Lessons · Accounting · sitting for the examination before you are licensed
Sitting the examination is not the same as being licensed
The requirements to sit the examination and the requirements to be licensed are separate, and the first is usually reachable earlier. A candidate can often be examined well before they have everything the licence needs.
Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.
In beta. This lesson was written for Hone and has not yet been checked by a qualified accountant. Practice material, not professional advice. What that means.
What it is for
It changes the order of the road, and usually for the better. Waiting until every requirement is complete before beginning the examination adds years for no reason, and the examination material is freshest immediately after studying it. It also means somebody can begin the examination while still gathering the experience.
How to think about it
Establish two lists, not one: what is needed to SIT, and what is needed to be LICENSED. Work the first list first. Keep the second going alongside.
Worked example
The requirements to sitThe earlier, smaller list.
The requirements to be licensedThe larger list, which includes the examination as one item.
The two are gathered in parallel, not in seriesThis is where the time is saved.
Passing everything does not make you licensedThe licence is applied for and issued; the examination is one requirement of it.
Your turn
Name what passing every section does NOT by itself make you.
Passing every section does not make you
Solve one, graded on the server
The trap
Treating the examination as the finish line. It is the most visible requirement and usually the hardest, which is exactly why people forget it is one item on a list that also includes experience, ethics and an application somebody has to process.