The AAPA was formed in 1978 as a professional body for auditors recognised individually under the Companies Act 1948.
AAPA achieved formal recognition by the Department of Trade and Industry in 1989 when the Companies Act received Royal Assent.
At an Extraordinary General Meeting on 24 June 1996, members of AAPA voted for the body to become a subsidiary company of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
While maintaining its own separate and distinctive identity constitutionally, AAPA now benefits from a wide range of authorisation and support facilities through the ACCA.
Membership is available to those who are in public practice (as principals or employees) in the following categories: (Members in good standing of ACCA and of the Institutes of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, who are eligible to hold practising certificates, also have the right to apply for membership of AAPA under the terms of its bye-laws.)