ACCA Membership

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Hi All 

I wanted to put this question out to see what thoughts are.  I have read many posts around similar situations and have realised they can get rather heated and I certainly am not here to do that.... so here goes

I am a registered ACCA member and have worked in practice for over 10 years.  I have been in senior roles including audit manager and progressing to practice manager, so have plenty of experience.  I have taken and passed all of the exams barring 1.  I failed the last time I sat it by 1% which has put a huge hole in my plans.

I recently found my self in a situation where I have inherited a very small practice.  Long story and not part of my plan it just happened this way.  I am aware that ACCA have strict rules about practicing without a practicing licence and never intended to get one of those.  I was hoping to pass the exam that I sat in Dec have my qualification signed off and resign from being a member before I began "practicing".  I have an AAT practicing certificate and that will suffice for what I need it to.

However as detailed above I needed one more mark and so now I have to re sit the exam. I will need to start "practicing" before I re take this final exam as the clients that I have inherited will need to be taken care of.  There isnt an option for me to delay this or remove myself from the practice.  

I was going to ask my husband, who is a CIMA qualified accountant, to sit as director on my company to allow me to resign whilst I take the final exam,  That in itself has implacations as he would need to satify CIMA regulations, and through scouring other posts on here, i found a thread where someone was in a similar situation and the husband wife question came up.  The answer was that if the wife was the person doing the work even though the husband held the shares and directorship, as an ACCA member she would need to resign her membership or obtain a practicing certificate.

Do I need to face the fact that I will need to resign from ACCA without completing the whole qualification in order to allow me to take care of my newly aquired practice ?  it will be a huge kick in the teeth after all the work I put in and after failing by only 1 mark, but I certainly do not want to break the rules and have a mark against my name. 

I would be most grateful of your thoughts and if anyone has been in a similar situation and how you dealt with it.

 

Thank You

Replies (7)

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By Andy556
16th Mar 2021 19:17

I'm not 100% sure so this is only hear say.

A friend of mine is ACCA qualified and has a practicing certificate through AAT so there must be something in the rules to allow this.

I'd definitely not quit ACCA when you're so close so passing. Saying that, the different in reality is that you will only not allowed to do audits so it depends if you want to or not. The only other difference is in the advertising, calling yourself a chartered accountant etc but it only seems accountants care. I've never come across a client who cares what qualifications you have as long as you do a good job.

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By Sandnickel
16th Mar 2021 19:48

Sadly, if you are doing anything more than bookkeeping then you are already breaching the ACCA rules (as a student you can do no more than this).

If ACCA find out you will almost certainly be subject to their disciplinary procedure and will lose the letters before you get them.

Your only options are therefore:
1) hope ACCA don't find out and get the exam passed asap (obviously not the ethical solution)
2) resign your membership

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I honestly don't see any other way.

With all due respect I also would take your company name off your profile.

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Replying to Sandnickel:
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By User deleted
16th Mar 2021 21:17

Thank you or the heads up i didn't realise it was on there think it must have been an auto fill.

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By loverboyfullofjoy
16th Mar 2021 20:10

If your husband can't or won't do it I will be happy to step in. I know exactly what it is like to be struck off 12 years after I gained the qualification, but got caught on another misdemeanor caused by overwork running my own practice without a practicing certificate. I would be happy to do the pro gratis. The qualification proved to be a noose around my neck and now in semi retirement I have never been happier or so well off.

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By User deleted
16th Mar 2021 21:18

Thanks for your responses guys. I definitely don't want to break the rules so have resigned my membership without completing the final exam. Frustrating but rules are rules :(

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Replying to User deleted:
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By spilly
16th Mar 2021 22:26

And you won’t have to pay any more annual fees to ACCA now! They seem to give very little in return for them, and even less for those in small practices dealing with small businesses.

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By AthollAccounts
18th Mar 2021 14:40

I was previously an ACCA member.

You cant not do anything other than bookkeeping without a PC.

You also can't take a PC from another organisation while keeping your ACCA membership, you must have their own PC as well.

If your husband (or someone else) was to sign off they would have to review the work and be satisfied it is up to standard.

It is possible to have a practicing accountant supervise you, but I believe that is intended for those who just need some additional time to meet the requirements of the PC.

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