Certified Public Accountant TOEIC Validity Period Extended to 5 Years

Financial Services Commission Announces Legislative Notice for Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Certified Public Accountant Act

On the 9th, officials were busy moving in the corridor of the Financial Services Commission at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, where financial authorities decided to include mortgage loans (Judaemae) in the 'debt refinancing' infrastructure scheduled to be launched in May by the end of the year. Financial authorities explained that they aim to reduce the interest burden on mortgage loans by building a debt refinancing platform that allows users to compare financial sector loan interest rates at a glance and switch loans easily. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

The validity period of the English test for CPA exam candidates will be extended to 5 years for their convenience. In addition, the reference date for calculating work experience required for exemption from the first exam will be clarified as the application deadline for the second exam.

On the 18th, the Financial Services Commission announced that it will publicly notify the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Certified Public Accountant Act containing these details for 40 days until the 27th of next month.

After the public notification, the amendment will undergo review by the Regulatory Reform Committee, the Ministry of Government Legislation, and approval by the Cabinet and Vice-Ministerial meetings, and is scheduled to be enforced from January 12, 2024, in line with the enforcement date of the law.

The recognition period for English test scores such as TOEIC in the first exam will be extended from the current 2 years to 5 years. However, the test administering institutions only issue valid score reports for test attempts within 2 years. Therefore, for candidates who have valid score reports as of the enforcement date in January 2024 (those who took the English test after January 2022), the Financial Supervisory Service plans (tentatively) to extend the recognition period of those scores from 2 years to 5 years after separate submission and verification.

Also, the reference date for calculating work experience required for exemption from the first exam will be clarified. The reference date to determine whether the required work experience has been met will be clearly set as the application deadline for the second exam.

Third, to improve the efficiency of committees under administrative agencies, the committees established under the Certified Public Accountant Act will be integrated and reorganized. In this legal amendment, the 'Certified Public Accountant Qualification System Deliberation Committee,' which deliberates on the CPA exam, qualification acquisition, and determination of the number of selected candidates, and the 'Certified Public Accountant Disciplinary Committee,' which deliberates on disciplinary cases related to CPA misconduct, have been integrated into the 'Certified Public Accountant Qualification and Disciplinary Committee.' Matters regarding the number and composition of the committees, which were previously stipulated in the Enforcement Decree, have been elevated to legislation in the law.