British Qualified Accountants - Titles of British Accountancy Qualifications

Titles of British Accountancy Qualifications

In the UK, there is no licence requirement for individuals to describe themselves or practise as an accountant (except for audit or insolvency work). However, to use certain titles and designatory letters requires membership of the appropriate professional body, thus:

• Bodies with royal charter
  • Chartered Accountants must be members of one of the following:
    • the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) (designatory letters ACA or FCA)
    • the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) (designatory letters CA)
    • Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI) (designatory letters ACA or FCA)
    • a recognised equivalent body in another Commonwealth country (designatory letters being CA (name of country) e.g. CA(Canada))
  • Chartered Certified Accountants must be members of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) (designatory letters ACCA or FCCA)
  • Chartered Management Accountants must be members of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) (designatory letters ACMA or FCMA)
  • Chartered Public Finance Accountants must be members of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) (designatory letters CPFA)
• Other recognised bodies
  • International Accountants must be members of the Association of International Accountants (AIA), one of six Recognised Qualifying Bodies in the UK (designatory letters AAIA or FAIA)
  • Authorised Public Accountants must be members of the Association of Authorised Public Accountants (AAPA), one of five Recognised Supervisory Bodies in the UK (designatory letters AAPA)
• Other professional bodies
  • Incorporated Financial Accountants are members of the Institute of Financial Accountants (IFA) (designatory letters FFA or AFA)
  • Certified Public Accountants may be members of the Association of Certified Public Accountants (CPA) (designatory letters ACPA or FCPA), or of a CPA body in another country
  • Certified Practising Accountants are members of the Institute of Certified Practising Accountants (ICPA) (designatory letters ICPA)