Practising options

Practising options

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Hi all,

I have been an ACCA member for 5 years and worked in Platinum approved employers for the duration of that time. Prior to being a member I qualified with another Platinum Approved employer who are a Top 10 firm.

I am trying to start my own practice and have applied for the relevant certificates, however, those who will be approving my application are making things very difficult. After 4 months of waiting, they have told me I need to change certain trivial things on my application and resubmit. For example, 2 of my blocks of experience cover 6.5 months instead of 6 months!

I am worried that this will take another 4 months after I have resubmitted and to make things worse, I need 2 previous employers to review and add detail to my application which I anticipate will take another couple of months or so from my previous experience with them.

At first I applied for a practising certificate with audit, but I am now prepared to make do without the audit element.

My question is, can I start a practice sooner in any other way, apart from resigning from ACCA and practising as an 'Accountant' rather than a 'Chartered Certified Accountant'. Are there any other bodies I can register with that will facilitate this? What will the implications be for my current ACCA membership? What reports am I allowed to sign off? What will my standing be with HMRC, etc?

Any help would be welcomed as I have a number of clients who are waiting for me to start practising!

Replies (6)

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By Ken Howard
25th Feb 2015 09:33

Book-keeping and management accounting are your options if you don't have a PC.  You can't do tax returns or year end accounts under your own name.  This is simply the rules of the ACCA.  Of course, you can still be an employee or subcontractor for other practices as the accounts/returns would be under their name.

If you resigned from ACCA, you could do whatever you wanted, but of course banks, lenders and landlords may not accept accounts or references from you in your new capacity as an unqualifed accountant, so that's a potential disservice to your clients.

Joining a different body doesn't change your status with ACCA - you'd still have to resign from ACCA whether you traded as unqualified or traded via a different body.

An alternative in the meantime would be contacting accountancy practices and offering your services as a subcontractor for them.

 

 

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Stepurhan
By stepurhan
25th Feb 2015 09:38

Either/or

If you want to retain your ACCA membership, you need a practicing certificate from them. This is the case, even if another body would grant you a practicing certificate more quickly (which is unlikely) and so you wouldn't be practicing under the ACCA banner. ACCA members are only allowed to undertake certain work without a practicing certificate.

You are dismissing the errors on your forms as trivial. Arguably so, but equally they are errors that should really not have arisen. As being in practice involves filling out forms accurately for clients, it is not entirely unreasonable of ACCA to be concerned at what would appear to be careless errors on their forms.

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By Fenerli
06th Mar 2015 10:28

Other options

Thanks for the replies so far.

 

How do the Franchise brands get around this issue with unqualifieds? What other organisations apart from ACCA, ICAEW, AAT, CTA, etc are there?

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Replying to Rammstein1:
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By NHGlos
06th Mar 2015 11:44

PC

Fenerli wrote:

How do the Franchise brands get around this issue with unqualifieds? What other organisations apart from ACCA, ICAEW, AAT, CTA, etc are there?

Anybody can set up a practice providing general accountancy services, there is no legal requirement to have a PC, the only restriction is statutory audit. Franchisees without a professional body just "go it alone", those with a professional body get a PC.

If you want an ACCA PC (especially if you want to add audit later), why sacrifice the long-term for the short-term? I read something in ACCA's practicing "guidance" that if you where to return to ACCA membership having practised without a PC during your "absence", you could still be liable to ACCA's wrath - sounds odd but like truth a professional body is stranger than fiction!

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By mrme89
06th Mar 2015 10:40

How do they get around it? As they are unqualified they have nobody to answer to.

 

It seems bizarre that you are willing to drop ACCA just because it is taking longer than anticipated to get your PC - which was your fault for not completing the forms correctly.

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By Alex999
06th Mar 2015 12:39

Have a look at the Institute of Financial Accounting (IFA) or the Association of International Accounting (AIA)

IFA - for small practices, no authorisation for audits but can sign of accounts for many lenders

AIA - has the option to practice with or without the audit licence. Sounds like you'll qualify for the audit licence.

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