Who Is a Chartered Accountant?
Chartered accountant designation is worldwide, and it refers to professional accountants who are qualified to take on a number of specific activities within the spectrum of corporate law, taxation and accountancy. Such tasks include auditing financial statements, compliance of legal requirements, investment planning and financial advising.
While the name is seen around the globe, in the United States, the equivalent position is known as a certified public accountant, or CPA.
The professional body that governs this group of accounting workers goes back to 1854 where it was founded in Britain.
There are now several associations that act as governing and accrediting bodies for these professionals, such as the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in India, England and Wales.
What Chartered Accountants Do
There are many areas in which these accountancy professionals serve. They are taxation, financial auditing and reporting, applied finance and management accounting, legal compliance services. The specialization an accountant chooses determines under which umbrella he or she works. Chartered accountants can wear a number of hats. It’s possible that they may oversee a corporation or business’s entire growth level. They may have a more narrow function such as being in charge of just one aspect of a business like auditing or taxes. Many of these highly skilled professionals will go out on their own as freelancers in practice or consultants for hire.
How to Become a Chartered Accountant
How to become a chartered accountant depends upon the country where you want to work, as each has its own requirements for certification. Regardless of specifics, chartered accountants do meet more stringent academic and practical requirements than other levels of accountant. In most cases, there is a standard bachelor’s level degree or a higher secondary pass level followed by a practicum or internship or some kind and then a specific program in chartered accounting principals. A person must be quite dedicated in order to achieve the rank of CA, but the position is a well-respected one that usually carries a higher salary than other types of professionals.
Reasons Chartered Accountants Are in Demand
There are a number of reasons why a government, business, corporation, firm, trust, company or individual would want to hire a chartered accountant.
Many financial and accounting matters are quite sensitive and require someone incredibly knowledgable to undertake them.
Business people want to feel assured that their monetary issues are being competently handled, without worry of legal ramifications or errors that could cost them money. They want to hire the Chartered Accountants duly qualified.