ICAEW General News

ICAEW and CICPA to give mutual credits for prior learning

The ICAEW and the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA) are to award credits to each other’s examinations for those who have passed the appropriate subjects for their own qualifications. This is the first such agreement reached by the CICPA with a professional accountancy body outside of the People’s Republic of China

Under the agreement signed in Beijing by ICAEW President Richard Dyson and CICPA President Liu Zhongli, members of the CICPA who have passed all five subjects of the CPA Uniform Exams will be awarded credits in the professional stage of the ICAEW’s ACA qualification in respect of Accounting, Assurance, Business and Finance, Law, Management Information and Principles of Taxation at the knowledge level.

They will also be awarded credits at the application level for Audit and Assurance, Financial Accounting and Taxation. Members of the ICAEW who have passed the ACA examinations will be awarded credit in the CICPA’s examinations in Auditing, Financial Management and Cost Management.

Speaking at the signing ceremony in Beijing, Richard Dyson, ICAEW President said:

“It is a great honour for the ICAEW to be the first body outside of the People’s Republic of China to reach such an agreement with the CICPA. It is one more step forward in helping to create a global accountancy profession. By providing mutual credits for prior learning, we are making it simpler for members of both the ICAEW and CICPA to achieve qualifications which will enable them to work in each other’s territories.”

Liu Zhongli, President of the CICPA, said:

“China’s economic growth requires a skilled accountancy profession to support it. The increasing global role played by Chinese businesses means that Chinese accountants will need to be able to operate in international markets. We are delighted to be working closely with the ICAEW whose ACA qualification is respected as one of the world’s premier accountancy qualification. We look forward to continuing our discussions with the ICAEW to extending this important agreement to other areas of our respective examination systems.”

The agreement on mutual recognition follows the creation in 2007 of an initiative between the two bodies to facilitate and promote co-operation between the accounting professions in both countries. In 2006, the ICAEW started training the CICPA’s elite members through a 24 month ACA top-up programme to the CICPA’s own qualification.