You have passed your ACCA exams. Or you are working through them. Either way, at some point someone mentions the PER in ACCA and you realise there is a whole other thing you need to sort out before you can call yourself an ACCA member.
This guide walks you through the ACCA global PER from start to finish. What it means, what counts, how long it takes, and how to actually get it done.
First things first, the PER full form in ACCA is Practical Experience Requirement. It’s the part of your journey where you prove, in a real workplace, that you can apply what you have learned rather than just recite it in an exam hall.
It sits alongside your exams and the Ethics module as the third pillar of ACCA membership. All three have to be completed. None of them replaces the others.
The following are its main components:
- Relevant experience – 36 months in an accounting or finance role
- Performance objectives – 9 objectives (5 Essentials + 4 Technical) with supervisor sign-off
- Supervision – a qualified Practical Experience Supervisor who reviews and approves your work
- Experience recording – log everything about your work ex through ACCA’s MyExperience system
What Are The Practical Experience Requirements?
At its core, the ACCA practical experience requirement comes down to four moving pieces:
- 36 months of relevant, supervised experience in accounting or finance
- Achieving the required performance objectives — 5 Essentials and at least 4 Technical
- Getting your experience and objectives signed off by someone eligible to verify them
- Recording everything through MyExperience consistently, not just at the end
Is PER Compulsory In ACCA?
Yes, PER in ACCA is 100% mandatory.
You can pass every ACCA exam with flying colours. You can ace the Ethics module. Without the practical experience, you remain an affiliate, not a member. The difference matters. Membership gives you voting rights, the ability to use the ACCA designation after your name, and access to certain roles that affiliates cannot take on.
Can You Get An Exemption From The Practical Experience Requirement?
No. ACCA does not give a full ACCA PER exemption from the practical experience requirement. Let’s be clear on that upfront. What can count in your favour:
- Previous relevant employment can potentially count towards the 36 months, if it meets ACCA’s conditions and can be verified by your former supervisor
- Relevant internship experience from other professional bodies may be recognised in some cases, but only partially and only if ACCA’s current rules allow it.
NOTE: Check ACCA’s current rules on their official site before banking on any previous experience. The rules get updated and what applied three years ago may not apply now.
How Do You Complete The Practical Experience Requirement?
Here’s a quick ACCA Global PER roadmap:
- Get a relevant role – You need a job in accounting or finance. No way around it.
- Find a supervisor – Someone qualified who knows your work and can sign off your objectives.
- Log your employment – Enter your employer details, role, and supervisor info into MyExperience.
- Work through your objectives – 5 Essentials + 4 Technicals. Write a 200 to 500 word statement for each.
- Get supervisor approval – Submit each completed objective. Your PES reviews and signs off.
- Repeat until 36 months and 9 objectives are done – Keep records updated as you go, not at the end.
How Long Does PER Take?
The answer is three years, or 36 months of relevant experience. That is the minimum. During the PER, you get these liberties:
- You can switch from one employer to another. It doesn’t have to be one continuous role.
- Experience gained before, during or after your ACCA exams can count, if it meets the relevance and supervision rules.
- Part-time work counts, but proportionally. If you work 20 hours a week in a relevant role, only half of that time counts towards the 36-month requirement.
So if you are part-time, plan for longer. If you are full-time in a relevant role from day one, three years is realistic.
What Counts As Relevant Work Experience?
As per ACCA, relevant work is the one that involves accounting, finance, or related professional responsibilities. Also, the relevance comes down to your actual duties, not your job title.
Some examples of duties that count:
- Preparing financial statements or management accounts
- Conducting audit fieldwork
- Preparing tax computations and returns
- Budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis
- Internal controls review and testing
Your role does not have to be 100% relevant either. If 60% of your time is spent on qualifying duties, then 60% of your employment period counts. ACCA calls this a partially relevant role. You just need to be honest about the split when you record it.
Can You Complete The Requirement Without A Relevant Job?
No, ACCA PER without job is not possible. You need a relevant job.
The word relevant is stressed here a lot, which means a place where you can develop and demonstrate your skills and knowledge in relevant areas of finance, audit, taxation or accounting.
If your current job is not in accounting or finance, then ACCA will not give you the qualifying experience you need. So what are your options?
- Negotiate within your current role – Ask if you can take on finance or accounting duties. Even partial exposure counts.
- Move into a relevant role – This is the most reliable path. Even an entry-level accounts role gets the clock ticking.
- Keep studying while you plan – You can continue your ACCA exams without having started the PER. Just know that exams alone will not get you to membership.
What Are The Performance Objectives?
ACCA performance objectives are the workplace competencies ACCA expects you to fulfil.
ACCA keeps this requirement for a reason – to check that its members are not just exam-smart. With performance objectives, they check if you can function in a real workplace, with real clients, real deadlines, and real ethical decisions.
As per the ACCA PER rules, you need to complete nine performance objectives. They are:
Category | Performance Objective | Requirement |
Essentials | Ethics and Professionalism | Mandatory |
Essentials | Stakeholder Relationship Management | Mandatory |
Essentials | Strategy, Innovation and Change | Mandatory |
Essentials | Governance, Risk and Control | Mandatory |
Essentials | Leadership and Management | Mandatory |
Technical | Technical Performance Objectives | Choose any 4 from the available options, such as Financial Reporting, Taxation, Audit and Assurance, Financial Management, and others |
Total | 9 Performance Objectives | 5 Essentials + 4 Technical |
How Are Performance Objectives Structured?
As per the list, there are some mandatory & some optional objectives. But don’t misunderstand these objectives as a mere checklist of tasks.
Each objective is designed to show that you have developed a specific professional competency through your actual work experience.
The structure works in three linked steps:
- Workplace activities – You do actual work in your job that relates to the objective
- Competencies – That work demonstrates specific skills the objective is testing for
- Evidence or statement – You write a 200 to 500 word statement explaining what you did, what skills you used, and what you learned
We would recommend every candidate to document their work in detail.
For example:
“Our audit team conducted a statutory audit of XYZ Ltd and completed the audit report within the deadline.”
That tells ACCA what the firm did. It says nothing about you. Now here is a better version of the PER statement excerpt:
“I prepared the working papers for the cash and bank section of the XYZ Ltd statutory audit. I identified a discrepancy in the bank reconciliation that had been carried forward from the prior year. I discussed the finding with the audit senior, documented the resolution, and updated the lead schedule before the manager review.”
See the difference?
The first one is generic. The second one is specific, personal, names actual tasks, shows problem-solving, and demonstrates competence. That is the kind of statement that gets supervisor approval
Who Can Be Your Practical Experience Supervisor?
First off, a Practical Experience Supervisor (PES) is the person who helps verify that the experience you are recording towards your ACCA PER requirements is genuine and relevant.
Now, who can be a PES?
It should be someone who has enough knowledge of your work to confirm that the experience you are claiming is genuine and that you have achieved the relevant PER objectives.
In practice, this will usually be someone who supervises or manages your work, such as a line manager, senior accountant or another suitably qualified professional.
By the way, fun fact: Your day-to-day manager and your PER supervisor do not always have to be the same person. What matters is that your chosen supervisor meets ACCA’s current eligibility requirements.
How Do You Record Your Experience In MyExperience?
Want to know how to record your PER? You can do it with the MyExperience, available through the ACCA official portal. Here are its simple steps:
1. Log in to MyACCA
Head to the homepage and sign in to your myACCA account. After you enter the credentials, a dashboard will appear. On the sidebar is a menu. Select the “My qualification” option there.
2. Add your employment details
This is where you tell ACCA where you work and what your role involves. So, scroll down and see “My PER Progress”. There, click on Launch MyExperience – the system candidates use to maintain their practical experience record.
When you add a role, MyExperience asks for the following details:
- Employer details – company name, address, contact details, etc.
- Employment details – company, role, date of working, average hours worked, role type (audit, lecturing, internship)
- Supervisor’s details so they can review and sign off your work – add their name, address, phone number, and their relationship (IFAC, non-IFAC qualified manager, internal supervisor or external supervisor)
You can also add previous relevant employment, including experience you gained before becoming an ACCA student.
3.Work towards your ACCA PER objectives
Once your employment is logged, you move on to planning and working through your performance objectives. There are 5 Essentials plus at least 4 Technical objectives — and you need to submit each completed objective for supervisor approval.
4. Write your experience statement
When you’re ready to complete an objective, you will need to write a performance objective statement. In that, you have to explain how your work helped you develop the relevant skills. The word count is between 200 and 500 words.
For example, if your day-to-day role gives you experience that relates to one of your objectives, make a note of what you actually did, the skills you used, and what you learned.
5. Get your supervisor to approve it
Once you’ve completed an objective, you have to submit it. The Practical Experience Supervisor will review the experience and confirm whether you’ve achieved the objective or not.
Remember: Always keep your records accurate and up to date throughout your journey. This way you don’t have to recall your experience after six months. Also, it makes the supervisor verification process easy.
Frequently Asked Questions About ACCA PER
Is PER Compulsory In ACCA Or Not?
Yes, you need a PER of 36 months in an accounting, audit or finance role.
How Long Does PER Take In ACCA?
It typically takes around 3 years (36 months), though it can run alongside your exams and finish sooner or later depending on your role and hours.