PRACTISING CERTIFICATE EXAMINATIONS

Please read the following Notes carefully before completing the Registration and Entry Form
(Revised in August 2009)

PURPOSE
1. Pursuant to the provisions of the Professional Accountants Ordinance, the Council of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“HKICPA”/“the Institute”) rules that an applicant for the issue of a practising certificate (“PC”) is required to satisfy the examination requirement through completing the PC Examinations.
 

THE CANDIDATE
2. The following persons are eligible to sit the PC Examinations:
  2.1 Member category
   
2.1.1 Current members of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
2.1.2 Graduates of the HKSA/ACCA Joint Examination Scheme (“the Joint Scheme”) under Hong Kong law variant.
    Note: Current members who have successfully completed the Institute's Qualification Programme ("QP"), which comprises 4 Modules of the Professional Programme and a Final Examination, are exempt from taking the PC Examinations. (QP-graduate members under the categories listed in Note 3 below are required to sit and pass the Aptitude Test in Hong Kong Law.) This exemption is not applicable to those Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants ("CICPA") members who qualified as HKICPA members through the QP under the Mutual Examination Paper Exemptions Agreement for Mainland and Hong Kong Accountants (see Note 3 below).
  2.2 Non-member category
   
2.2.1 Full members of an accepted accountancy institute as listed below who joined the institute by sitting and passing its professional examination for membership and not by virtue of any reciprocal mutual recognition arrangement between that institute and another body:
  Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
  Association of International Accountants
  Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants
  Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
  CPA Australia
  Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia
  Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales
  Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland
  Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland
  Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe
  New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants
  South African Institute of Chartered Accountants
2.2.2 Graduates of the Joint Scheme under non-Hong Kong law variant.
2.2.3 HKICPA registered students of the QP under conditional enrolment (“HKICPA registered students”).
2.2.4 Prospective QP applicants with special permission from the HKICPA for taking the PC Examinations (“prospective QP applicants”).
3. QP-graduate members under the following categories are required to sit the Aptitude Test in Hong Kong Law or PC-Law and, if applicable, PC-Auditing, as appropriate for PC issuance purposes:
  3.1 With effect from 1 January 2008, QP-graduate members with overseas accountancy degree who wish to apply for a PC are required to sit and pass the Aptitude Test in Hong Kong Law if they have not taken Hong Kong law subject(s) at an accredited university degree programme or in an accredited Conversion Programme of the Institute. This requirement is applicable to those who register as QP students on or after 1 January 2008.
  3.2 With effect from the 2008/2009 academic year, the following QP graduates who wish to apply for a PC are required to sit and pass the Aptitude Test in Hong Kong Law in order to fulfill the competency requirement in local law:
Students of accredited accountancy degree programmes of the Institute who have studied the law subject(s) in exchange programmes at non-Hong Kong tertiary institutions; or
Non-Hong Kong degree holders who are exempted from the local law subject(s) in the accredited Conversion Programmes of the Institute.
  3.3 The Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants ("CICPA") members who qualified as a certified public accountant of the Institute by taking Module D (Taxation) and Final Examination of the QP under the Mutual Examination Paper Exemptions Agreement for Mainland and Hong Kong Accountants are required to sit the PC-Law paper for PC issuance purposes. Those who have NOT sat and passed the Auditing paper in the PRC CPA Uniform Examination of CICPA are required to sit the PC-Auditing and PC-Law papers.
4. Persons admitted as a certified public accountant of the Institute by virtue of their membership with the following accountancy institutes and who have sat and passed the audit papers in the professional examinations of their parent institute are required to sit the PC-Law and PC-Tax Planning papers:
   
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants ("ACCA")
  Admitted to the Association before 1 January 2002.
  Admitted to the Association on or after 1 January 2002; and completed the Association’s examination at or before its June 2001 diet.
  Admitted to the Association on or after 1 January 2002; and have sat and passed Paper 3.1 – Audit and Assurance Services under the ACCA Syllabus offered during December 2001 and June 2007 diet.
  Admitted to the Association on or after 1 January 2002; and have sat and passed Paper P7 – Advanced Audit and Assurance under the new ACCA Syllabus effective from the December 2007 diet.
Association of International Accountants
  Completed the Association’s examinations in June 1991 or thereafter; and have sat and passed or been exempted from Paper 5 – Auditing and Taxation; and have sat and passed or been exempted from Paper 7 – Auditing AND have sat and passed Paper 15 – Professional Practice in the Association’s examinations.
Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants
CPA Australia
Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales
Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe
New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants
South African Institute of Chartered Accountants
5. Persons admitted as a certified public accountant of the HKICPA by virtue of their membership with the following institutes are required to sit the PC-Auditing, PC-Law and PC-Tax Planning papers:
   

