What is a Chartered Accountant?
Chartered accountants are leaders, tackling the most important challenges in business. They utilise their professional skills to help companies across every sector to innovate, grow, and to develop ambitious strategies for the future. Outlining the scope of work that revolves around Chartered Accountancy, refer to the four “As” below:
Assess: Looking at how money flows in and out of a business, measuring the value of assets, and analysing how an organisation is performing. Chartered accountants also often help to make big business decisions.
Analyse: Performing analysis and interpretation to calculate the physical goods of a company and even measure the value of a brand.
Audit: Auditors work across every sector to independently confirm the trustworthiness of financial figures.
Advise: Companies often turn to chartered accountants when they want to launch a new product, buy another company, or improve their operations. This explains why many chartered accountants end up moving into CEO roles and other senior leadership positions.
As you can see, chartered accountants do much more than just auditing and looking at figures. Their work also often encompasses other important business functions, such as analysis and advisory roles, which is particularly important when big strategic decisions need to be made.
Where Can Chartered Accountancy Take You?
Being a high-demand professional, with access to a wide range of exciting careers, is only the tip of the iceberg of what to expect once you are a chartered accountant. Here are some of the many things you can do with the professional qualification:
Image Credit: ICAEW Go Places Brochure
How the ICAEW ACA Qualification Can Empower Your Career
It is important to note that the letters ‘ACA’ can only be used by ICAEW Chartered Accountants, those who have completed the ICAEW ACA qualification and have joined as members of ICAEW.
The ICAEW ACA paves the way for a successful career in business, accounting and finance. As a world leader in the accountancy and finance profession, ICAEW has been helping its members pursue successful careers for over 130 years.
The ICAEW ACA qualification can be pursued by school leavers or graduates alike, from any background or discipline. It is a highly recognised and sought after qualification for professionals in the world of accounting, business and finance. ICAEW connects with over 150,000 chartered accountants in 154 countries worldwide, and this means that with the ICAEW ACA qualification you can build a truly international career.
It is also worth noting that students undertaking the ICAEW ACA qualification are highly successful in their examinations. This is mainly attributed to the quality of learning material and support provided by ICAEW throughout their studies.
Being an ICAEW Member
Having successfully completed the ICAEW ACA qualification, you will have to apply, to become a member in order to use the ICAEW Chartered Accountant (ACA) title.
As a world leading professional membership organisation, ICAEW continuously supports its members throughout their career by sharing knowledge, insight and capabilities. The Institute’s high standards and reputation for excellence ensures that you will have the expertise and values to meet the needs of businesses at every stage of your professional career.
Some of the many roles played by ICAEW are:
- Train, develop and support ICAEW Chartered Accountants throughout their careers
- Provide members with knowledge, guidance and continuous professional development to ensure the highest professional standards
- Act in the public interest by sharing expertise and offering insight into business and the economy
- Support schools, colleges and universities by sharing knowledge in the areas of finance, accountancy and business
- Work with over 5,000 Authorised Training Employers (ATEs) internationally to provide students undertaking the ICAEW ACA qualification with the work experience required to qualify as an ICAEW Chartered Accountant.
To summarise, the ICAEW ACA ultimately prepares you for leadership right up to the board level. That’s why 78% of FTSE 100 companies have an ICAEW Chartered Accountant on their board. On top of gaining access to great career prospects and opportunities, being an ICAEW Chartered Accountant enables you to unlock your career aspirations with the support of a world-leading professional organisation behind you.
For more information on how to become an ICAEW Chartered Accountant, visit their careers website.
Note: This article was written in partnership with ICAEW, one of the world’s leading providers of training and professional development for chartered accountants.
Feature Image Credit: ICAEW Go Places Brochure