ACCA Reviews 67

I registered with ACCA because I immigrated and this was the only option I had to complete my professional qualification and they were accommodating. I had to pay significant exemption fees that was not for the faint hearted! They also offered easy accessible exams, like writing from home. Now from March 2026 they took that away. I was shocked and left with no other option, because they did that it is costing me an additional $800 to get to the exam location that is 6 hours away and I have to write it in the evening till night time. This is very unfair. I wrote to them asking for another solution because we have exam centres here like EIT, I got a text book reply and "sorry it is what it is" attitude, like they don't care. They're blaming it all on AI and students cheating from home. But you get technology to avoid that, so many other institutions use this software, why can't ACCA? Anyway they've left me in a very bad situation having to take out loans to complete my strategic level, not a very happy student at all but I am only 1 voice so why would they care.

I registered with ACCA in 2024 and paid a significant amount for exam exemptions. I later discovered that annual subscription fees continue to accrue unless you formally resign your account.

Because I did not realise deregistration was required, a second year’s subscription was applied while the first remained unpaid. After escalating the issue through ACCA’s complaints process, they were persistent on not waiving the extra one year fee. Even though their internal procedure is at fault.

ACCA lacks communication and for the amount of money they take from students you’d think they’d invest that in their system.

I would never ever use a chartered accountant ever again...not only are they ridiculous expensive, the majority have no idea what they are doing,abd they are backed up with this absolutely degenerate organisation that are even worse....im self employed and now using freeagent plus AI to do my book keeping ,100% better and 80% cheaper

It is surprising to find a professional body with such terrible reviews. Even more so that they do not respond to any of them. Yet more that they relentlessly do nothing about their abject failure.

I am retiring and tried to submit a resignation through the website. All they do there however is offer you a special “retired membership “ in exchange for £326…really? The ICA offers its retired members free membership. But what does the ACCA offer in return for £326? As far as I can tell, nothing of any value. They make it so difficult to resign that I just cancelled my direct debit and will let matters take their course.

Everyday and more I am disgusted by the type of society human kind have built. Employers demanding ACCA qualifications when these garbage cant even eliver adequate service. How is something so bad even allowed to be in the certifying field. Who did even gave these people the right to certify others while being so horrible at what they do? What is this qualification mean to prove that we were so desperate for a job that we submitted into getting another worthless piece of paper from a body that is clearly failing to give an example. I truly think nowadays governments need to step up and revoke all licences to entities that clearly shouldn't have any. The most dishonest bunch of thieves you can come accross.

I am writing to raise a formal complaint regarding my inability to obtain appropriate support from ACCA in relation to a critical professional query: whether I am required to continue holding a practising certificate.

Over an extended period, I have made numerous attempts to engage with the relevant teams through the published channels, without success. My experience to date is summarised below.

I have made multiple calls to the main ACCA contact number (0141 582 2000). Calls are frequently disconnected.

When calls do connect, they are routed to an outsourced call centre that is unable to provide technical advice or facilitate access to decision-makers.

I submitted a query via the ACCA portal on 11 December addressed to the Authorisation team.

On 22 December, I received a response directing me to contact the Technical Advisory team by email, rather than providing a resolution.

There is no direct telephone number available for the Technical Advisory team.

I have since spent considerable time attempting to explain my situation via the call centre, without progress.

The Authorisation team contact number (+44 0141 534 4175) has also not resulted in a resolution.

The ACCA portal has not functioned as an effective or professional support mechanism. Responsibility is repeatedly redirected, and there is no clear ownership of the issue. This has resulted in unnecessary delay and frustration in resolving a straightforward regulatory question.

I am therefore requesting the following:

Direct contact from a named individual within the Technical Advisory team who is authorised to provide a definitive response.

A clear, written determination on whether I am required to continue holding a practising certificate, based on my circumstances.

Clarification as to why members are unable to access timely and competent technical support through ACCA’s published channels.

I would appreciate a substantive response at the earliest opportunity. If this matter cannot be resolved promptly, I will consider escalating it further as a formal service failure.

I am worried about fines and problems in renewing my practicing certificate as it is now past the submission deadline.

Worst professional body I have ever come across. Zero care or consideration for their students. Systems issues plagued my test centre yesterday in Chelmsford and I was stuck in the exam room for 11 hours.
Arrived at 8:30am finally left at 19:30

On phoning ACCA they were unhelpful and refused to acknowledge the system issue was their fault and accept liability to cancel the exams. Instead they kept students there was hours in limbo.

Do your qualification with another accountancy body, not ACCA.

Happy with the fact that I am qualified, but I have been paying extortionate annual subscription charges that I need to pay to continue to work. I get nothing back for this apart from the most basic CPD resources that are very limited. The subscriptions go up beyond the rate of inflation every year.

Students can not book a remote exams anymore because ACCA shifting again to centre exams. When students were used to centre exam they limited the centres and now when students are used to remote exams they are shifting back to centre exams to give more business to local centres and colleges. They don’t care about the students, specially full time working students. It’s all about the money, not education anymore.

I would like to add to Final thoughts of ACCA on new syllabus, which "will be with you every step .."
ACCA is psychological tortute establishment, which used psychological methods in educational process.
That is why they do not provide the names of the Professors who involve in this as it is shame for them.
More of it under the Convention against torture and Other Cruel , Inhuman or Degradating Treatments or Punishments it is forbiden in jurisdictions who sign it. That is why ACCA is the instrument of influencing in those countries.Be aware of their "knowledge of your every step".

