Authorized Supervisor Scheme

For prospective members who are not working for an Authorized Employer, they may alternatively be trained under an Authorized Supervisor who should either be a member of the Institute or an accountancy institute recognized by us. The Authorized Supervisor training should cater to the needs of those prospective members working for sole practitioners and those working in commerce and industry where employer authorization may not be appropriate.

Please click to view the list of Authorized Supervisors currently registered with the Institute.

Application

Members of the Institute or one of the following recognized professional accountancy institutes, with at least three years of membership, may be eligible to register as an Authorized Supervisor:

^# Eligible up till 31 December 2022.

For all other application requirements, please refer to Form ASUP and self-assessment form ^Note.

An Authorized Supervisor may apply for group registration under the Authorized Supervisor Scheme. For more details, you may refer to note 1.7 of the Form ASUP - Application for registration as an Authorized Supervisor and the sample of application letter for group registration under the Authorized Supervisor Scheme.

Note:

Transitional arrangement of the revised Practical Experience Framework

The Practical Experience Framework has been revised and will be launched in December 2022.  The revision enhances the quality assurance of the Authorized Supervisor system by introducing a strengthened and elaborated set of Practical Experience Codes and Guidelines and a better-defined process of authorization.

(Please refer to the Position Paper on changes to the Practical Experience Framework for more details.)

To facilitate the transition, the following arrangements have been adopted:

1. The Institute will endeavor to process all applications received on or before 30 September 2022 which form the last batch of applications to be processed under the current framework. Please be reminded that the application must be submitted together with a self-assessment on compliance with the Codes and Guidelines.
   
   
2. Please contact the Practical Experience Team for details on the application process under the revised framework if an organization or individual would like to apply after 30 September.

Recognition

An Authorized Supervisor is welcome to mention his or her status as "an Authorized Supervisor of the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs" for the purpose of recruiting budding accountants to join his or her organization. There are restrictions on publicity for any other purposes. You may refer to note 5 of the Form ASUP - Application for registration as an Authorized Supervisor for more details on the recognition and benefit.

Term of registration

The term of registration as an Authorized Supervisor is three years. The registration of an Authorized Supervisor will be subject to review on a case-by-case basis, which may result in termination by the Institute in certain circumstances as prescribed in note 6 of the Form ASUP - Application for registration as an Authorized Supervisor.

Authorized Supervisor enhancement programme

The Institute has launched the Authorized Supervisor enhancement programme since 2010. The objectives of the programme are to improve the Institute's communication with the Authorized Supervisors, understand their difficulties in the implementation of the Authorized Supervisor Scheme, and provide guidance to them.

• Reference materials
  • Proforma for training plan
  • Proforma for communication log
  • Checklist

Update on Authorized Supervisor Scheme

The Institute has updated the approach in reviewing the Authorized Supervisor registration and renewal. The purpose of the update is to maintain the quality of the Authorized Supervisor Scheme.

• Notes of the information sessions