| 1. |
Under section 29A(1) of the Professional Accountants Ordinance ("PAO"), a PC applicant is required to have at least four years of full-time approved accounting experience in the office of: |
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(a) |
a PC holder in Hong Kong; or |
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(b) |
a person practising public accountancy under the jurisdiction of |
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(i) |
an accountancy body with which the Institute has a reciprocal membership agreement ("RMA") or mutual recognition agreement ("MRA"); or |
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(ii) |
an accountancy body accepted by the Council under section 24(1A) of the PAO. |
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| 2. |
At least one year of such experience is post-qualifying experience. The four years can be reduced to 30 months if all of the experience is post-qualifying. |
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| 3. |
Under section 29A(5)(a) of the PAO, "approved accounting experience" means such professional accountancy experience as the Council may approve from time to time as sufficient practical experience. |
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| 4. |
For the purpose of evaluating "approved accounting experience", Council has approved the following:- |
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(1) |
Practical experience, of which 75% must be in auditing, acquired in the office of a PC holder in Hong Kong. |
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(2) |
Practical experience, of which 75% must be in auditing, acquired in the office of a person practising public accountancy under the jurisdiction of an accountancy body with which the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs ("the Institute") has a reciprocal membership agreement ("RMA") where practical experience requirements have been assessed as equivalent. Currently, these are:- |
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RMA |
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(i) |
Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants ("CICA") |
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(ii) |
Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia ("ICAA") |
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(iii) |
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales ("ICAEW") |
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(iv) |
Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland ("ICAI") |
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(v) |
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland ("ICAS") |
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(vi) |
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe ("ICAZ") |
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(vii) |
New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants ("NZICA") |
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(viii) |
South African Institute of Chartered Accountants ("SAICA") |
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Mutual recognition agreement ("MRA")/ Agreement for recognition arrangements ("ARA") |
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(3) |
Currently, CPA Australia ("CPAA")/ Association of Chartered Certified Accountants ("ACCA"): |
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Experience will be recognized in accordance with the terms of the MRA/ARA. Under the MRA/ARA, recognized practical experience is defined as practical experience, of which 75% must be in auditing which has been gained |
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(a) |
under an Authorized Employer or Authorized Supervisor complying with the Institute's Practical Experience Framework requirement; or |
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(b) |
in a place outside Hong Kong and accepted by the Institute as being equivalent to the Institute's Practical Experience Framework requirement. Under the current policy, this means that the experience is acquired from a training organization accredited by an RMA body. |
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(4) |
For all other agreements with overseas bodies, including agreement for mutual examination paper exemption ("MEPE"), the practical experience gained by members of these overseas accountancy bodies is not recognized under the agreement. Experience gained by members admitted through MEPE must comply with 3(a) or (b) above. |
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(5) |
For experience gained in Mainland China, Council has prescribed criteria for recognition and they are as follows: |
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(a) |
the Mainland CPA practice is a branch/subsidiary of or affiliated with a CPA practice in Hong Kong; |
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(b) |
the PC applicant's work significantly relates to a Hong Kong engagement; and |
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(c) |
the applicant is working under the direct supervision of a Hong Kong PC holder. |
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But at least one year of the four-year auditing experience for PC issuance must have been acquired in Hong Kong. |