The top certifications your accountant should have

You work hard for your money, so you want to make sure that the person you ask to look after it knows what they are doing.

It’s easy for an accountant to boast about their experience and how many clients they’ve helped over the years. But, how can you be certain that they really know their stuff? Well, the good news is that there is a way and it’s relatively easy. It involves looking at the certifications that the accountant holds. You should be able to find these on their website or professional profile.

To help you understand what these accounting certifications are, we’ve put together the following list. Here are the top certifications to look for when you’re seeking out the perfect accountant:

Royal Accountants

For an accountant to use the term ‘Chartered Accountant’ they must be a full member of one of the six associations that operate under the Royal Charter in the UK or the Commonwealth. The accountant can use this title once they have successfully passed all the required exams and partaken in further training.

The six associations that operate under the Royal Charter are:

Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW)

Founded in 1880, members of ICAEW have the right to use the professional title, Chartered Accountant or ACA. ICAEW has over 147,000 members.

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)

Founded in 1854, ICAS was the first association of professional accountants in the world. It has over 21,000 members. Surprisingly members don’t have to be situated in Scotland!

Chartered Accountants of Ireland (CAI)

The Chartered Accountants of Ireland was founded in 1888. It has over 23,000 members. Like ICAS, members of CAI don’t have to be situated in Ireland.

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)

Established in 1904, ACCA is the world’s largest association of professional accountants. Members can use the title, Chartered Certified Accountant. It has approximately 178,000 full members and an additional 455,000 trainee members.

Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)

Founded in 1919, CIMA constitutes the worlds largest association of professional Management Accountants. CIMA focuses on the training and qualifications of Management Accountants who operate in commerce, industry, public sector and not for profit organisations.

Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accounting (CIPFA)

This professional association focuses solely on public finance. Its membership totals around 14,000 and constitutes accountants that work in agencies where public money has to be managed.

Other certifications available for accountants include:

• Association of International Accountants
• Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT)
• Association of Tax Technicians (ATT)
• Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA)
• Association of Certified Public Accountants
• FCSA Associate Membership
• IPSE Accredited Accountant

Certifying your future success

Certification from a cloud accountancy provider

Whilst this isn’t a professional accountant certification, we feel that it is too important to leave off our list.

As the world of accounting continues to become more digitalised driven by HMRC’s programme Making Tax Digital, we feel it is important that you choose an accountant who is already embracing ‘cloud accountancy’.

There are several cloud-based accountancy software providers on the market, we have worked hard to be recognised as experts in this area by two of the leading providers, FreeAgent and Xero.

Thinking about changing accountants? New to contracting?

If you are looking for someone to handle your accounting needs, speak to one of our highly experienced and certified directors on 01962 867550.