Once you have become an ICAEW member and hold the AQ and a practising certificate, you can be nominated for responsible individual (RI) status by a firm of registered auditors to gain audit signing rights.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) still provides a route to the Audit Qualification for CA ANZ members who gained membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia (ICAA) prior to the CA ANZ merger on 31 December 2014. This route requires applicants to pass an aptitude test and evidence appropriate audit experience from Australia or the UK.
Aptitude test
Applicants are required to pass the aptitude test in UK tax and law which comprises the two ACA Certificate Level exams: Principles of Taxation, and Law.
Experience
Applicants are required to evidence completion of 24 months of supervised audit experience at an ICAEW Authorised Training Employer (ATE) in the UK or the equivalent experience gained in Australia.
During this time, applicants must complete a minimum of 240 days of appropriate audit experience. Of the 240 days' audit work experience:
- at least 120 days must be in statutory audit work as defined in the Companies Act 2006 or the equivalent in Australian audit experience, and;
- the rest must be in either statutory audit work or other audit work similar to statutory audit work, where the nature of such work conforms to the definitions agreed by ICAEW and the FRC or the equivalent in Australian audit experience.
This experience must be evidenced on the Audit Qualification Application Form and include sign off from the appropriate individual at your ATE – the Qualified Person Responsible for Training (QPRT), Deputy QPRT, or the Person Responsible for Training (PRT) or the equivalent individual if you are citing your Australian audit experience.
Eligibility requirements
To be eligible to apply under this route, you must provide a letter from CA ANZ confirming that you:
- hold current membership of CA ANZ and the dates you have held membership (you must have become an ICAA member prior to 31 December 2014)
- gained membership of ICAA via the normal education and training route
- are in good standing with CA ANZ.
Application
Please apply for reciprocal membership first and ensure you have received confirmation of your ICAEW membership.
Please then submit a letter from CA ANZ confirming you have met the above eligibility criteria along with the Aptitude Test Application Form and the completed Audit Qualification Application Form to aq@icew.com.
Once you have been awarded ICAEW membership, had your audit experience verified by ICAEW, and passed the aptitude test, you will be awarded the Audit Qualification (AQ).
Responsible individual status
In addition to holding ICAEW membership and the AQ, you will also need to hold an ICAEW practising certificate before applying for responsible individual status (RI). You can do this when completing your reciprocal membership application and you can also cite your membership time with CA ANZ towards the 2-year membership requirement for a practising certificate.
Once you hold ICAEW membership, the AQ, and an ICAEW practising certificate, you can apply for audit signing rights as an RI. This will involve evidencing your audit experience and CPD over the past 24 months.