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants ("ACCA")
  Admitted to the Association on or after 1 January 2002; and have NOT sat and passed Paper 3.1 – Audit and Assurance Services under the ACCA Syllabus offered during December 2001 and June 2007 diet.
  Admitted to the Association on or after 1 January 2002; and have NOT sat and passed Paper 7 – Advanced Audit and Assurance under the new ACCA Syllabus effective from the December 2007 diet.
Association of International Accountants
  Completed the Association’s examinations before June 1991.
Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
  Admitted to the Institute on or before 30 June 2005.
Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy
CPA Australia members who have NOT sat and passed the audit paper of the CPA Programme of CPA Australia.
Members of other institutes who have not sat and passed the audit papers in the professional
examinations of their parent institute.
6.

Full members of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants ("CIMA") who have sat and passed the following parts of the Institute’s QP under the Agreement for Mutual Examination Paper Exemption between the Institute and CIMA are required to sit the PC-Law and PC-Tax Planning papers:
   
(i)
 both the workshop and examination of Module C – Auditing and Information Management; and
(ii) the examination of Module A – Financial Reporting; and
(iii) the final examination.
7. Graduates or former students of the Joint Scheme may transfer their results obtained in the examination
paper(s) specified in Note 11 below.
8. HKICPA registered students and prospective QP applicants are required to complete the relevant papers of the PC Examinations as indicated in their assessment letter issued by the Institute’s Student Education & Training Department for making up the deficiency in the QP pre-entry competency requirements.
9.

The number of papers that a candidate under the non-member category is required to sit, except graduates of the Joint Scheme under non-Hong Kong law variant (see Note 7 above), HKICPA registered students and prospective QP applicants (see Note 8 above), depends on their status as mentioned in Notes 4, 5 and 6 above.

10.

Acceptance of an entry to the PC Examinations from an applicant does not imply that the applicant is qualified for HKICPA membership and/or issuance of a PC, where applicable.HKICPA membership/PC applicants must satisfy the examination and other admission/issuance requirements prevailing at the time of the HKICPA Registration and Practising Committee’s consideration of their relevant applications.Please visit “Members – Registration Matters – Membership Registration – Admission Requirements” and “Members – Registration Matters – Practising Certificate – Issuance Requirements” at the HKICPA homepage www.hkicpa.org.hk for the latest membership and PC issuance requirements.

 
TRANSFER OF RESULTS
11. Passes obtained in the Joint Scheme in the subjects of auditing as well as local law and taxation are transferable to the PC Examinations, even if such passes are provisional and their validity have lapsed. Similarly, results obtained in previous sittings of the Institute’s Special Practising Certificate (“SPC”) Examinations in the corresponding papers are also transferable. For details, please refer to the following rulings:
  11.1 Paper PC-Auditing
   

11.1.1

 Those who have sat and passed Paper 3.4H – Auditing and Investigations (HK) in the SPC Examinations held in 1993 or before; or
11.1.2 Those who have sat and passed Paper 3.4 – Auditing and Investigations in the Joint Scheme offered during June 1982 and December 1993 diet*; or
11.1.3 Those who have sat and passed or been exempted from Paper 6 – Audit Framework AND sat and passed Paper 10 – Accounting and Audit Practice in the Joint Scheme offered during June 1994 and June 2001 diet; or
11.1.4 Those who have acquired conversion pass or exemption from Paper 6 – Audit Framework; conversion pass or exemption from Paper 10 – Accounting and Audit Practice AND sat and passed Paper 13 – Financial Reporting Environment in the Joint Scheme offered during June 1994 and June 2001 diet; or
11.1.5 Those who have sat and passed or been exempted from Paper 2.6 – Audit and Internal Review AND sat and passed Paper 2.5 – Financial Reporting in the December 2001 diet of the Joint Scheme; or
11.1.6 Those who have acquired conversion pass or exemption from Paper 2.6 – Audit and Internal Review; conversion pass or exemption from Paper 2.5 – Financial Reporting AND sat and passed Paper 3.1 – Audit and Assurance Services in the December 2001 diet of the Joint Scheme,
    are deemed to have passed Paper PC-Auditing in the PC Examinations.
  11.2 Paper PC-Law
    11.2.1 Those who have sat and passed Paper 2.2H – Company Law (HK) in the SPC Examinations held in 1993 or before; or
11.2.2 Those who have sat and passed Paper 2.2H – Company Law (HK) in the Joint Scheme offered during June 1982 and December 1993 diet*; or
11.2.3 Graduates of the Joint Scheme who have sat and passed Paper 2(H) – Legal Framework (HK) in the Joint Scheme offered during June 1994 and June 2001 diet; or
11.2.4 Graduates of the Joint Scheme who have sat and passed Paper 2.2(H) – Corporate and Business Law (HK) in the December 2001 diet of the Joint Scheme,
    are deemed to have passed Paper PC-Law in the PC Examinations.
  11.3

