The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) is the largest professional accountancy body in Europe.

Our 128,000 members work in wide-ranging careers in thousands of organisations, large and small, and from multinational organisations, accountancy practice firms, public sector companies through to charities and as leaders of their own businesses. While the majority of our members are based in the UK, 12% live and work in more than 140 different countries across the globe, demonstrating that the ICAEW with its premier business qualification; the Associate Chartered Accountant qualification (ACA) is internationally recognised and valued.

Once they qualify, we support our members with a wide range of services. We lobby governments and other leading decision-makers on business and accounting issues, and challenge the business community with our research and expertise. Through our contacts and influence, we can justly claim to be the voice of the profession.

We also play a part in maintaining the highest standards of professional conduct in the practice of accountancy and in ensuring that the overall reputation of the profession is enhanced for the future.

The ACA - the qualification for business leaders

A Chartered Accountant is someone who holds a recognised accountancy qualification from a chartered accountancy body. Chartered accountants provide the broadest kind of strategic business advice to the organisations where they work. As well as financial reporting, taxation, auditing, forensic accounting, corporate finance and insolvency modern accountants are expected to have a solid foundation in business, marketing, economics, finance, management and information systems.

From launching new businesses to understanding the very heartbeat of an organisation, chartered accountants are highly involved in every aspect of ensuring business success and financial integrity and they therefore belong to a prestigious, well-respected and dynamic profession which continues to grow.

Such broad-based business knowledge and wide-ranging skills are highly valuable to a huge variety of businesses across the world – which means a qualification in chartered accountancy can help you fulfil your career ambitions in whichever direction you choose to go – working anywhere in the world or even starting your own business.

Chartered accountants need to be confident with numbers, but do not necessarily need to have Maths at A-level. The ACA attracts motivated and able people with all kinds of degrees – English, classics, engineering, law, social sciences and modern languages as well as accounting, business studies or finance. It’s a challenging qualification and we’re certainly not saying it will be easy – in fact it will demand a lot of hard work, commitment and determination from you. But the results are worth it: on qualifying your ACA will be recognised worldwide as a sign of quality and professionalism and will offer you an opportunity for enviable professional success, an internationally diverse business career and fantastic rewards.

The Facts

• Many ACA trainees can expect to double their salary during their training contract with salaries for newly qualified ACAs comparing highly favourably with career pathways in law, general management and banking for example.

• As of April 2006, 101 chief executive officers, chief financial officers, finance directors and company secretaries in the FTSE 100 held accountancy qualifications. 70% of these qualified with the ACA, five times as many as any other accountancy qualification.

• Many of our members achieve partner or financial director status early into their careers, opening the way for a greater variety of opportunities, rewards and influence as their career progresses.

• Qualified ACAs work in 140 countries worldwide. As the only Institute to have our own specialist faculty expertise, our members can access a huge breadth of accountancy experience as well as keep abreast of new developments in policy and practice throughout their careers.

Career Flexibility

More than any other qualification, the ACA also gives you flexibility – once you’ve qualified, how far you take it is up to you!

The qualification will:

• open doors to a wide range of firms – from established multinationals to entrepreneurial local organisations

• help you successfully to establish your own business

• prepare you to lead public sector, not-for-profit or charitable organisations

• allow you to specialise further in a technical aspect of accountancy such as corporate recovery, forensic accountancy, corporate finance or taxation

• and even offer you flexibility to have a portfolio career or work part-time later on.

Join our worldwide organisation

When you qualify as an ACA, you are eligible to join the professional body - the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales. When you become a member, you will not only be able to use the letters ACA after your name, but can enjoy many other benefits.

• Our members are leaders in their fields, whether working in accountancy practice, in business, in the public sector or as entrepreneurs. Networking with fellow members at the Institute provides unparalleled access to financial decision-makers.

• We offer top quality continuing professional development to help you get – and stay – ahead of your peers. This includes specialist qualifications in international financial reporting standards, corporate finance and partnerships with world-leading MBA providers such as Oxford University’s Saïd Business School.

• Our expertise – through faculties and special interest groups - leads academic and professional thinking in accountancy. This comes directly to you in leading publications, top quality advisory services and technical helplines, and an exceptional library. With faculties covering audit and assurance, business law, corporate finance, corporate governance, corporate responsibility, ethics, finance and management, financial reporting, financial services, information technology, small and medium-sized enterprises and tax, we have pretty much got the business world covered.

• As the largest professional accountancy body in Europe, our regional, national and international networks offer great opportunities for professional networking and career and business development overseas.

• As a member, you’ll be able to use the Institute’s headquarters building in the City of London for meetings, entertaining and presentations.

Pathways to membership

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) successfully launched its ‘Pathways’ initiative in March 2006. ‘Pathways’ is a route to membership enabling ACCA, CIMA and CIPFA members to qualify for the ACA by undertaking an Examination of Experience. The first examination marking session saw four of the five applicants being granted membership.

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