ACCA
22 August 2006
Dear Members and Students,
New recognition agreement between the Institute and ACCA covers respective members of each body in Hong Kong and U.K.
The Hong Kong Institute of CPAs today signed an agreement for recognition arrangements (ARA) with the ACCA. The agreement replaces the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) that expired in June 2005.
The new agreement, which is different from the last MRA, requires members of the ACCA who want to join the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs to have a university degree, pass the final professional examination of the Institute's qualification programme and gain practical work experience under an institute-authorised employer or supervisor. This way, the Institute’s three-pronged foundation of university education, post-graduate study and practical experience is maintained.
The parameters of the agreement were developed after a year-long review by an independent assessor agreed to by both bodies. The assessor compared the qualification prerequisites of each body.
The Institute and ACCA both recognise that each body offers different routes to membership. To recognise these differences, this new agreement specifies steps to be followed by ACCA and Hong Kong Institute of CPAs members seeking membership in the other body.
Under the agreement, QP-qualified Hong Kong Institute of CPAs members are eligible for ACCA membership provided they meet standard membership application requirements of the ACCA (e.g. be fit and proper and not subject to any adverse disciplinary findings or pending complaints and investigations).
ACCA members applying for Institute membership must meet the following eight criteria:
1) hold a university degree accredited or recognised by the Institute;
2) pass all of the 14-paper ACCA professional examination in Hong Kong or the U.K., which mu
st include the optional paper on audit and assurance services. Applicants who have been exempted from ACCA papers will be assessed by the Institute on a case by case basis.
3) complete and pass the workshops of any one of the four modules of the Institute’s QP;
4) pass the final professional examination of the Institute’s QP;
5) pass the Institute’s aptitude tests on Hong Kong law and taxation or the ACCA Hong Kong variant tax and law papers;
6) obtain three years of accounting-related work experience under an Institute-authorised employer or supervisor;
7) meet other standard membership requirements from time to time, e.g. be a fit and proper person and not subject to any adverse disciplinary findings or pending complaints or investigations;
8) have qualified in Hong Kong or the U.K.(which are jurisdictions covered by the independent assessment).
The agreement covers students who enrolled in ACCA on or after 16 August 2004. It is retroactive to July 2005 and will be in force until 30 June 2010.
Members of ACCA who were registered as students of ACCA on or before 15 August 2004 and completed the ACCA professional examinations by the specified deadlines are covered by the transitional arrangements of the former agreement and are eligible for full exemption from the QP.