I would say their customer service and the way they approach. communicate is horrible. I have been with ACCA for years as member and now is taking more then 3months for them to reply on what is the path I should take for registering practice and obtain the signing rights. Sine July no reply in their porta. I even wrote an email complain and still nothing. ACCA has become just a bs to gain subscription money without any benefit out of it

I am only missing one exam out of 13.
I am taking remote exams from home as there are no exam centres in my home country.
The day of the exam, acca had server issues and I couldn't login into the exam. The same issue happened to a considerable amount of people as per reddit posts.
Acca offered to rebook the exam the following week, but after rebooking it twice, my exam appointment keep disappearing. During the last week I have spoken like 10 times with customer service; that although very nice and resolutive, afterwards either the system or someone there messed things up.
I have two sittings available (counting this one) before my exams expiry and APM has a pass rate of 30% so i really want to take my exam

What global company in 2025 does not support MAC? Tried sitting my ACCA ENG LAW exam and after a successful system test (on my MAC) was told on the day by the invigilator that the exam does not support MAC. Their advice was to try another computer which I find is pretty out of touch given the current cost of living crisis when people may only have access to one device. Going to an exam centre is not an option for me logistically which is partly what attracted me to the ACCA as they offer at home exams. I only own a MAC so other than purchasing a new laptop my options are very limited!

I had some technical issues this morning on my remote exam and the invigilators from Pearson Vue were not helpful at all and just ended my exam with no support offered.

I rang up ACCA customer service and I just want to give Alan a massive shoutout for his great customer service and empathy shown. I was extremely upset and stressed due to how the invigilators had treated me but Alan was incredibly supportive and gave me all the advice I needed to calm down. He reassured me that I could rebook the exam and that I didn’t need to worry. He provided me with all the necessary details to resolve my issues.

I wish all customer service agents could show this level of skill to deal with stressful situations like this.

Big up Alan! Thank you so much!

Acca exam taking process is tragedy. They were supposed to send me token ID to take the online test however they did not and i was not able to download the ACCA examiner app.

I agree with the reviews about communication with ACCA. The ACCA send no reply emails which gives members no opportunity to respond - this is a particular problem when you want to reply to an email that has been sent to you with an explanation. Finding suitable contact details for customer services is nigh on impossible on their website. They seem to have a website that automates everything so they don't have to help their members in any meaningful way. It is a frustrating experience going round in circles on their website. ACCA totally useless, the organization does only seem to be interested in collecting membership fees. Having studied for a long time to attain the qualification they have a captive audience, but the 'big business' approach to so called 'customer service' is a joke! It is ironic that I can access an email address for ACCA by ticking the box to send an email to them of this review - why is it not as easy to find it on their website? You can't offer customer service without enough staff to attend to the emails received! And whilst I am at it - why are they one of the only organisations that DO NOT offer monthly subscriptions? Catch up with how people pay for things in the 21st Century!

I agree with another review about communication with ACCA. The only way to contact them is by phone. ACCA send no reply emails which gives members no opportunity to respond. I find ACCA totally useless, the organization only seems interested in collecting membership fees. The ACCA website is dated and a nightmare to use. If I could have given zero stars I would have.

Terrible Exam Experience & Ineffective Complaint Process – ACCA Canada Fails Candidates

I recently sat for the ACCA AFM exam on March 7, 2025, at the TSOM exam center in Toronto, and my experience was nothing short of a disaster. The exam was plagued by severe technical issues that froze the system multiple times, resulting in a loss of over an hour of exam time. Despite repeated attempts to address the issue with invigilators, the spreadsheet functionality remained unusable throughout the exam, which is critical for the AFM paper.

What’s worse, every candidate in the exam hall faced the same issues, yet ACCA has refused to take meaningful action. After the exam, I took multiple steps to resolve this matter:

Email: I immediately emailed ACCA to request a re-sit during the contingency week but received no response.

Live Chat: I contacted ACCA support via live chat, where I was passed between three agents before one abruptly ended the chat.

Phone Call: I called the ACCA Examinations team and was advised to use the online chat feature for faster resolution.

Mitigating Circumstances Request: I submitted a formal request for mitigating circumstances, which was logged but did not result in any meaningful action.

Centre Complaint: I filed a Centre Complaint via the ACCA Portal, only to be told that all results are final and that I would need to pay for an appeal if dissatisfied.

Despite these efforts, ACCA has refused to issue a refund, citing their status as a “not-for-profit organization.” This explanation is unacceptable. As a paying customer, I expect a professional and reliable exam environment, which ACCA failed to deliver.

I also want to warn potential candidates in Canada that the ACCA designation is not as valuable or recognized here as the organization claims. The outdated systems, lack of support during exams, and inefficient complaint process further diminish its credibility.

ACCA’s refusal to take meaningful steps to address this situation is deeply disappointing. I urge anyone considering ACCA in Canada to think twice before investing time and money into this organization. There are better alternatives available.

ACCA new website is truly appalling, lack of email response, membership organisation that does not care

FCCA and practice owner.

I have been chasing ACCA for over 1.5 months for not renewing my practice licence. Left so stressed. Please go with ICAS or CIMA as ACCA has gone down hill!!