CPA practical experience: Pre-approved program information for employers
Employers can choose to offer a pre-approved program to support training future CPAs as they earn their practical experience requirements in the CPA certification program.
To assess whether a pre-approved program is suitable for your organization, ask these two key questions:
- Does my organization hire at least one future CPA each year?
- Can my organization commit to providing senior-level ownership of the training program?
If the answer to both of these questions is yes, then your organization should consider adopting a pre-approved program.
Benefits of a pre-approved program:
- Efficiency. There are significantly fewer reporting requirements in the pre-approved program for future CPAs and their employers than in the verification route for organizations that regularly hire future CPAs.
- Certainty. Practical experience is completed within 30 months (24-months in Quebec).
- Oversight. Your organization has control over who is in the program.
- Recruitment. The program can act as a powerful recruitment tool for hiring future CPAs.
- Cost. There is no direct cost to obtain and maintain approval status.
An employer’s responsibilities within a pre-approved program
If you pursue the pre-approved program route for your CPA students and candidates, you must commit to meeting the following responsibilities:
- Maintain senior-level ownership of the program by appointing a pre-approved program leader(s).
- Provide a working environment that prepares future CPAs to become certified CPAs by providing supervision, guidance and instruction on practical ethical issues through on-the-job training and progress reviews.
- Offer structured training positions which provide a sufficient range of progressively complex assignments and increasing responsibility to allow future CPAs to achieve the required practical experience in the technical and enabling competencies within 30 months of employment.
- Ensure future CPAs are documenting their developing competencies in the profession's online reporting tool (PERT).
- Provide a supervisor and CPA mentor for all future CPAs within the program.
- Provide time away from the office for future CPAs to write any weekday examinations.
The Pre-approved Program: Does It Work for My Organization? provides more information for employers about CPA Canada’s pre-approved program.
If you think a pre-approved program is right for your organization, please contact your provincial/regional body to schedule a meeting.