How to become an ACCA member: the steps explained

Becoming an ACCA member, and earning the right to call yourself a Chartered Certified Accountant, is not just about passing exams. There are three things you have to complete, and they run alongside each other rather than one after another. Here is exactly what they are and the order to tackle them in.

The three requirements are: the exams, the Ethics and Professional Skills module, and the Practical Experience Requirement. Complete all three and you can apply for membership.

Step 1: Register as an ACCA student

You begin by registering with ACCA as a student. It is open access, so with relevant qualifications you can start at the Applied Knowledge level, and without them you can begin through ACCA's Foundations route. When you register, claim any exemptions you are entitled to, so you start at the right point rather than sitting papers you have already covered. If you are new to the qualification, our plain-English guide to ACCA explains the whole picture.

Step 2: Pass the exams

You sit 13 exams (fewer if you have exemptions), across three levels: Applied Knowledge, Applied Skills and Strategic Professional. Most people take one or two papers per exam session while working. Our guide to the exams in order lays out every paper and a sensible sequence. The exams are the biggest single part of the journey, but they are not the only requirement, which is where many people are caught out.

Step 3: Complete the Ethics and Professional Skills module

The Ethics and Professional Skills module (EPSM) is an online course that develops the professional judgement, ethics and workplace skills the exams assume. It is separate from the exams and is a requirement for membership in its own right. It is best completed alongside your studies, and ACCA recommends doing it before or around the Strategic Professional exams, because those papers lean on the same skills.

Step 4: Complete the Practical Experience Requirement

The Practical Experience Requirement (PER) is 36 months of relevant accounting or finance work. It is not enough simply to clock the time: you also achieve a set of performance objectives that show what you can do, and your experience is signed off by a workplace supervisor who is a qualified accountant. Crucially, you can gather this experience before, during or after your exams, so a relevant day job counts towards qualifying the whole time you are studying. If you work while you study, our guide to doing ACCA while working shows how the two fit together.

Step 5: Apply for membership

Once your exams are passed, the ethics module is done and your practical experience is signed off, you apply to ACCA for membership. When it is granted you become an ACCA member and can use the designatory letters ACCA after your name. After five years of continuous membership, you become eligible to become a Fellow and use FCCA instead.

How long does it all take?

Most people become a member in around three to four years, because the exams and the 36 months of experience run in parallel rather than back to back. The exact timeline depends on your exemptions, how many papers you sit each session, and when you accumulate your experience. Our guide to how long ACCA takes sets out a realistic timeline.

Since the exams are the biggest part of the journey, the smartest way to keep the cost down is to study them well and for free. You can do exactly that on Clevernest.

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