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How to advance to CPA status

If you believe you’re eligible to advance to CPA status but have not received notification from CPA Australia, be mindful that you should allow six weeks from the time you satisfied the final requirement before you will be notified. If after six weeks you’ve yet to receive your notification, contact us. 

There are three requirements you need to satisfy in order to advance to CPA status: 

  1. You need to hold a degree-level qualification
    To become a CPA you must hold a degree-level qualification recognised by CPA Australia.  If you were still studying your degree when you applied for Associate membership, update your application with your evidence of completion.

  2. You need to successfully complete the CPA Program education component
    Check to see if you have successfully completed all your required CPA Program subjects by logging into My CPA Program. 

  3. You need to satisfy Your Experience requirement
    To satisfy Your Experience you must submit claims for 36 months of experience and have those claims verified by CPA Australia. 

When you’re eligible to advance to CPA status

Within eight (8) weeks of becoming eligible to advance to CPA status, you will receive a confirmation email from us.  

In this email, you will:

  • be advised how and when you may start using the CPA designation
  • receive information about attending the certificate presentation ceremony closest to you. 

Your membership fee

Membership fee renewal notices are sent out in early November each year. These show the fee relevant for your designation at the time your notice was generated. 

When you are advanced, our system is updated with your new designation details. Our online payment system will reflect the new fee amount, if you choose to make an online payment after you have been advanced.

Need help?

At exam results time, we receive many enquiries from members eager to advance to CPA status. Here are some common circumstances you may relate to that can assist in answering some of our most common enquiries:

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Billy isn’t sure he's satisfied the Experience requirement

Billy has passed his final exam and he knows he provided evidence of his degree when he first applied to become an Associate member. The only thing he’s uncertain of is whether he has met the Experience requirement. 

Steps for Billy:

  1. Check whether he’s received an email from CPA Australia confirming he has satisfied the Experience requirement. If not, then either he hasn’t submitted all of the required 36 months of claims, or the claims weren’t verified by CPA Australia. 
  2. Check his own records to confirm how many hours he has claimed and also check his confirmation emails from CPA Australia to ensure the claims were received and verified. 
  3. Submit a claim for any outstanding hours and await verification from CPA Australia.

Alice hadn’t completed her degree when she became an Associate member

Alice has passed her final exam, and she has received an email from CPA Australia confirming she’s satisfied all 36 months of the Experience requirement - great! And although Alice now holds a degree-level qualification, when she first became an Associate member she hadn’t actually finished her degree.

Steps for Alice:

  1. Provide CPA Australia with supporting documents to show that she’s now finished her degree. She can do that by:
    • logging into our website and selecting ‘access/update your application’
    • selecting ‘update your membership’
    • then uploading colour scans of her transcripts evidencing the completion of her degree.
  2. Look for the acknowledgement email that will be sent when the supporting documents are received, and the confirmation email when they have been approved.
  3. Wait six weeks while all the necessary checks are taken to verify that she is now ready to advance to CPA status. Alice will get an email within six weeks to confirm when she is a CPA.

Joshua has passed his final exams, but has lost track of his Experience claims and isn’t sure whether he told us about his degree

Joshua has been so focussed on his study that he’s lost track of all other progress.

Here’s what he should do:

  1. Check his email account for messages from CPA Australia confirming receipt of Your Experience claims.
  2. Submit further claims if necessary
  3. Submit the supporting documents to provide evidence of his degree. He can do that online or via email to upload@cpaustralia.com.au, making sure to include his member number.
  4. Check whether he has completed his final exam by logging in to My CPA Program.