For everyone who wants to be a recognized professional accountant in the world, it is required that he or she must be a member of the world-renowned accounting body known as International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). However, it is impossible for an individual to become a member of IFAC without first fulfilling the requirement of IFAC’s daughter bodies in countries peculiar to individuals seeking membership across the world.
Foremost, it is important for Nigeria based individuals aiming for the aforementioned to satisfy the requirements of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria popularly known as ICAN which happens to be the daughter body of IFAC in Nigeria in order to be a qualified, renowned and professional accountant in the world which thenceforth has made it paramount for you to know how to register for ICAN.
This post has been purposely created for you to know how to register for ICAN but before we dive right into the nitty-gritty of the process, it is important that you know what ICAN is all about.
What is ICAN?
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, otherwise known as ICAN is a professional accountancy body established in Nigeria in 1965. ICAN was created to purposely encourage professionalism in the practice. ICAN whose mission statement is “to produce world-class chartered accountants, regulate and continuously enhance their ethical standards and technical competence in the public interest” is the only accountancy body in Nigeria that is recognized by IFAC.
ICAN is the foremost professional accounting body in the West African sub-region, and it formed the Association of Accounting Bodies in West Africa (ABWA) in 1982.
Benefits of being an ICAN member
The benefits attached to being a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Nigeria are numerous, apart from the respect they command in the society, chartered accountants are also offered unrivalled opportunities, the potential for international travels and certifications, a beautiful salary package and job security.
Find below some out of the numerous benefits of becoming an ICAN chartered accountant.
- Potential for international certifications: ICAN is an internationally recognized body and it is also in affiliations with internationally recognized Accountancy Bodies like Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) of UK, and Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW). ICAN members are afforded the opportunities to become recognized members of these affiliated bodies without much hassle
- Global Career: the ACA is recognized around the world, coupled with the aforementioned affiliations. ICAN members can pretty much work worldwide and as ICAN is also a member of the International Federation of Accountants like I earlier stated, a global career is pretty much possible.
- Earning potential and Opportunities: ICAN members are highly rewarded in their places of employment as they are highly sought after. Many of them can even start up and run their own businesses
Structure of ICAN examination
ICAN has two types of examinations and each type of examination can be classified into three different levels respectively. The first type is the Professional examination, and it comprises of 3 stages as earlier stated, the stages are Foundation, Skill and Professional level. This examination is designed for holders of Bachelor’s Degree or Higher National Diploma in any discipline, and holders of ICAN AAT qualification. It is, however, important to note that Graduates of Accounting or AAT Members are exempted from writing the Foundation Level of the Professional examinations.
The second type represents the Accounting Technician Scheme West Africa, which is also referred to as the ATS Stage. The ATS examination comprises of three levels which span from ATS 1 to ATS 3, and it is for individuals who have obtained a minimum of 5 credits (Mathematics and English language inclusive) at two sittings or less in their secondary school certificate examination. Successful completion of ICAN ATS level will earn you the ATSWA membership certification.
Now that we have an idea of what ICAN is all about and its attached benefits, it is only fair for us to dive right into how to register for ICAN examination. Read on to find out the detailed breakdown of how to register for the ICAN examination.
How to register for ICAN
Registering for ICAN could be for different reasons; you may want to join ICAN as a student member or as a full-fledged member of the Institute. Registering as a student member could be as Accounting Technician Scheme West Africa (ATSWA) student or ICAN Professional student while individuals who have successfully completed the stages of ICAN examination would be envisioning registering as Members of the institute.
For your sake, we have provided a detailed breakdown analysis of the guidelines that would aid you in registering for ICAN. Read on to find out how to register for ICAN for any of the aforementioned reasons
How to register for ICAN as an ATSWA student
To register for ICAN as an ATSWA student, you will need any of the following qualifications:
- Ordinary National Diploma
- SSCE certificate, with minimum of 5 credits in subjects including English and Mathematics
- A National Certificate of Education
- Any other relevant qualification that is approved by ICAN
Perform the following simple steps in order to register without any trouble
- Visit any Nigerian commercial bank and pay the examination fee of ₦6,000 (not including bank charges) via Pay Direct. Alternatively, follow this link to pay the fee online.