Paper PC-Tax Planning
    11.3.1 Those who have sat and passed Paper 3.3H – Advanced Taxation (HK) in the SPC Examinations held in 1993 or before; or
11.3.2 Those who have sat and passed Paper 3.3H – Advanced Taxation (HK) in the Joint Scheme offered during June 1982 and December 1993 diet*; or

11.3.3

 Those who have sat and passed Paper 11(H) – Tax Planning (HK) in the Joint Scheme offered during June 1994 and June 2001 diet; or
11.3.4 Those who have sat and passed Paper 3.2(H) – Advanced Taxation (HK) in the December 2001 diet of the Joint Scheme,
    are deemed to have passed Paper PC-Tax Planning in the PC Examinations.
   
* For the avoidance of doubt, a "Conversion Pass" or "Satisfactory" result obtained in the relevant paper is not equivalent to a "Pass" and will not be accepted as having passed the paper.
 
THE EXAMINATION
12. The examination dates and corresponding enrolment deadlines for the 2009 sessions are as follows:
 
Examination Session

Examination Dates
Deadline for Submission of Examination Entries
PC-Auditing
PC-Law
PC-Tax Planning
May 2009
*

Friday,
29 May 2009

Saturday,
30 May 2009
Friday
27 March 2009
September 2009
Saturday,
26 Sep 2009

*
*
Friday
24 July 2009
December 2009
*

Tuesday,
29 Dec 2009

Monday,
28 Dec 2009
Friday
23 October 2009
* not available
13. Candidates who are required to sit more than one paper may choose to sit all papers or just one paper at each sitting. The Council rules that subject-by-subject passes are allowed and that there is no time limit restricting the validity of such passes.
14. Syllabuses for respective PC papers are as follows:
  PC-Auditing: syllabus is based on the auditing components of Module C – Auditing and Information Management of the Institute’s QP
  PC-Law: independent syllabus
  PC-Tax Planning: syllabus adopts that of Module D - Taxation of the Institute's QP
15. Examination syllabuses are obtainable from the Institute upon request or from its website at: www.hkicpa.org.hk for reference. Candidates will also be advised of the examination syllabus and reading guide of the paper enrolled after their applications have been accepted.
16. The examination for each PC paper lasts for 3 hours in an open-book format plus 1/2 hour reading time. All answers must be presented in English. Each PC paper is divided into two sections and the marks allocation are as follows:
 

 

 Case 50

 

 Essay / Short Questions 50
17.

In an open-book examination, candidates are allowed to bring into the examination hall their own notes and reference materials, irrespective of the quantity. Candidates are only allowed to use noiseless and cordless calculators. Programmable calculators may be used in the open-book examination provided that the calculators are without communication function. However, computers and electronic dictionaries of any size or model are NOT allowed.
18. NO tax rate/allowance table will be provided in the question papers for Paper PC-Tax Planning.
19. Candidates will receive by ordinary post the Examination Attendance Docket containing details of the examination centre and other examination regulations and guidelines about two weeks prior to the examination. Candidates are required to produce the Docket for admission to the examination centre and observe the regulations and guidelines therein.
20.

NO overseas examination centre is provided. Candidates are required to take the PC Examinations in Hong Kong.

