Requirements for Becoming an Independent Auditor: Practical Professional Training, Professional Experience and the Auditing Exam

Authorisation requirements under the Regulation on Independent Audit, with worked examples

FATİH FURKAN AKGÖZ · CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, NEF FORTIS · NOVEMBER 2026 · READING TIME: 8 MIN

Independent audit and the independent auditor

In Türkiye, the procedures and principles of independent audit are set out in the Regulation on Independent Audit of the Public Oversight, Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority (KGK), published in the Official Gazette of 26 December 2012, No. 28509. Independent audit is the process of auditing, evaluating and reporting on books, records and documents by applying the audit techniques required by the auditing standards, in order to obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence that provides reasonable assurance on whether financial statements and other financial information comply with financial reporting standards and are accurate.

An independent auditor is a person authorised by the KGK to perform independent audits from among members of the profession holding a Sworn-in CPA (YMM) or CPA (SMMM) licence under Law No. 3568 of 1/6/1989 on Certified Public Accountants and Sworn-in Certified Public Accountants. Independent auditors carry out their audit work within an audit firm. An audit firm is a capital company whose partners are members of the profession holding a YMM or SMMM licence and which is authorised by the KGK to perform independent audits.

Authorisation requirements

Those wishing to perform independent audits must meet the following requirements:

• Holding at least a bachelor’s degree from a faculty or school offering education in law, economics, public finance, business administration, accounting, banking, insurance, public administration or political science, or from a foreign higher education institution whose equivalence has been recognised by the Council of Higher Education; or holding a bachelor’s degree in another field together with at least a postgraduate degree in one of these fields,
• Being a member of the profession,
• Being resident in Türkiye,
• Having full legal capacity,
• Having completed practical professional training,
• Having passed the KGK auditing exam,
• Having no conviction, even if the periods set out in Article 53 of Turkish Criminal Code No. 5237 have passed, for an intentional offence punished by imprisonment of one year or more, or, even if pardoned, for offences against the security of the state, offences against the constitutional order and its functioning, embezzlement, extortion, bribery, theft, fraud, forgery, breach of trust, fraudulent bankruptcy, bid rigging, rigging the performance of obligations, laundering of proceeds of crime or smuggling,
• Not having had an operating licence previously cancelled by the KGK for reasons other than it later being found that the authorisation requirements were not met or that they were subsequently lost,
• Having no circumstances incompatible with the honour and dignity required by the independent audit profession, and not having a negative reputation.

Those who wish to become auditors must first become members of the profession and then apply to the KGK with information and documents showing that they meet the requirements. Applications are made in person or through the audit firm where the applicant works. Applicants whom the KGK decides meet the requirements are entered in the register and announced, provided that they pay the required fees and request registration. After registration, they are issued an independent auditor certificate, an auditor ID and an auditor seal.

The exam requirement does not apply to those who have served at the KGK as Chair or Board Member for one year, or in the Authority’s professional staff positions for at least four years. Certain wording in this provision of the Regulation relating to other positions has been annulled by a decision of the Council of State (Danıştay).

Practical professional training

Those wishing to become auditors must receive practical training for at least 3 years with an independent auditor or at an audit firm that undertakes audits in professional areas, including financial statement audits. Periods spent in attestation and tax audit services under Law No. 3568, and periods spent at public institutions by those holding audit authority there as listed in the second paragraph of Article 6 of the same Law, count towards practical professional training. One year of the internship completed under Law No. 3568 and, provided that a postgraduate diploma is submitted, one year of postgraduate education in economics, public finance, business administration, accounting, finance, auditing or tax also count towards practical professional training.

Practical professional training is not required for those with at least fifteen years of professional experience.

Professional experience is the time actually spent in independent audit. However, periods spent in professional activities under Law No. 3568, and in internships and services counted as internship under the same Law, are also taken into account. Up to four years of bachelor’s and postgraduate education in the relevant fields are added to this period. The calculation is based on the start date of these activities; if the activities were interrupted for more than one year, the excess period of interruption is disregarded, except for periods spent at public institutions.

During practical professional training, trainees are assistant auditors and take part in audit work alongside auditors. The auditor working with an assistant auditor takes all measures to put theoretical knowledge into practice and to help the assistant auditor acquire the necessary professional competence; the auditor is authorised and obliged to assign the assistant auditor to audits, to include them in meetings with the audited entity, to supervise their work and to review the working papers they prepare. Practical professional training begins when the audit firm or the independent auditor undertaking the audit notifies the KGK, within the Social Security Institution notification period, of information and documents showing that the requirements are met.

Example 1: Mr A started working at Z Danışmanlık ve Bağımsız Denetim A.Ş. on 01.05.2022 and began his CPA (SMMM) internship at the same workplace on the same date. In this case, Mr A will complete his practical professional training on 01.05.2024. To become an auditor, he must also pass the auditing exam and become a CPA (SMMM).

Example 2: Ms X graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2013. On 01.02.2015 she started working in the accounting department of C Üretim A.Ş., a manufacturing company; she began her CPA (SMMM) internship on 01.06.2016 and obtained her CPA (SMMM) licence on 01.09.2019. She completed a master’s degree in business administration in 2021 and still works at the same company. When can Ms X become an independent auditor?

Solution: As Ms X does not work at an audit firm, she has not received the 3-year practical professional training. The calculation is therefore based on at least 15 years of professional experience.

Ms X will complete 15 years of professional experience on 01.06.2027; to become an auditor, she must also pass the auditing exam. Note that the start of professional experience is 01.06.2016, when she began her CPA internship, not 01.02.2015, when she started work. Also, although her bachelor’s and master’s studies together exceed four years, only four years are added, because the Regulation limits this addition to four years.

The independent auditing exam

The auditing exam is held by the KGK to measure candidates’ theoretical and practical knowledge in audit-related fields. The KGK may, where it considers necessary, have the exam held by other institutions or organisations; in that case, the exam arrangements are set out in a protocol with the relevant institution. To sit the exam, candidates must meet the graduation requirement. The auditing exam consists of the following subjects:

Table 1. Auditing exam subjects and authorisation areas (Regulation on Independent Audit, Art. 16; KGK exam announcement of 27 June 2026).

Authorisation is granted by area according to the exam subjects passed: the core area, and the capital markets, banking, insurance and private pensions, and sustainability areas. CPAs (SMMM) seeking authorisation in the core area sit subjects (a), (b) and (c); Sworn-in CPAs (YMM) sit subjects (a) and (b). Those seeking authorisation in capital markets, banking, and insurance and private pensions in addition to the core area also sit subjects (ç), (d) and (e); those seeking authorisation in sustainability also sit subjects (f) and (g).

To pass, candidates must score at least sixty out of one hundred in each subject, and the arithmetic average of the subject scores must be at least seventy. Candidates may resit each subject separately to improve their score; the highest score within the validity period counts. If a candidate applies for the exam but does not sit it, the previous score remains valid within its validity period. Exam results are valid, by subject, until the end of the third calendar year following the announcement date.

Example 3: Mr C became a CPA (SMMM) on 01.06.2022 and had completed his practical professional training by that date. To become an independent auditor, he must pass his exams. The results of the exams he sat are below.

Table 2. Mr C’s exam results (no score was obtained in the exam of 29.06.2023).

In this case, Mr C can apply to the KGK for authorisation as an independent auditor in the core area with 75 in Corporate Governance Principles and Financial Management (29.06.2022), 65 in Turkish Accounting Standards (29.11.2023) and 70 in Turkish Standards on Auditing (26.09.2024), an average of 70. With the exams he sat on 29.11.2024, he has also met the exam requirement for capital markets, banking, and insurance and private pensions.

The validity period needs attention here: exam scores announced in 2022 are valid until the end of the third following calendar year, i.e. 31.12.2025. Mr C must apply before his 2022 score in Corporate Governance Principles and Financial Management expires; otherwise he will have to resit that subject.

Legislative references have been checked against the current text of the Regulation on Independent Audit and KGK exam announcements as of November 2026.

References

• Regulation on Independent Audit, Official Gazette 26.12.2012, No. 28509 (last amended 15.06.2024), Arts. 14, 15 and 16.
• Law No. 3568 on Certified Public Accountants and Sworn-in Certified Public Accountants.
• Turkish Criminal Code No. 5237, Art. 53.
• KGK, Independent Auditor and Sustainability Auditor Exam Announcement of 27 June 2026.

For information purposes only. This article is provided for general information and does not constitute professional opinion or advice. It is an English translation of the original Turkish article; in case of any discrepancy, the Turkish version prevails.

← ALL INSIGHTS

REQUEST A MEETING