The current CIPFA qualification is the Professional Accountancy Qualification (PAQ): twelve modules across four stages, assessed through online exams of two to three hours each, with two sittings a year and a mandatory portfolio of workplace experience. Students who began before 2022 follow the legacy Professional Qualification (PQ) instead. This guide sets out that structure, the entry routes, and one original practice task to sharpen budget monitoring.
Which qualification this guide covers
CIPFA's current accountancy qualification is the Professional Accountancy Qualification (PAQ). If you started before 2022, the legacy Professional Qualification (PQ) or International Public Financial Management (IPFM) pages apply to you instead.
CIPFA describes the PAQ as public finance management training focused on technical competency, ethical principles, sustainable public value and strategic thinking. It is the pathway to the Chartered Public Finance Accountant (CPFA) designation. The qualification is delivered by CIPFA, a body registered in England and Wales, with UK and international options appearing in the later modules.
The practice material on this site is independent study support, not an official CIPFA assessment or syllabus. For exam format, rules and scheduling, treat CIPFA's own pages as authoritative and check them before booking anything.
One version check matters before you plan anything. CIPFA directs students who began studying before 2022 to the PQ and IPFM pages for their module and exam information, so confirm which programme you are registered on first.
The twelve modules and four stages
The PAQ comprises twelve modules completed in four stages: a certificate followed by three diplomas. Exam length grows from two hours at certificate level to three hours at the final stage.
The table below reproduces the official structure. Each stage is a named CIPFA award, so you pick up intermediate qualifications as you progress. Ethics sits before the stage one modules as pre-learning rather than a separate exam.
At the final stage you choose between two pathways. The accountancy pathway leads to the Diploma in Public Financial Management, Reporting and Business Change. The audit pathway leads to the Diploma in Public Financial Management, Reporting and Advanced Audit, but in the UK it is available only to students working for a CIPFA-approved training employer.
| Stage | Award | Modules and components | Exam length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIPFA Certificate in Management and Financial Accounting | Ethics (pre-learning); Management Accounting; Financial Accounting | Two hours each |
| 2 | CIPFA Diploma in Financial Management and Audit | Audit and Assurance; Business Planning and Financial Management; Developing Strategy and Data Analysis | Two and a half hours each; the third module is an online exam with a case study |
| 3 | CIPFA Diploma in Governance, Risk and Taxation | Business Reporting; Governance and Risk Management; Tax and Law (UK and international options) | Three hours each |
| 4, accountancy pathway | CIPFA Diploma in Public Financial Management, Reporting and Business Change | Implementing Business Change; Strategic Public Financial Management; Public Sector Financial Reporting (UK and international options); Strategic Case Study | Three hours each; the case study is a case-study exam |
| 4, audit pathway (UK, approved training employer) | CIPFA Diploma in Public Financial Management, Reporting and Advanced Audit | Advanced Audit; Strategic Public Financial Management; Public Sector Financial Reporting (UK and international options); Strategic Case Study | Three hours each; the case study is a case-study exam |
How the exams and portfolio work
Every module is assessed by online exam. There are two sittings each year, in June and December, with additional March and September exams for re-takes or off-programme students. You must also submit a portfolio of practical workplace experience.
The final Strategic Case Study is the capstone: it assesses the skills and learning from across the eleven preceding modules, so it rewards breadth rather than isolated topic drilling. Exam lengths differ by stage, from two hours at certificate level to three hours for the diploma modules.
The portfolio is a separate requirement from the exams. It is a log of practical workplace experience and evidenced skills recorded over the duration of your studies, so plan to capture evidence as you go rather than reconstructing it at the end.
If a June or December sitting does not fit your progress, the additional March and September exams exist specifically for students who go off-programme or need to re-take an exam.
Entry requirements and entry routes
Standard UK entry needs GCSEs, A-Levels or accepted equivalents including Maths and English; international students need a high school diploma or equivalent. There is also an experience-based route from age 21, and several accelerated routes and exemptions.
The qualification is designed for students aged 18 and over. For UK students, the minimum academic requirement is three GCSEs at grades A to C (or grade 4 and up) and two A-Levels at grades A to C, with Maths and English required at one of those levels. Scottish, Northern and Southern Ireland equivalents are accepted, as are BTEC and SCOTVEC national certificates; the minimum vocational route is NVQ or GNVQ level 3 or the Scottish equivalent.
International students need a high school diploma or an accepted equivalent. If you are 21 or over and do not meet the academic requirements, you can still study with your employer's support and more than three years of relevant work experience.
There is one important exception for UK audit-pathway students. Those working for a CIPFA-approved training employer who lack the academic requirements may study from age 21 with employer support and seven years of relevant experience; CIPFA states this ruling is defined by the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.
