ACCA Professional Training Scheme

Overview

To qualify as a Certified Accountant (ACCA) with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), one must undertake a 3-year training programme, under a 5-year training contract with PwC. One will also be offered an employment contract for as long as one decides to stay with PwC.

The college classes start in July and the training contract commences in September each year. Applications start one year before graduation and interviews are carried out throughout the year.

Benefits

As part of the training contract, the following expenses are fully covered by PwC:  

• Tuition fee, study material and examination fee for the first attempt of each examination
• Exemption fees
• Student society subscription fee
• Admission to membership fee

In addition to the above, ACCA trainees have:

• Paid study leave for the first attempt of each examination
• Salary increase with every examination success
• Unpaid leave upon approval

ACCA trainees also enjoy benefits, such as:

• Continuous Professional Development (CPD)
• Medical coverage
• Life assurance
• Provident fund
• Flexible working hours
• Friday afternoon off
• Casual Friday
• Free parking
• Subsidised lunch at our restaurants

Examinations

The ACCA examinations are divided into two levels:

1.      The Fundamentals Level

2.      The Professional Level

Fundamentals Level

The "Fundamentals Level" includes 9 examinations, which are all available for exemption. It is divided into two modules:

(a) The Knowledge module:

 It consists of three examinations, and introduces trainees to the core areas of financial and management accounting.

• F1 Accountant in Business (AB)
• F2 Management Accounting (MA)
• F3 Financial Accounting (FA)

(b) The Skills module:

 It consists of six examinations, which comprehensively cover the main technical areas that any accountant needs.

• F4 Corporate and Business Law (CL)
• F5 Performance Management (PM)
• F6 Taxation (TX)
• F7 Financial Reporting (FR)
• F8 Audit and Assurance (AA)
• F9 Financial Management (FM)

Professional Level 

The "Professional Level" includes five examinations. It assesses the more advanced and sophisticated techniques that a professional needs, in order to specialise in specific areas at work. This level is also divided into two modules:

(a) The Essentials module

• P1 Professional Accountant (PA)
• P2 Corporate Reporting (CR)
• P3 Business Analysis (BA)

(b) The Options module (two examinations must be completed out of the four options)

• P4 Advanced Financial Management (AFM)
• P5 Advanced Performance Management (APM)
• P6 Advanced Taxation (ATX)
• P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA)

For more information regarding the ACCA examinations, please refer to the relevant section on the ACCA website at www.accaglobal.com

Exemptions

Trainees are eligible to apply for a maximum of nine exemptions at the Fundamentals level from the ACCA examinations, if they provide evidence that the learning outcomes have been met as part of their academic or professional studies.

For more information regarding exemptions, please visit this ACCA page, where you can find out how many exemptions you can obtain with your university degree. 

Exam centre

Course method

ACCA membership

In order to obtain the ACCA membership, one must successfully complete the following:

A. 14 Examinations - Please refer to section “Examinations”

B. Practical Experience Requirement (PER) 

There are four components: 

• Completing 3-years of employment in an accounting or finance-related role(s)
• Achieving performance objectives to the satisfaction of your workplace mentor 
• Recording and reporting your PER progress through the trainee development matrix (TDM)

PwC is a platinum ACCA Approved Employer. Therefore, trainees are exempt from using the TDM

• Making a PER return each year

As part of the PER, every trainee is required to submit an annual return stating what practical experience they have obtained, if any, in the last 12 months.

C. Professional Ethics Module

Trainees are required to complete the Professional Ethics module, which gives them exposure to a range of ethical perspectives and includes several self-tests.  

Entry requirements

In order to apply to PwC's professional training schemes, candidates must meet the following requirements:

• Meet the following academic criteria:

• Fluency in English
• Fluency in Greek will be considered an advantage
• Computer literate (i.e. MS Office)
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Team oriented

How to apply

The application process for the ACCA profesional training scheme starts on 1 June each year and runs according to our Lines of Service needs. It is highly recommended that candidates apply the earliest time possible as this scheme is very competitive.

• Go to our application forms webpage
• Under “Section A”, please type “ACCA Trainee - Intake YYYY”, and the relevant office (e.g. Nicosia)
• Once the form is completed, you can send your application online, by email or by post, following the guidance and contact details provided on the application forms

The way forward

All applicants will receive a response within 20 working days from their application submission date.   

If an application is successful:

• The candidate will receive an electronic invitation to a panel interview
• If the interview is successful, the candidate will be informed by phone with regard to the employment and training contract offer

If an application or interview is unsuccessful:

The candidate will receive an email informing him/her of this decision.