This is the qualification you will need to be a fully qualified accountant. The ACCA Qualification develops accounting knowledge and skills as well as professional values.
There are three equally important elements to qualifying as an ACCA accountant - exams, practical experience and an online ethics module. The exams are progressive, so if you have a degree in history or economics you will build on your knowledge as you progress. If you have a relevant degree you'll likely be entitled to some exemptions, and will enter the qualification at the most appropriate level.
EXAMS
EXPERIENCE
ETHICS
EXEMPTIONS
EXAMS
You will need to complete 14 papers in total. A maximum of nine papers in the Fundamentals level are available for exemption.
Fundamentals
(nine papers in total)
| Knowledge |
|---|
| F1 Accountant in Businesss (AB) |
| F2 Management Accounting (MA) |
| F3 Financial Accounting (FA) |
| Skills |
| F4 Corporate and Business Law (CL) |
| F5 Performance Management (PM) |
| F6 Taxation (TX) |
| F7 Financial Reporting (FR) |
| F8 Audit and Assurance (AA) |
| F9 Financial Management (FM) |
Professional
(five papers in total)
| Essentials |
|---|
| P1 Governance, Risks and Ethics |
| P2 Corporate Reporting (CR) |
| P3 Business Analysis (BA) |
| Options (two to be completed) |
| P4 Advanced Financial Management (AFM) |
| P5 Advanced Performance Management (APM) |
| P6 Advanced Taxation (ATX) |
| P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA) |
EXPERIENCE
You have to complete three years relevant work experience before you can qualify. To make sure the work that you do is relevant you have to match it up against ACCA's performance objectives completing all nine Essentials and four of the Options. If you have relevant work experience from a previous job, such as an internship, than you can count that towards your three years as long as it is linked to the performance objectives. All of your experience has to be signed off by a workplace mentor.
ESSENTIALS
(all nine to be completed)
| Professionalism, ethics and governance |
|---|
| 1 Demonstrate the application of professional ethics, values and judgement |
| 2 Contribute to the effective governance of an organisation |
| 3 Raise awareness of non-financial risk |
| Personal effectiveness |
| 4 Manage self |
| 5 Communicate effectively |
| 6 Use information and communications technology |
| Business management |
| 7 Manage ongoing activities in your area of responsibility |
| 8 Improve departmental performance |
| 9 Manage an assignment |
OPTIONS
(four to be completed)
| Financial accounting and reporting |
|---|
| 10 Prepare financial statements for external purposes |
| 11 Interpret financial transactions and financial statements |
| Performance measurement and management accounting |
| 12 Prepare financial information for management |
| 13 Contribute to budget planning and production |
| 14 Monitor and control budgets |
| Finance and financial management |
| 15 Evaluate potential business/investment opportunities and the required finance options |
| 16 Manage cash using active cash management and treasury systems |
| Audit and assurance |
| 17 Prepare for and collect evidence for audit |
| 18 Evaluate and report on audit |
| Taxation |
| 19 Evaluate and compute taxes payable |
| 20 Assist with tax planning |
My Experience Record
My Experience is the online tool that you need to use to record your practical experience. You are expected to regularly update My Experience with your months in a relevant role. The tool will let you see at a glance how many more months you have to go. In addition, you need to achieve 13 performance objectives: when you complete one, you'll have to go online and answer three challenge questions relating to that performance objective. These will be submitted to your workplace mentor for review and sign off. Don't forget that you can log experience you have gained before, during or after completing the exams.
ETHICS
As part of ACCA's ethical development, students are required to complete an online training module, developed by ACCA. This will expose you to a range of ethical perspectives, and includes several self-tests which require you to reflect on your own ethical behaviour and values. Ideally, this should be completed before, at the same time as or soon after completing Paper P1, Professional Accountant, but must be completed before applying for membership.
ACCA regards ethics as at the very centre of what being a professional is all about. There is a huge difference between being a member of a professional body, with a responsibility to work in the public interest, and being a member of a club or society.
EXEMPTIONS
If you've studied a relevant degree such as 'Accounting and Finance' you could get exemptions from some of the ACCA exams. This means that you won't have to sit exams on subjects you've already studied allowing you to start the qualification at the right level. To find out more about what exemptions 
you can get and how to claim go to our exemptions database.
