ACCA DipIFR: eligibility, exam format, fees and dates | Hespah LLC [Skip to main content](#main-content)[![Hespah LLC](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/home_logolight_file2png.webp)](/en)Search More [Home](/en) [Learning Hub](/en/courses) [About us](https://hespah.com/who-we-are) [Blog](/en/blog) [Contact Us](/en/contact) Login[New Account](/en/register) 1. [Home](/en) / 2. [Blog](/en/blog) / 3. ACCA DipIFR: eligibility, exam format, fees and dates ACCA DipIFR: eligibility, exam format, fees and dates ===================================================== 2026-10-27 / 3 hours ago Accountants meet DipIFR the same way: a job ad asks for it, or an auditor mentions it, and the hunt for a training centre starts before anyone reads the entry rules. Yet ACCA calls it a conversion course for an already qualified accountant. What DipIFR is, and who it was built for ---------------------------------------- DipIFR is ACCA's Diploma in International Financial Reporting. One computer-based exam of three hours and fifteen minutes decides it, built from four equal questions worth 25 marks each, and the pass mark is 50%. It runs twice a year only, in June and December, at ACCA's exam centres. The target candidate is a professional accountant or auditor working in practice or in business. The syllabus states the aim: practical, detailed knowledge of the key IFRS Accounting Standards and how they are applied, for qualified accountants or graduates holding a country-specific qualification or relevant experience. Therefore it never re-teaches recognition and measurement. The overview page settles it from another angle, since the diploma suits a finance professional who does not yet know the detail. Anyone seeking a grounding in accounting meets a syllabus that measures application instead, whereas [the local fellowship route](https://hespah.com/en/blog/socpa-fellowship-exam-guide) starts at the basics. DipIFR also differs from [the CMA certification](https://hespah.com/en/blog/cma-certification-saudi-accountant) in scope: financial reporting only. ![Six eligibility routes into the ACCA DipIFR diploma](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/uploads/emils/17931221300.jpg "Six eligibility routes into the ACCA DipIFR diploma") Who is eligible to enter DipIFR? -------------------------------- ACCA publishes three situations that grant eligibility outright, and three alternative routes for everyone else: Route Condition Professional accountant or auditor in practice or in business Eligible outright Member of an IFAC member body Eligible outright ACCA affiliate or member Eligible outright, and no registration fee Relevant degree plus two years of accounting experience Confirmed via the exemptions calculator ACCA CertIFR plus two years of accounting experience Certificate attached to the application Three years of relevant accounting experience Experience confirmation form and an employer letter A "relevant" degree earns exemptions from the Business and Technology, Management Accounting, Financial Accounting and Corporate and Business Law exams. Meanwhile the experience route needs three years of full-time work plus an employer's covering letter. Most applicants fall here, not in the exam hall. Registration for the December sitting closes on 2 November 2026, and every supporting document goes up by that deadline. As a result the experience form left to the final week costs six months. The shape of the DipIFR exam: four questions, no choice ------------------------------------------------------- All questions are compulsory, all carry 25 marks, and most mix computation with discussion. However, each has a fixed character the syllabus describes openly: 1. **Question one:** preparation of a consolidated financial statement, often preceded by issues to settle in the parent's statements first. 2. **Question two:** a scenario on accounting treatment or disclosure, which may ask you to comment on the treatment management chose. It also carries an ethical and professional component with a ceiling of five marks. 3. **Question three:** usually focused on one specific IFRS Accounting Standard, between explaining its principles and applying them. 4. **Question four:** a series of queries from a work colleague, normally independent, and rarely requiring a numerical answer. Questions two and four overturn the usual revision method, because a candidate who memorised treatments without writing a short justification drops marks across half the paper. Besides them, the syllabus adds digital skills outcomes: managing digital information and presenting answers with the platform's tools. What the DipIFR exam leaves out ------------------------------- The syllabus publishes an explicit exclusions list, the most useful page for anyone planning study time: - Complex group structures: sub-subsidiaries, mixed groups, foreign subsidiaries - Step acquisitions, partial disposals and group reconstructions - Financial statements of banks and similar institutions - Statements of cash flow, single company and consolidated - Interim financial statements - Insurance entities - Exposure drafts and discussion papers - The international public sector perspective - Multi-employer benefit schemes - Changing prices and hyperinflationary economies The cash flow exclusion alone saves weeks. Nevertheless, many courses still teach group cash flow statements to candidates. ![Standards examinable in DipIFR for December 2026 and June 2027](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/uploads/emils/17931221301.jpg "Standards examinable in DipIFR for December 2026 and June 2027") Standards examinable in the December 2026 and June 2027 sessions ---------------------------------------------------------------- ACCA issues the examinable documents list once a year. A standard enters the exam if it was issued before 31 August, even where its effective date falls later. The December 2026 and June 2027 list covers the latest documents issued before 31 August 2025. The striking part is that IAS 1 is absent altogether. IFRS 18 "Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements" stands in its place, while