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.
Certified Management Accountant (CMA) is a professional certification credential in the management accounting and financial management fields. The certification signifies that the person possesses knowledge in the areas of financial planning, analysis, control, decision support, and professional ethics. There are many professional bodies globally that have management accounting professional qualifications. The main bodies that offer the CMA certification are:
- Institute of Management Accountants USA;
- Institute of Certified Management Accountants (Australia); and
- Certified Management Accountants of Canada.
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 Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) is the world’s leading professional body for Accounting Technicians, with over 150,000 members worldwide.
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.
The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI), which was previously known as The Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) is a professional accountancy body in India under the administrative control of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. It was established on 28 May 1959 as a statutory body under the The Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959 enacted by the Parliament for regulation of the profession of Cost and Works Accountants in India. It has as its prime responsibility to contribute to the Cost and Management Accounting profession at the global level. It is the largest CMA body in Asia and 2nd largest in the World.
British qualified accountants are full voting members of United Kingdom professional bodies that evaluate individual experience and test competencies for accountants.
IFACnet, the KnowledgeNet for Professional Accountants, was the global, multilingual search engine developed by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and its members to provide professional accountants worldwide with one-stop access to good practice guidance, articles, management tools and other resources. This enterprise search engine was launched on October 2, 2006, by INDEZ. Originally marketed to professional accountants in business, IFACnet was expanded in March 2007 to provide resources and information relevant to small and medium accounting practices. In 2014, IFACnet was expanded and replaced by IFAC Knowledge Gateway, providing thought leadership and resources from IFAC and across the accountancy profession.
The Institute of Financial Accountants (IFA) is a professional accountancy body representing and providing certification for financial accountants in the United Kingdom. The IFA is a full member of the International Federation of Accountants.
Accountancy in Hong Kong is regulated by the HKICPA under the Professional Accountants Ordinance. The auditing industry for limited companies is regulated under the Companies Ordinance, and other Ordinances such as the Securities and Futures Ordinance, the Listing Rules, etc.
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 Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA) is an Australian organisation operating globally, focused on management accounting. It differs from other Australian Accounting societies: CPA Australia, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia, Institute of Public Accountants due to this focus.
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.
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.
The accountancy profession in Malaysia is regulated by the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) through the powers conferred by the Accountants Act, 1967. The MIA is an agency under the Ministry of Finance and reports directly to the Accountant General Office. As at 4 February 2016, MIA has 32,618 members of which 68% are involved in commerce and industry, 22% in public practice and 10% in government and academia. Selangor and the Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory have the largest concentration of MIA membership with 13,125 and 7,351 members respectively. https://web.archive.org/web/20150725035639/http://www.mia.org.my/new/members_statistics_state.asp
Accounting Technicians Ireland is the leading professional body for Accounting Technicians on the island of Ireland. They have over 10,000 members and students in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland.
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 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.
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.