 
EXAMINATION ASSISTANCE MATERIALS/COURSES
21. Candidates taking Papers PC-Auditing and PC-Tax Planning may purchase the relevant Candidate Learning Pack (“CLP”) produced for Modules C and D respectively from the Institute to help them prepare for the examinations. The CLP will be updated from time to time and the updated version will normally be available for sale at the Institute’s service counter around 4 months prior to the examinations.
22. Past examination papers are available for sale at the Institute’s service counter. Candidates under Member category can also access the PC Online Resources Centre (“ORC”) to download past examination papers and / or to view webcasted videos on examination assistance seminars at a charge.
23. Revision courses may be offered from time to time by the Institute to candidates attempting the PC-Law and PC-Tax Planning Examinations. Candidates taking Paper PC-Auditing can also attend the Examination Assistance Courses on Module C – Auditing and Information Management of the Institute’s Qualification Programme for the preparation of the PC-Auditing Examination.
 
EXAMINATION RESULTS AND SCRIPT REVIEW SERVICE
24. Examination results will generally be sent by post to candidates around 12 WEEKS AFTER the examination. Current members or graduates of the Institute can check their examination results on-line by accessing the “Members – Members Only” and “CPA QP & Students – Registered Students” sections respectively in the Institute’s homepage at: www.hkicpa.org.hk around that time.
25. Script Review Service is available to unsuccessful candidates for the PC paper(s) examined during an examination session at a charge. THIS IS NOT A RE-MARKING SERVICE but candidates requesting such service will receive a Script Review Report and a Q&A booklet for the paper reviewed.
26. NO APPEAL for the Examination results will be accepted.
 
FEES
27. Fees will be charged according to the status of the candidate as at the closing date of application:
  27.1

Member category

Initial Registration Fee: HK$1,500
Paper Entry Fee (per paper): HK$1,800
   

Access to Online Resources Centre for
past papers (per paper and per diet)
webcasted videos (per paper and per diet)
HK$100
HK$100
  27.2

Non-Member category

Initial Registration Fee HK$3,000
Paper Entry Fee (per paper) HK$3,600
   
(Access to Online Resources Centre is not available)  
28. For candidates who have previously paid the initial registration fee and are making further attempts, they are only required to pay the paper entry fee for the paper to be attempted.
29. Access right to the ORC is valid until the examination date of the subscribed examination session. Candidates are required to re-subscribe this service for each subsequent entry to the examination session.
30. Fees paid are NOT refundable and NOT transferable.
31. An administration charge in addition to the above-mentioned paper entry fee will be levied on those candidates who have submitted their examination entries after the submission deadline. Late entries will only be accepted subject to the availability of examination centres.
 
SUBMISSION OF REGISTRATION AND ENTRY FORM
32. All information provided in the Registration and Entry Form, including supporting documents, will be used for the purposes relating to the administration of the Professional Accountants Ordinance and Professional Accountants By-laws.
33. In addition to the completed Registration and Entry Form and appropriate fees, non-member candidates are required to furnish the Institute with a copy each of their Hong Kong identity card/passport and documentary evidence certifying their professional status as specified in section X – Qualifying Status of the Registration and Entry Form or an assessment letter issued by the Institute’s Student Education and Training Department as the case may be. Such documents shall be certified by a member of the Institute or a legal practitioner. As an alternative, the candidate may bring along the original and a photocopy of the document for certification at the Institute’s service counter. Failure to submit the required documents may result in delay in the enrolment process.
34. The Registration and Entry Form should be completed and returned with appropriate payment to:
Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 27th Floor, Wu Chung House, 213 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
  Acceptance of examination entry will normally be confirmed in writing and posted to candidates within three weeks after the Institute receives their applications.
 
CHANGE OF CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS
35. For candidates who are current members, graduates or registered students of the Institute and have chosen to use a correspondence address different from that kept in the Institute's membership/studentship database for receiving correspondence concerning the PC Examinations, they are required to send separate notifications for any change of their correspondence address to the Institute's Student Education & Training Department by quoting the reference as "PC Examinations".
36. For candidates who are current members of the Institute and have chosen to receive Institute’s general correspondence via email, please note that all correspondence relating to the PC Examinations will be sent to their correspondence address kept in the Institute’s membership database BY POST only. Therefore, please ensure that an updated correspondence address has been provided to the Institute for such purposes.
37. IT IS IMPORTANT for non-member candidates to notify the Student Education & Training Department of the Institute of any change of correspondence address by quoting the reference as "PC Examinations" such that examination materials and results can be delivered to them promptly.
 
ENQUIRIES
38.

For enquiries, please contact the Student Education and Training Department of the Institute on telephone: 2287 7228; fax: 2147 3293; or email: etd@hkicpa.org.hk.
 
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