You will need to hold the Audit Qualification (AQ), if you wish to gain audit rights in the UK.
Once you hold the AQ, you can be nominated for responsible individual (RI) status by a firm of registered auditors to gain audit signing rights.
You do not need to hold ICAEW membership or an ICAEW practising certificate to obtain the AQ and RI status under this route.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has signed a memorandum of understanding on reciprocal arrangements (MOURA) with the New Zealand Financial Markets Authority (FMA) which provides two routes to the AQ for CPA Australia members in New Zealand:
- The aptitude test route for CPA Australia members who currently hold Licensed Auditor status in New Zealand.
- The experience route for CPA Australia members who do not hold Licensed Auditor status in New Zealand but have passed the appropriate New Zealand variant exams.
Experience route
Applicants are required to complete 24 months of supervised audit experience at an ICAEW Authorised Training Employer (ATE) in the UK.
You can only cite experience gained after 26 September 2023 as this is the date the FRC signed the agreement with the FMA.
During the 24 months of supervised experience, 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, 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
Please note that, unlike the standard definition of statutory audit work, experience obtained in the Republic of Ireland, Germany, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Netherlands, USA, Jersey, and Guernsey cannot count towards the 120 statutory audit days requirement. However, this experience can be cited as other audit work similar to statutory audit work.
You must evidence you have met the full experience requirements by completing the Evidence of Supervised Audit Experience Form and include sign offs from the appropriate individual at your ATE – the Qualified Person Responsible for Training (QPRT), Deputy QPRT, or the Person Responsible for Training (PRT).
Eligibility requirements
To be eligible to apply under the experience route, you must provide a letter from CPA Australia confirming that you:
- hold current membership of CPA Australia and the dates you have held membership (you must retain your CPA Australia membership throughout your whole registration as an RI with ICAEW);
- have gained membership of CPA Australia via the normal education and training route and not via any reciprocal membership pathway;
- have passed the New Zealand Taxation examination elective or the Advanced Taxation elective or the equivalent exams under a previous syllabus;
- have passed the Advanced Auditing and Assurance elective or the equivalent exam under a previous syllabus;
- have entered the CPA programme with an accredited degree (under the joint CPA Australia and CA ANZ scheme) or completed the CPA Australia Foundation papers; and
- are in good standing with CPA Australia.
Application
Please submit a letter from CPA Australia confirming you have met the above eligibility criteria along with the completed Evidence of Supervised Audit Experience Form to aq@icaew.com.
Once your audit experience has been verified by ICAEW, you will be awarded the Audit Qualification (AQ).
Responsible Individual status
Once you hold the AQ, you will need to apply for responsible individual (RI) status. This will involve evidencing your audit experience and CPD over the past 24 months.
You do not need to hold ICAEW membership or an ICAEW practising certificate to obtain the AQ and RI status under this route.
Please note that you will also need to maintain your CPA Australia membership throughout the whole period you are registered as an RI and you will need to declare this during the RI application process.