ACCA — Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
The most popular global accountancy qualification — flexible and recognised worldwide.
Comparing options? Read ACCA vs CPA vs CMA vs CFA →Quick answer
- Best for
- The most popular global accountancy qualification — flexible and recognised worldwide.
- Not ideal for
- If you want US-specific licensing or pure investment analysis.
- Main roles
- Audit, financial reporting, tax and financial management — in practice firms or industry.
- CPD
- Members complete 40 units of CPD a year (21 verifiable + 19 non-verifiable).
Last reviewed: June 2026
Who it's for
School leavers, graduates and career-changers who want a globally portable accountancy career, in practice or industry.
Structure
13 exams across Applied Knowledge, Applied Skills and Strategic Professional, plus an Ethics module and 36 months of practical experience (PER).
Time & cost
Typically 3–4 years; pay-as-you-go exam fees, and free study materials cover most of the learning cost.
Careers
Audit, financial reporting, tax and financial management — in practice firms or industry.
Current route and the 2027 transition
ACCA is redesigning the qualification, effective September 2027 (source: accaglobal.com's official transition pages). The three levels above are being renamed and restructured into four — Foundations, Knowledge, Expertise and Strategic Professional — each adding a mandatory Essential Employability Module, with more emphasis on AI, technology and sustainability throughout, and one Options exam (alongside two mandatory exams) at Strategic Professional level. If you're partway through the current qualification: your passed exams carry over — ACCA's own transition tool maps them onto the new structure, and you don't retake anything you've already passed. The final sitting of the current Applied Skills/Strategic Professional exams is June 2027; the first sitting of the redesigned Expertise/Strategic Professional exams is September 2027. Ethics and overall rigour are staying the same — ACCA has said explicitly they're not diluting the qualification, just restructuring it. Check ACCA's own transition tool for how your specific progress maps across.
ACCA's official transition tool & timeline →The skills you'll build
Many of these serve more than one path.
Best free resources for this path
Curated and vetted, with how to start.
Free video lectures, notes and mock exams for every ACCA and CIMA paper.
How to start: Free to use; create a free account for the forums. No paid content.
ACCA's own free study texts, quizzes, past papers and practice exams.
How to start: Create a free myACCA account at accaglobal.com, then open the Study Hub.
ACCA's own free online introductory courses in bookkeeping and financial accounting.
How to start: Audit the courses free; a certificate is an optional paid extra.
ACCA's learning platform with free webinars, articles and on-demand CPD content for members.
How to start: Sign in with myACCA to access the learning and CPD content.
45+ free modules covering the IFRS standards, with a certificate.
How to start: No registration to study; add your name before the assessment for the certificate.
Free, self-paced Excel and Power BI training — essential analyst skills for any finance path.
How to start: Free with a Microsoft account; the optional PL-300 exam is paid.
Continuing professional development (CPD)
Members complete 40 units of CPD a year (21 verifiable + 19 non-verifiable).
Get these hours for free →Disclaimer
Links to third-party resources are provided for convenience and learning only. Fileminder does not control third-party content, prices, certificates, CPD/CPE eligibility, availability or accuracy. Always check the provider's own page before relying on a course, certificate, CPD unit or learning outcome. Last reviewed: June 2026.