Ayaan Mandelia, a 15-year-old Indian national born and raised in Dubai, has been recognised by Guinness World Records in the category “youngest chartered accountant (male)”, after completing all of the exams of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and gaining ACCA Affiliate status.
According to the Guinness World Records entry, Mandelia was 15 years and 3 days old when he qualified on 13 July 2026, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The same page gives his birth date as 10 July 2011. It says he pursued the record to show that “professional accountancy qualifications can be achieved at an exceptionally young age”, and that he hoped to motivate other young people to set ambitious academic and professional goals.
In a note to editors, Mandelia said he began studying for ACCA at 13 after taking what he described as an unconventional education path. He now works as Group Strategy and AI Transformation Lead at AANKA Group, which he described as his family’s diversified business, where he says he uses artificial intelligence to build practical tools for HR, reporting and everyday operations. He also documents what he is building and learning across business, finance and AI through a project called Off Script.
What the record covers
The Guinness category is titled “chartered accountant”, while the route Mandelia describes ends at ACCA Affiliate status. The two are distinct stages of the ACCA pathway, according to ACCA’s own pages.
ACCA says that to move from Affiliate to membership, a student must complete the Ethics and Professional Skills Module and the Practical Experience Requirement, in addition to the exams. The practical requirement is 36 months of experience in a relevant accountancy or finance role, completion of nine performance objectives or the Approved Employer exemption, and sign-off of all experience by a practical experience supervisor, ACCA says.
ACCA’s apply for membership page lists the exams, the ethics module and the practical experience requirement as the three things an applicant must have completed. Neither the Guinness entry nor Mandelia’s note says whether he has begun the experience or ethics requirements.
How the story was first reported
Khaleej Times reported on 21 August that Mandelia, a UAE-born student raised in Dubai, had become an ACCA Affiliate at 15. According to the newspaper, he left the traditional school system with two ACCA exams remaining and planned to gain the work experience needed for full ACCA membership.
The newspaper said his parents, Priyanka Agarwal Mandelia and Aanand Mandelia, are both chartered accountants who lead AANKA Group, a Dubai-based conglomerate. It reported that he studied about three hours on weekdays and about six on weekends, with heavier schedules around exams, and that his longest day ran to roughly 12 to 12.5 hours.
On leaving school, Khaleej Times quoted him as saying: “It wasn’t about stopping my education. It was more about choosing a different route to continue it.” He added: “I hope my journey encourages young people to believe that age should never determine what is possible.”
At the time of that report, the newspaper said the family was asking whether his age could qualify for a record category and that no record was being claimed unless it was confirmed. The Guinness World Records page now carries his name as record holder.
What comes next
His account is one of a Dubai-raised teenager who studied outside the conventional school route. ACCA’s published requirements show that full membership still depends on practical experience and the ethics module, which Khaleej Times says he intends to pursue.
