Course elements

• Professional Ethics Module

  Acting and working in an ethical way is a core expectation of the accounting profession. To support this, training in professional ethics is a compulsory part of the course requirements for the Associate Chartered Accountant designation.

  The Professional Ethics module takes approximately 50 hours or five weeks of study online. It requires an assignment marked by a tutor and an exam. The course is offered in partnership with trusted external provider, UK-based Home Learning College, and consists of one tutor marked assignment and one examination.

• Practical experience requirements

  Those already on the pathway to ACA membership have the following extensions to complete the ACA work experience requirements:

  For Provisional ACA members at 30 June 2018:

  • You have until 30 June 2020 to complete the ACA practical experience requirements and Professional Ethics course and then until 1 October 2020 to apply to become a Full ACA; alternatively you may wish to complete the requirements for CA membership.

  For those who are currently completing academic study towards ACA membership at 30 June 2018:

  • You will have until 30 June 2020 to complete your academic study and become a provisional ACA member. You will then have until 30 June 2022 to complete your practical experience requirements and Professional Ethics course and then until 1 October 2022 to apply to become a Full ACA. You also have an option to change your course to CA or AT.

  For those students who have finished ACA academic study:

  • You must apply for Provisional ACA membership by 30 June 2018. You would then have until 30 June 2020 to complete the ACA practical experience requirements and Professional Ethics Course, and must apply for full ACA membership by 1 October 2020.

  To gain ACA membership you need to complete a year of relevant accounting employment followed by a year of approved accounting employment. Both can be completed before, during or after completion of the academic requirements.

  Your role must be the equivalent of at least 6 weeks full-time employment. Full-time employment is defined as 35 hours or more per week. If you choose to work the minimum requirement of 17.5 hours per week, your role would need to be a least three months long.

• Relevant accounting employment

  You need to complete the equivalent of one year full-time relevant accounting employment. This experience needs to be signed off by a supervisor or manager and reviewed by a CA who has been a member for at least five years.

  This role must provide a depth of experience in at least one of the following areas:

  • financial accounting
  • auditing
  • general practice
  • management accounting
  • taxation
  • financial management
  • financial advice
  • treasury
  • academia
  • information systems
  • comparable sub-divisions of accounting.
• Approved accounting employment

  After completing one year of relevant accounting employment, you need to complete the equivalent of one year full-time approved accounting employment.

  Approved accounting employment is completed at an Approved Training Employer (ATE) under the guidance of a Chartered Accountants ANZ registered mentor.

  Your mentor will be a CA or ACA who is a member of Chartered Accountants ANZ or another GAA body and is registered with Chartered Accountants ANZ as a mentor. If you don’t have a suitable mentor where you work, you can nominate an external mentors for consideration.

• Competencies

  To be an ACA you need to develop technical competence to an Intermediate level (Level 2) in one of the following areas:

  • academia
  • accounting information systems
  • auditing
  • external reporting
  • financial management
  • financial advice
  • insolvency and reconstructions
  • management accounting
  • taxation.

  You also need to develop non-technical competence to an Intermediate level (Level 2) in all of the following areas:

  • teamwork
  • organisational skills
  • research and evaluation
  • decision making
  • exercising ethical and professional behaviour
  • communication and interpersonal skills.