Entry routes exist for graduates, AAT-qualified students, fully qualified accountants and senior professionals, and exemptions are available if you hold previous qualifications of a similar level. A specific CPFA and ACA accelerated route also exists. If you have prior study, check the exemptions page before enrolling, because it can shorten your programme.
Study modes and how long it takes
Study combines remote learning with optional face-to-face classes. Full-time students typically complete the qualification in three and a half years, though prior qualifications and experience change that.
Delivery modes include e-learning, workshops, extensive written materials, mini projects, directed self-study and structured workplace tasks, with all materials accessed through CIPFA's virtual learning environment. That range suits both students who want tutor interaction and those who prefer to work independently.
The three-and-a-half-year figure is a typical full-time benchmark, not a promise. Exemptions from prior qualifications and your relevant work experience can shorten it, so treat it as a planning estimate for your own situation.
A budget monitoring practice task
Work through a complete budget position under two counting rules: one that treats committed orders as spent, and one that does not. The full answer and explanation follow the prompt.
This task is original practice written for this guide. It is not drawn from, and does not imitate, an official CIPFA exam. Its value is the habit it trains: before acting on a budget number, state what that number counts.
Practice task
Using the five stated assumptions, calculate: (a) the budget remaining for the final six months of the year under the rule that counts committed orders as spent, and the monthly allowance that implies; (b) the same under a rule that counts actual spending only; (c) the actual average monthly spend rate to date, and what each rule therefore says about the year-end position.
Show answer
(a) Counting commitments: 105,000 actual plus 30,000 committed equals 135,000 used. Remaining: 240,000 minus 135,000 equals 105,000, giving a monthly allowance of 105,000 divided by 6, or 17,500 per month. (b) Actual spending only: 240,000 minus 105,000 equals 135,000 remaining, giving 135,000 divided by 6, or 22,500 per month. (c) Actual average spend to date is 105,000 divided by 6, or 17,500 per month. The commitment-counting rule leaves exactly the actual run rate available for the rest of the year, so the service can continue at its current pace with no headroom. The actual-only rule suggests 5,000 per month of headroom that the July commitment already consumes.
Every figure follows from the stated assumptions by subtraction and division: 105,000 plus 30,000 equals 135,000; 240,000 minus 135,000 equals 105,000; 105,000 divided by 6 equals 17,500; 240,000 minus 105,000 equals 135,000; 135,000 divided by 6 equals 22,500. The teaching point is that the same underlying facts produce two different positions because the counting rules differ. A monitoring report that excludes commitments flatters the remaining allowance; one that includes them shows the truth but requires you to state that the allowance is tight rather than comfortable. When you practise with any budget scenario, write the counting rule next to your answer so a reader knows which position the number describes.
- Assumption 1: the repairs budget for the year is 240,000, profiled evenly at 20,000 per month.
- Assumption 2: at 30 June, actual spending to date is 105,000.
- Assumption 3: purchase orders for work to be delivered in July total 30,000.
- Assumption 4: the monitoring rule you are testing counts committed orders against the budget; the alternative rule counts actual spending only.
- Assumption 5: no virements, income or other budget changes apply.
Mapping your preparation to the official modules
Use the module list itself as your coverage map, and go to CIPFA's module pages and the CIPFA Futures update for detailed content. The mapping below shows where broad topic areas sit within the programme.
CIPFA states that the updated syllabus includes themes such as green finance, environmental reporting and performance measures, big data, data analytics and new technologies, alongside ethical accounting and audit principles. That signals where newer content lives without replacing the need to read the official module materials.
The list below is preparation guidance, not an official syllabus. Treat the official module pages as the definitive statement of what each exam covers.
- Financial accounting and reporting: Financial Accounting at certificate level, then Business Reporting and Public Sector Financial Reporting.
- Management accounting and decision-making: Management Accounting, then Business Planning and Financial Management and Developing Strategy and Data Analysis.
- Public financial management and governance: Governance and Risk Management and Strategic Public Financial Management.
- Taxation: Tax and Law, with UK and international options, at stage three.
- Audit and assurance: Audit and Assurance at stage two, and Advanced Audit if you take the UK audit pathway.
- Ethics: the pre-learning Ethics component ahead of the stage one exams, reinforced by the syllabus-wide ethics emphasis.
Next steps
Confirm your version, check your entry route and any exemptions, then plan around the June and December sittings while logging portfolio evidence as you work.
A practical sequence: first, confirm whether the PAQ or the legacy PQ applies to you. Second, match your qualifications to the entry requirements and check the exemptions page if you have prior study. Third, read the official module pages for your first stage and the exams page for current sitting dates and booking rules. Finally, set up a habit of recording workplace experience for your portfolio from the start of your studies.
CIPFA's contact details on the qualification page are a phone line on +44 (0)20 7543 5600 and hello@cipfa.org, which is the right route for questions this guide cannot answer, such as your individual eligibility or exemptions decision.
Sources
Facts checked 18 September 2026: