ACCA Competency Based Interview: PER Guide and How to Evidence Your Skills

Alongside passing the exams, completing the ACCA qualification involves demonstrating practical competence through the Practical Experience Requirement (PER). Understanding the PER, and the competencies it's built around, helps you plan your route to membership — and prepare for competency-based interviews along the way. This guide explains the ACCA PER and its competency framework in clear, plain language. Because ACCA's requirements can change, always check the official ACCA website for current details. It complements our guide to ACCA affiliate status and membership.

What is the ACCA PER?

The Practical Experience Requirement (PER) is the part of the ACCA qualification that requires you to gain relevant practical work experience and demonstrate that you can apply your knowledge and skills in the workplace. Passing the exams shows you have the knowledge; the PER shows you can put it into practice. Broadly, it involves completing a required period of relevant experience and demonstrating achievement against a set of practical competencies, supervised and signed off appropriately. The PER is an essential part of becoming a full ACCA member — alongside the exams and ethics requirements — reflecting that being a qualified accountant is about applied capability, not just exam success.

The role of performance objectives

A central feature of the PER is its performance objectives — the specific areas of practical competence you need to demonstrate. These objectives cover the key skills and behaviours expected of a qualified accountant, spanning both technical areas and broader professional skills and behaviours (such as ethics, communication and professionalism). To complete the PER, you demonstrate achievement of the required objectives through your work, supported by evidence and signed off by an appropriate supervisor. The objectives ensure that ACCA members have proven, rounded practical competence across the areas that matter. Working toward them gives structure to your practical development, helping you build and evidence the right capabilities as you gain experience.

How the PER works in practice

In practice, completing the PER involves gaining relevant experience over time — typically while you study or after — and recording your progress. You work in a relevant role, develop the required competencies, and document how you've achieved the performance objectives, with your experience verified by a workplace supervisor. Many students make steady progress on the PER alongside their exams, so the two advance together. Keeping good records of your experience and achievements as you go — rather than leaving it all to the end — makes completing the PER much smoother. Because the precise requirements and process are set by ACCA and can change, it's important to check the current details on the official ACCA website.

Competencies and competency-based interviews

The competency focus of the PER connects naturally to competency-based interviews, which are common in finance recruitment. These interviews ask you to demonstrate specific competencies — like problem-solving, teamwork or communication — through examples of how you've applied them. The good news is that working toward your PER performance objectives helps you build exactly the kind of concrete examples competency interviews call for. As you develop and evidence competencies for the PER, you're also building a bank of experiences you can draw on in interviews. Structuring your interview answers clearly — situation, action and result — lets you present these competencies convincingly. So the PER and competency interviews reinforce each other.

Making the most of the PER

To make the most of the PER, treat it as a valuable part of your development rather than just a box to tick. Seek relevant experience that lets you develop the required competencies, keep good records of your achievements as you go, engage with the performance objectives to guide your development, and work with your supervisor to verify your progress. Approached well, the PER builds genuine, well-evidenced practical competence — which serves you not just in completing your qualification, but throughout your career and in every competency-based interview you face. Always check the current PER requirements on the official ACCA website, as these can be updated over time.

Frequently asked questions

What is the ACCA PER?

The Practical Experience Requirement — the part of the ACCA qualification requiring relevant practical work experience and demonstration of practical competence, alongside the exams and ethics requirements.

What are performance objectives?

The specific areas of practical competence you must demonstrate for the PER, covering technical areas and broader professional skills and behaviours, evidenced through your work and signed off by a supervisor.

How does the PER relate to competency interviews?

Working toward your PER performance objectives builds the concrete examples competency-based interviews call for — so the two reinforce each other.

How do I make the most of the PER?

Seek relevant experience, keep good records as you go, engage with the performance objectives, and work with your supervisor — building genuine, well-evidenced competence. Check current requirements with ACCA.

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