What is a Chartered Accountant?

Chartered Accountants have:

• Highly developed communication and technical skills
• Dedication to completing work to a high standard
• Commitment to self-improvement and development
• Ambition to achieve the best for their clients

Expertise and Insight

Chartered Accountants provide expert financial solutions for business and personal needs.

Australia has more than 47,000 Chartered Accountants who work in every part of the economy and across 108 countries. They are professionally qualified advisers who work at the heart of business and finance, offering their skills to a range of organisations and to people from all walks of life.

Chartered Accountants offer a wide variety of services including business management, financial planning, tax services, auditing and forensic accounting, to name just a few. Through a combination of precise, insightful and ethical thinking, Chartered Accountants are without equal in powering the right business decisions and serving as a financial conscience within the community.

Some of the top positions in leading organisations are held by Chartered Accountants – and for good reason. They are recognised as a step up from other accountants, with skills and knowledge that extend well beyond the conventional understanding of ‘accounting’.

Ethics

Chartered Accountants maintain high ethical standards and independence, setting them apart from other business advisers.

Chartered Accountants are bound by APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants and government regulation. The Code provides the ethical foundations for the profession and is continually updated to meet the needs of the Australian accounting industry.

Chartered Accountants can be proud of their title because it denotes that high standards and independence are the cornerstones of the profession.

Chartered Accountants in public practice are periodically reviewed as part of a quality review program conducted by the Institute to ensure they are consistently delivering accurate information and value to their clients.

Highest Standard in Accounting

The Chartered Accountants qualification is recognised worldwide as a mark of excellence, inspiring respect and confidence.

All Chartered Accountants have completed the Chartered Accountants Program (until 2000, students undertook the Professional Year Program – the PY). The postgraduate program is delivered by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (the Institute) and combines technical and theoretical learning with practical on-the-job training. The Program is renowned for its rigour, practicality and quality, making Chartered Accountants some of the best-qualified finance professionals around.

Trust

Chartered Accountants are the number one choice because they offer much more than traditional accounting services.

Chartered Accountants are equipped with the latest regulatory information and undertake ongoing training and development as part of their membership obligations to the Institute. Every member undertakes 120 qualifying hours over each three-year period, to ensure they are up-todate with the latest developments in business and finance and across a range of specialist fields.

Chartered Accountants are Well Connected

Every Chartered Accountant is a member of the Global Accounting Alliance (GAA) which has been formed by nine of the world’s premier accounting bodies and represents more than 700,000 of the world’s leading professional accountants.

The GAA promotes quality professional services and allows Chartered Accountants to share information and collaborate on international accounting issues.

The Institute is the only Australian accounting body within the GAA which includes professional accounting organisations from the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa.

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