An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certified Accountant or Certified Public Accountant, or Registered Public Accountant. Such professionals are granted certain responsibilities by statute, such as the ability to certify an organization's financial statements, and may be held liable for professional misconduct. Non-qualified accountants may be employed by a qualified accountant, or may work independently without statutory privileges and obligations.
Chartered accountants were the first accountants to form a professional accounting body, initially established in Scotland in 1854. The Edinburgh Society of Accountants (1854), the Glasgow Institute of Accountants and Actuaries (1854) and the Aberdeen Society of Accountants (1867) were each granted a royal charter almost from their inception. The title is an internationally recognised professional designation; the certified public accountant designation is generally equivalent to it. Women were able to become chartered accountants only following the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 after which, in 1920, Mary Harris Smith was recognised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and became the first woman chartered accountant in the world.
Founded in 1904, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (ACCA). It has 240,952 members and 541,930 future members worldwide. ACCA's headquarters are in London with principal administrative office in Glasgow. ACCA works through a network of over 110 offices and centres in 51 countries - with 346 Approved Learning Partners (ALP) and more than 7,600 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide employee development.
The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), South Africa’s pre-eminent accountancy body, is widely recognised as one of the world’s leading accounting institutes. The institute provides a wide range of support services to more than 48,000 members and associates who are chartered accountants (CAs(SA)), as well as associate general accountants (AGAs(SA)) and accounting technicians (ATs(SA)).
Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is India's largest professional accounting body under the administrative control of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. It was established on 1 July 1949 as a statutory body under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 enacted by the Parliament for promotion, development and regulation of the profession of Chartered Accountancy in India.
The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) is one of the three legally recognised professional bodies for accountants in Australia. The IPA represents more than 40,000 members and students working in industry, commerce, government, academia and professional practice.
British qualified accountants are full voting members of United Kingdom professional bodies that evaluate individual experience and test competencies for accountants.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan is a professional accountancy body in Pakistan. It has over 10,000 members working locally and globally. The institute was established on July 1, 1961 to regulate the profession of accountancy in Pakistan. It is a statutory autonomous body established under the Chartered Accountants Ordinance, 1961. With the significant growth in the profession, the CA Ordinance and By-Laws were revised in 1983.
The Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) is an institution dedicated to Cost and Management Accounting education and research in Bangladesh. It is managed as an autonomous professional body under the Ministry of Commerce. As well as education, it is also engaged in regulating and promoting the profession of cost and management accountant in Bangladesh.
The Association of International Accountants (AIA) is a professional accountancy body. It was founded in the UK in 1928 and since that date has promoted the concept of ‘international accounting’ to create a global network of accountants in over 85 countries worldwide.
The Pakistan Institute of Public Finance Accountants (PIPFA) is an autonomous body recognized mainly in the government sector and established under license from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan by the authority given under section 42 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984.
Kamlesh Shivji Vikamsey is an Indian Chartered Accountant and a Past President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and a Past President of The Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA). He is an expert on governance and oversight; and has served in his personal capacity on several international organizations like UNDP, IMF, UNICEF, ITU and WMO in Audit and Oversight Committees.
CPA Ireland, formerly the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland, is one of the main Irish accountancy bodies, with 5,000 members and students.
The Institute of Chartered Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP) is a professional accounting body offering qualification and training in management accountancy.
The Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka, or AATSL, is a Sri Lankan qualification and professional body for vocational accountants which was launched as an initiative that came through the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. AAT is a technician level qualification offering higher apprenticeships which entitles those who have completed the exams and obtained relevant supervised work experience to become an accountant.
The Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka, is a professional body offering qualification in management accountancy in Sri Lanka.
Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada is the national organization representing the Canadian accounting profession through the unification of the three largest accounting organizations: the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA), the Society of Management Accountants of Canada and Certified General Accountants of Canada (CGA-Canada), as well as the 40 national and provincial accounting bodies. It is one of the largest organizations of its type in the world, with over 217,000 Chartered Professional Accountants in Canada and around the world.
Narain Dass Gupta is Member of Parliament Rajya Sabha from NCT of Delhi, practicing chartered accountant, and former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). He is a financial policy expert who has written several books on taxation.
CamEd Business School, also known as CamEd Institute, is an institute of higher education in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It specializes in teaching accounting and finance and is a primary source of new hires for major audit firms in Cambodia.
