The requirement applies before QAE starts
The condition in paragraph 3(2)(b) of the Second Schedule concerns all QAE other than foreign QAE. Its purpose is to ensure that the 2,500 hours are acquired at a sufficiently senior level and to treat applicants with different qualifications and memberships equitably. Ordinary professional experience and the subsequent qualifying audit hours are distinct stages.
ISCA full membership route
An applicant can start QAE after becoming a full ISCA member. The direction uses full membership rather than treating every category of ISCA membership as automatically sufficient. ISCA’s membership rules provide the underlying full-membership requirements.
ISCA members who have completed the experience but await the title
An ISCA member may also begin after satisfying the professional-accountancy experience requirements for Chartered Accountant of Singapore even if the title has not yet been conferred. The direction describes three years of relevant practical work under an Approved Mentor at an Accredited Training Organisation and refers to ISCA for detailed conditions.
Applicants who are not ISCA members at that point
For a non-member at the point of starting QAE, PAOC requires at least three full years of practical work of a financial or accounting nature beforehand. Examples include finance, internal or external audit, tax, compliance and risk management, treasury, business recovery/restructuring/insolvency and business information technology. The examples are not an exhaustive list and the three-year requirement is not reduced by selecting one of them.
Effective date and replacement of the earlier direction
Issued on 27 October 2025, the direction takes immediate effect and revokes Practice Direction 2 of 2015. It calls practical experience professional accountancy experience for clarity. It does not amend the stated 2,500-hour total or turn its prior-experience examples into foreign-QAE acceptance criteria.
Official source
This article independently explains the substantive contents of the official PDF, including the relevant conditions, procedures and annexes. The linked document remains the authoritative source for its original wording, and later changes should be checked separately.
Read the official PDF ↗