How to advance to CPA status

The three steps to CPA status

1. Hold a degree recognised by CPA Australia 

To become a CPA, you must hold a degree that is assessed by CPA Australia as comparable to the Australian bachelor's degree level or at least 8 standard units (one year full-time) of the Australian postgraduate degree level. You can check your degree status by logging into My CPA Program, or check the official outcome of your membership application. If you're yet to provide evidence of your degree status or your official degree documentation, you can simply apply for an update to your membership application and submit your degree completion evidence.

2. Successfully complete your CPA Program subjects

Most members need to complete six CPA Program subjects, comprising four core subjects and two electives. Your membership assessment result outlines the subjects you need to complete. If you joined via a Mutual Recognition Agreement or Membership Pathway Agreement, your membership assessment result will also identify any additional CPD requirements you need to complete. You can check your progress against your subject requirements at any time by logging into My CPA Program.

3. Satisfy the Your Experience requirement

To satisfy Your Experience you must submit a claims application that provides details of 36 months of experience and 10 skills. Your application must be signed-off by a CPA, FCPA or equivalent member of an International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) member body.

Notification of your advancement

Once you’ve passed your final exam or met your last requirement, our team will review your profile for quality assurance and  you'll be notified of your CPA status via email. This can take a couple of weeks, so please be patient. We’ll let you know as soon as possible.

If you believe you're eligible to advance to CPA status but have not received notification from CPA Australia within a month of finishing your requirements, please contact us.

Your Associate member timeframe

You have six years to complete your CPA Program requirements, starting from the day you join us as an Associate member. This is designed to give you enough time to complete 36 months of work experience alongside six CPA Program subjects.

When can you use the CPA designation?

As soon as you have received email confirmation from us about your new CPA status, you can start to use your CPA designation.

Remember to update your online profiles, business cards and resume.

There's more information on our page about what's next about professional development, membership obligations and member services.

Celebrating your achievement

Members advancing to CPA or FCPA status, receiving a Certificate of Achievement or Certificate of Excellence, or celebrating a significant membership milestone will be invited to attend Member Recognition ceremonies where we publicly acknowledge your achievements in front of your family, friends and peers. 

Find out more about Member Recognition ceremonies

Your membership fee

As an Associate member, you've paid a discounted annual membership fee each year. As a CPA, your next annual membership renewal notice (sent in November) will automatically update to reflect the CPA status fee for the following year.