The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants said it will stop allowing students to take most of its exams online, beginning in March, in response to a rise in cheating.
Since remote testing was introduced during the pandemic, cheating scandals have arisen at Big Four firms
Candidates will be required to sit assessments in person, with certain exceptions, including in countries that don't have in-person testing centers.
"We're seeing the sophistication of [cheating] systems outpacing what can be put in, [in] terms of safeguards," Helen Brand, chief executive of the ACCA, told the
The accounting profession is facing an ongoing talent shortage. And while remote testing made the profession more accessible for many, Brand said the issue has reached a "tipping point" with the rapid development of technology.
In 2022, EY paid a $100 million penalty to the Securities and Exchange Commission for cheating on exams required to obtain and maintain CPA licenses. The firm admitted that, for multiple years, a significant number of their audit professionals cheated on the ethics component of CPA exams and various CPE courses.
In 2024, KPMG's firm in the Netherlands and Deloitte's firms in Indonesia and the Philippines collectively paid $27 million in fines to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board for cheating on exams and sharing answers.
And in February 2025, PwC Israel paid the PCAOB $2.8 million in fines for widespread exam cheating.
The ACCA is the world's largest accounting body, with over 257,900 members.