- Proceed with registration at the website indicated on your receipt and continue the process by filling out the form
- Attach a colored passport-format photo of yourself. Scan and attach it to the online registration form
- Print out the completed application form and append your signature to it
- Find a chartered accountant to stand as your sponsor/referee and provide their name, membership number, and contact number.
- Take your completed application form alongside the photocopies of your credentials to your sponsor/referee so that they can certify it.
- Your application wouldn’t be complete without attaching any of the following documents
- A copy of your WAASCE/NECO/NABTEB certificate or statement of result, OND, NCE or any other certificate recognized by ICAN
- Two certified copies of your passport photograph
- A copy of your birth certificate or sworn affidavit
- Original copy of bank payment receipt
- Three empty envelopes with your address and ₦50.00 stamp on each of them and
- Original copy of the pin voucher
- Once you are in possession of all of the above documents, you are required to submit the completed application with all of its attachments to the Department of Students’ Education and Training Department at ICAN Secretariat, 82 Murtala Mohammed Way, Ebutte Meta, Lagos State.
How to register for ICAN as a professional student
To register as ICAN professional students you must be in possession of at least a bachelor’s degree or Higher National Diploma (HND) or an AAT qualification. Other certificates recognized by ICAN would equally count towards your eligibility in earning a professional student membership.
Adhering to the following simple steps would guarantee you a hitch-free process in registering you as an ICAN professional student.
- Foremost, visit any commercial bank in Nigeria and pay the required fee of ₦7,000.00 (not including attached charges) via Pay Direct or you can simply visit ICAN website to pay. Click here to directly visit the website from here
- After you have made the payment, proceed with the registration by visiting the website indicated on your receipt to continue the process
- Attach a scanned passport-photograph of yourself to the registration form
- Print the completed application form and ink your signature to it
- Look for any Chartered Accountant who would be your referee/sponsor. You are required to provide the person’s name, membership number and phone contact
- Thereafter, you are to present your completed application form and photocopy of your credentials to your sponsor for certification
- Anyone registering with the AAT (Associate Accounting Technician) Certificate would be required to pay a sum of 23,500.00 for Induction/Conference and attach the receipt to your application
- You are also to attach the original pin voucher, original pay direct receipt and 2 copies of your passport-photograph that has been duly certified
It is important to note that individuals seeking student membership using transcript instead of the NYSC certificate should address it to the Registrar General of ICAN and that ICAN does not entertain a change of address until after two years of registration.
Completing the aforementioned simple steps directly implies that your registration is successful. You can subsequently check your Exam/Financial status.
How to register to become ICAN member
For those aiming to become members of ICAN, it is required that they must first be qualified chartered accountants with post qualification experience in the accounting field or any other related field. To put it more succinctly, Student members who registered for the ICAN professional exams with Bachelor’s Degree or HND are required to acquire a 3 years work experience before they can be inducted as members of ICAN while those who registered with AAT qualification must acquire a post qualification work experience of 4 years. After satisfying the above requirements, you may perform the following steps to register as a member
- Proceed to make a payment of ₦90,000.00 (not inclusive of attached charges) through Pay Direct at any commercial bank in Nigeria
- After you have made the payment, proceed with the registration by visiting the ICAN website to continue your registration
- Fill in your deposit slip number and payment receipt number in the required fields. After this, a generated PIN and serial number will be provided for you
- On the registration page, fill in your Student registration number, serial number and generated PIN
- Complete the application form, upload a good quality passport photograph (with a white background) of yourself and submit your application
- Print out the completed membership form for your referee/sponsor to append their signature
- Ensure that your ICAN final examination number is boldly written on the copy of your membership form
- You are to attach the original of your confirmation/attestation letter(s) on company’s letterhead from present and previous employers
- Your attestation letters should be signed by a Chartered Accountant or External Auditor (For those in Government Parastatals or other Industries) or a Partner (for those in Practicing Accounting firms)
- The attestation letter must include the duration of employment and the details of work performed
- Upon completing the induction application form, download and submit it to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria Plot 16, Idowu Taylor Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, on or before the stipulated deadline for submission
You may contact membership@ican.org.nig or Membership DL: 01-4542097 for further enquiries.
We have come to the end of how you can register for ICAN, we hope you found what you were looking for and also wish you the best of luck in your registration and examinations.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!