Frequently asked questions about the Diploma in Charity Accounting (DChA)

There is no requirement for you to hold a professional accounting qualification. To be eligible to apply you must have specialised in the field of charity finance over a number of years with experience of voluntary sector policy, resource management, marketing and fundraising, strategy, diversity and governance, charity accounting audit and taxation, and voluntary sector financial management.

All senior professionals who have at least three years of experience in charity accounting and financial management are eligible to apply. You will need sufficient work experience to meet each of the requirements in the Examination of Experience, as set out in Section 3 of the application form.

If you are highly knowledgeable in most of the six areas but lack expertise in one of them, there is the opportunity for you to take the relevant DChA study route module at Bayes Business School to broaden your knowledge, and thus meet the standards required to obtain the DChA. Alternatively, you may choose to obtain additional experience in your role before submitting your application.

As long as you are working in or advising the charity and voluntary sector, and feel that you are equipped to answer all the requirements, you are eligible to apply.

Marking of the Examination of Experience is based on current UK legislation. Living overseas does not disqualify you from applying, as long as your experience is current, covers each of the six main areas and is consistent with UK legislation.

You can provide a maximum of two references to cover the three-year period.

A good first step is to update your CV and reflect on the experiences that you have gained; this will help you identify the best examples to use. You may find it beneficial to discuss your application with a colleague or associate who may often be able to identify other examples.

You may apply up to a maximum of four times; this includes applications made under both the original experience route (2007-2008) and the re-launched experience route (2010 onwards).

The cost of the Examination of Experience is £675 + VAT.

• 7 May 2024
• 28 November 2024

For each question contained within the Examination of Experience there is an 'a' and 'b' option relevant to whether you work for charity or in practice supporting charity clients. If you have moved from practice to a charity or vice-versa (or indeed act in both capacities) during the period covered by the application you may provide a mixture of 'a' and 'b' answers, weighted (as closely as possible) according to the period spent in each environment.

You may use more than one example from the same client, but you should choose carefully the examples you use to illustrate each answer and ensure that your answer and examples are relevant to the context of the requirement. If you want to use the same charity client, please ensure that your examples are from different situations, as this will best reflect the breadth/range of your experience.

This means examples of experience from within the last five years; examples taken from more than five years ago may indicate that technical knowledge is not up to date.

You may choose, in the interests of client confidentiality or commercial sensitivity, not to give the names of charities being used as examples. You should, however, give an indication of the financial size (level of income and assets) and the nature of the work of the charities referred to, so as to place your responses in context.

Ethical issues could constitute the following:

• seeking advice and consulting on difficult matters
• dealing with fraud and whistle-blowing
• confidentiality (including Chinese Walls aspects)
• conflicts of interest
• matters relating to the payment of fees and expenses (whether in relation to professional services or trustee work)

The assessors stress the importance of including experience of ethical issues as this can affect the outcome of your application.

Requirement 3 asks you to describe one marketing, fundraising, income generation or income distribution campaign, and explain the advice you gave in connection with the campaign and how this benefited the organisation.

The nature of the advice that you have given in this area can be technical as well as commercial. For example, you may have advised on tax efficiencies or operation of gift aid forms, or on how to set up a website to collect donations and market the charity. A broad list of possible situations is included in the application form; these examples are for guidance (as is also the case for the other requirements) and are not intended to be exhaustive.

The application form (PDF 301KB/13 pages) contains detailed guidance as to the form and content of your submission. Guidance from the assessors (PDF 50KB/4 pages) and sample scripts are also available.

If you require further information or advice please contact us on +44 (0)1908 248 250 or email dcha@icaew.com

You are eligible to attempt the examination up to four times. If you fail, you should review the marks and comments made by the assessors in your results and feedback letter; read the requirements together with illustrative examples and guidance available in the resubmission application form; and review the guidance from the assessors (PDF 50KB/4 pages) and specimen scripts available on our website.

When you resubmit your Examination of Experience, you must re-attempt any of the requirements that you failed (ie, received 0 to 5 marks for requirements 1-6 and 0 to 1 mark for requirement 7).

You are strongly advised to re-attempt any requirements 1-6 that were marked between 6 and 10 or marked 2 to 3 for requirement 7. Re-attempting these requirements may help lift your total mark above the overall pass mark of 55.

Further guidance and advice is available within the DChA Examination of Experience resubmission application form and guidance notes (PDF 78KB/13 pages

The examination of experience refers to the use of examples of experience that are recent. This means examples of experience from within the last five years. As it may have been some time since you last applied for the DChA experience route, you will need to make sure that when resubmitting the answers previously failed, you include examples from within the last five years. This enables you to include and reflect upon the most up-to-date and relevant examples in your answers.

Yes, it may have been some time since you applied for the DChA experience route, so an-up-date copy of your reflective CV is requested. This enables you to include any new positions you have held or currently hold since your last application. Details of what to include in your reflective CV are included in the resubmission application form (PDF 78KB/13 pages).

• Download reflective CV example (PDF 22KB/1 page)

Yes, the assessors will expect your referee to have read your resubmission and be satisfied that it is correct.

You may use the referee that you have supplied in your previous application(s).

The cost of each resubmission is £500 + VAT.

Suitable people have been invited by ICAEW from the charity finance community who possess the practical skills and experience and who are respected professionals. ICAEW's experience as a qualification awarding body means that cross marking is undertaken. This ensures that the experts in assessing the technical material are blended with the experts in examination techniques and standards to ensure a robust, fair and thorough process.

The study route delivered by Bayes Business School is assessed by a mixture of exams and course work assignments.

The 2024 course starts on Thursday 3 October and runs on a Friday from 13:00 and all-day Saturday for one weekend per month. ICAEW Members may be eligible to start the nine-month programme which begins 11th April 2024.

Bayes Business School £6,900 (VAT exempt)

At Bayes Business School in London.

At Bayes Business School a shadowing / fieldwork exercise will be included in the course, if you begin the course in October. Applicants are generally expected to work in a charity or in a finance role linked to charitable organisations, for example, in auditing or as a trustee.