IAS 8 now reads "Basis of Preparation of Financial Statements". With them sit IFRS 19 for subsidiaries without public accountability, IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, the IFRS for SMEs Standard, the Conceptual Framework, and Part 1 of the Code of Ethics with sections 100, 110 to 115 and 120. Thus the DipIFR syllabus now asks about the role of the International Sustainability Standards Board, the scope and core content of sustainability disclosures, and the usefulness of climate-related disclosure. For anyone revising older material, that is new ground. The syllabus also records no additions, deletions or amendments for December 2026 to June 2027. Nevertheless a stable syllabus is not a stable paper, since the documents list is refreshed annually and independently of it. DipIFR fees and the December 2026 dates --------------------------------------- Item As published by ACCA One-off registration fee £89, waived for ACCA affiliates and members Exam fee £160 per exam Registration closing date, December 2026 2 November 2026 at 23:59 GMT Exam date 10 and 11 December 2026, candidate chooses the day at entry Results released 18 January, per the December 2026 session calendar The 10 December date is open in selected markets only, per the footnote on the dates page. Meanwhile the fee table shows no late entry option for the diploma, although the ACCA Qualification exams have one. Fees appear in sterling (no riyal price on the site), hence the amount paid follows the day's exchange rate. A clash in the DipIFR entry deadline ------------------------------------ The diploma's dates page says a registered candidate has until 27 October 2026 to open the exam planner in myACCA and enter for December. Meanwhile the fee table and the session calendar put standard entry closing on 2 November 2026, with late entry on 9 November 2026. Both dates sit on the same website. Accordingly the safe move is to treat the earlier one as final, then confirm your status in the exam planner itself. CertIFR when the DipIFR conditions do not apply ----------------------------------------------- ACCA offers CertIFR to candidates who fail the entry conditions, and it doubles as an eligibility route alongside two years of experience. However the gap between them is wide in depth, cost and time. Aspect CertIFR DipIFR Assessment One-hour exam, multiple choice Three hours fifteen minutes, four written and computational questions Pass mark 50% 50% Attempts inside the fee Three attempts One attempt per exam fee Fee £310 with materials, £200 assessment only, £230 and £150 for ACCA members £89 registration, plus £160 per exam Timing Apply any time, with 12 months of access Two sessions a year: June and December Expected study time Around 20 hours to work through the course No figure published Anyone already applying the standards at work can take the assessment alone. Studying for another qualification also counts towards an ACCA member's continuing professional development. Mistakes that fail candidates who know the standards ---------------------------------------------------- Firstly, revising from past exam papers alone. ACCA publishes the older papers and states plainly that they are not updated for technical changes in the standards. Therefore anyone revising IAS 1 from an old paper studies a standard that left the list. Secondly, reading questions and model answers together instead of attempting them. The DipIFR FAQ page says many candidates do this, while advising work under exam conditions. Finally, picking topics and skipping the rest. The published answer is blunt: a candidate should understand every element of the syllabus. With four compulsory questions, one from an abandoned topic sinks the paper. When DipIFR is the right choice ------------------------------- A qualified accountant in a business that prepares consolidated statements, or in a practice that audits them, uses DipIFR material the week after the exam. Tax in the financial statements sits inside the syllabus too, although it is [separate from the zakat and income tax computations](https://hespah.com/en/blog/zakat-vs-income-tax-saudi) filed with the authority. At Hespah Academy we build programmes on the awarding body's published documents alone, listed on [the courses page](https://hespah.com/en/courses). Frequently asked questions about DipIFR --------------------------------------- ### Does DipIFR require ACCA membership? No. A professional accountant or auditor in practice or in business qualifies outright, as does a member of any IFAC member body. ACCA membership matters for the fee waiver. ### Are cash flow statements inside the exam? No. Preparing them is excluded, for the single company and for the group alike. Other consolidated statements remain inside the syllabus, including the statement of changes in equity. ### Are discount factors given in the exam paper? Yes. The FAQ page confirms the relevant discount factors will be given whenever present values are required. ### Is goodwill examined on the full or the partial method? Both. It depends on the question: full measurement, which includes non-controlling interests, and partial measurement, which excludes them. ### Has the DipIFR syllabus changed for December 2026? No. The syllabus records no additions, deletions or amendments from December 2026 to June 2027. The documents list is a separate matter, refreshed each year. Sources ------- - [ACCA: eligibility for the Diploma in International Financial Reporting](https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/qualifications/glance/dipifr/who.html) - [ACCA: exam dates and fees](https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/qualifications/glance/dipifr/date-fee.html) - [ACCA: syllabus and study guide, December 2026 to June 2027](https://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/acca/global/PDF-students/ifr/ifrint/dipifr_d26_j27_syllabus_and_study_guide.pdf) The examinable documents list, the fees table, the DipIFR FAQ page and the dates calendar sit on the ACCA website too. This article is for general information. 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