to Industry, These three years' training with an ACCA Accredited Employer who has been granted different acreditation status, under the supervision of an appropriately qualitified Principal.

As a either student or full member of ACCA, if you offer any services other then basic book-keeping, vat and payroll, you would be in direct breach of ACCA's rule.

Self employed work does not count towards your training period. However, if you are employed or you do sub-contract work, they can count towards your training.

I do not know much about ICAEW, but I read somewhere, that you have to work in practice in order to get practising certificate.

I hope this help and I have not confused you. There is quite lot information on ACCA' s website. www.accaglobal.com/member/. I am at the moment in process of applying for the practising certificate. I am in SW19, if you want to talk or discuss about the membership, contact me, I would be happy to help.

Nilesh Mandvia

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By User deleted
14th Jul 2008 10:16

Industry route to practicising certificate
James,

There is (or at least was) a dispensation through ACCA for people wanting a practicising certificate but who haven't worked in practice. It was a while ago now, but I think this is how it went :

You need to demonstrate the required skills and experience in the areas that you want to offer services in. You can then apply for a restricted practising certificate that only allows you to offer services in these areas, backed up with experience from an employment. You'll need to have a training record signed off by a qualified accountant to back this up. If you have had a decent breadth of experience this could quite easily cover everything that a SME focussed practice might require, with the exception of tax investigations I would think.

This is how I got my certificate several years ago now, and it hasn't had the slightest implications on my practice. You'll have to work hard over the period before you offer any services getting up to date with personal and small corporate tax, and the FRSSE requirements, and then make sure (like everyone else to be fair) that you get some good quality CPD in to keep up to date.

I'd contact the ACCA and see if this route is still open, the very best of luck ! Mike

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By User deleted
11th Jul 2008 15:00

ACCA PC
The best option for you would be to contact ACCA and let them ans.
Regarding your clients, you should contact ACCA first, take their route and then I see why not you can set up your own practice and if need be become a partner at one of the smaller firms on a profit basis (economies of scale) hence giving you higher profits.

Worth considering.

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By User deleted
11th Jul 2008 13:51

Doesnt Industry Experience Count ?
I did my ACCA training in industry.
Then did a year working part-time in a small practice.
I was able to use 2 years of industry experience (payroll, CT, Ltd accounts prep., etc) and the year of practice experience (general tax work).
This was about 5 years ago.
Maybe they've changed the rules since then.
Good luck with it. I remember that filling in the forms detailing my experience was a real grind. Worth it in the end though.

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By User deleted
11th Jul 2008 13:38

Shame!
Thats a shame a bit too far away from me but I am sure you will fine a small practice who would be interested.

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By User deleted
11th Jul 2008 12:59

NH
I am in SE London/Kent.

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By User deleted
11th Jul 2008 12:15

ACCA
First of all James I would say stick with it!

It isnt too hard for an ACCA practice to be approved.

I dont see a problem with you effectively having a profit related pay and think this sounds a really good idea.

What area are you in - I may be interested myself?!

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By AnonymousUser
11th Jul 2008 12:01

Find a chartered (ACA. ACCA) practice ...
and try and reach some sort of arrangement with them whereby they are able to monitor your personal work in return for doing something for them. In theory you will then be able to apply to ACCA for a practising cert with the chartered practice acting as a referee.

The bits I'm not sure of (as they didn't apply to me) are ... can you stay with ACCA in the interim preiod as I think you would be in breach of their rules. This seems silly when I was allowed to use this process despite not being a member!

Do you have anything to offer a Chartered practice ... and would they be in breach of their institute obligations by helping you in this way?

Is it worth it? I decided in the end that it was not for me as there are easier altenatives (AAT MIP) that provided what I needed (lender recognition) without the hassle.

Good luck!

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