Trust me, I'm an accountant

I’ve got fancy letters and everything. But what do they mean? Do they matter? What does matter when you're looking for an accountant? A Counting Beans letter.

In the UK, the term accountant isn’t regulated, so anyone can call themselves one without being held to any standards of experience or expertise.

I am a professional, honest..

There are several different flavours of professional accountancy qualification¹. There are Chartered Accountants (ACA), Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Chartered Management Accountants (ACMA). The A at the front stands for associate. If the A is replaced by an F, it stands for fellow².

They are internationally recognised professional accountancy qualifications.

All of the qualifications require a similar amount of time to complete and involve three to five years of study, passing 12 to 15 exams and a minimum of 3 years of relevant accountancy experience. All the qualifications are the equivalent of a Masters Degree.

And that’s not all.

Qualified accountants (of whichever flavour) are required to demonstrate continued professional development and they are bound to a code of ethics and professional standards enforced by the professional body that they belong to.

In order to work in public practice, they must also have professional indemnity insurance, comply with anti money laundering rules and have a licence to practice³.

As well as the professional accountancy qualifications, qualified members of AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) with a practicing licence can offer bookkeeping and accountancy services to clients.

Different flavours

In brief, out of the three main qualifications, ACA focuses more on technical Financial Accounting, CIMA on Management Accounting⁴, and ACCA somewhere in the middle.

But the differences between them and merits of each over the other will not be what separates a good accountant from a bad accountant.

If you’re a small business or sole trader looking for an accountant (or wanting to check the credentials of the accountant you already have), in my opinion, the difference doesn’t really matter, and neither does their flavour of qualification⁵.

So what does matter?

Well, if you’re asking me, (which I guess you are if you’re reading this!) here’s my list:

1. Make sure they have a valid, current practicing licence from a recognised professional accounting body.

2. Do you feel confident and comfortable chatting with them? Do they use lots of jargon and long words or do they work to keep things simple and understandable for you? Personal and business finances are a private and emotive subject and you need to feel like you can share with them freely, and understand the advice and information they are giving you.

3. Do they have up-to-date and relevant knowledge? You should be confident that they are up to date with the latest laws and regulations. These are complex and change regularly and having an accountant with access to the continued professional development and knowledge required by their professional body is important.

4. Do they understand and are they interested in your business and industry? It can provide added value if they have an understanding of your specific industry and they will likely be able to provide added support and knowledge if they have other clients in the same industry.

5. Do they understand business in general? Knowing technical accounting requirements and tax rules will only go so far if they don’t also have a good grasp of general business and wider commercial understanding.

6. What services do they offer and what are you getting for the money? If you are looking for an accountant to support your business as it grows, do they offer services that can expand alongside your business?

7. How and when will you communicate? Would you prefer a local accountant who can meet you in person or are you happy with working with them remotely? How often will you want to be in contact and how quickly will they get back to you?

Hiring a new accountant can be tricky and intimidating so if you’ve got any questions, please do ask in the comments.

Bye for now,

Disclaimer:
I’m sharing this information to help guide you, but please remember it’s not meant as professional advice. I do my best to make sure everything is accurate when I write it, but tax rules and accounting standards can change over time. Always check with a qualified accountant or tax advisor to make sure the info applies to your own situation. And if you're ever in doubt, double-check the details! I can’t take responsibility for any decisions made based on this info, but I’m here to help point you in the right direction.

1. If you’re looking for some more info, there are links to each of the 6 chartered accountancy bodies on the FRC website https://www.frc.org.uk/library/supervision/professional-bodies-supervision/oversight-of-accountancy/

2. Associate members of ICAEW can apply for fellowship after 10 years. Associate members of ACCA are automatically awarded fellowship after 5 years. Associate members of CIMA can apply for fellow membership by demonstrating they have at least three years of senior, strategic or technical leadership experience.

3. All chartered accountants are required to hold a practicing certificate when they independently offer accountancy services to the public. This must be applied for separately according to the rules of each professional accounting body.

4. If you are interested, you can find out more here: https://www.roberthalf.co.uk/advice/career-development/whats-difference-between-management-accounting-and-financial-accounting

5. I am a Chartered Management Accountant and I am entitled to use the designatory letters ACMA (Associate Chartered Management Accountant) and CGMA (Chartered Global Management Accountant). I began my finance career in 2001 and I have worked in various finance roles at B&Q, Kingfisher and in the NHS and I studied with AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) followed by CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants).