Accountants support businesses with their money and maximise profits, as well as offering financial advice.
A good accountant can be an integral part of a business. There are so many things to consider when looking at taking on an accountant. You want them to make a positive impact on your business.
Does an accountant need a degree?
It may surprise you to read that in the UK you do not need a degree to become an accountant and technically, anyone can call themselves an accountant!
There are lots of qualifications that reputable accountants do have. Considering an accountant will be working on your business accounts, I would highly recommend when choosing an accountant that you check to see if they are a member of certain bodies and what qualifications they have and that they are insured to act as your accountant.
What qualifications should an accountant have?
Many accountants have the Association of Accounting Technicians qualification, which is also known as AAT. The AAT is a UK qualification and lots of people start with this qualification when starting in the accounting industry – these qualifications do not award a person as a chartered accountant which is a higher level of qualification but do provide the skills to support your book-keeping, year-end returns and often assist Chartered Accountants.
Chartered accountants have a greater range of training and examination, if their passion is for commercial finance and business strategy, many train to complete the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). In England, a majority of accountants in practice have The Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) qualification, which is the professional qualification from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW).
Here is a list of chartered accountancy bodies and qualifications to look out for in the UK
- Certified Public Accountants Association.
- Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy.
- Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
- Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
- Chartered Institute of Taxation.
- Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.
If your accountant is certified and under governing bodies, it means better security for you. If anything goes wrong, you can contact the relevant body, who can then look into it. Look at it like OFSTED for schools.
You want your accountant to know what they are doing, as, after all, that is why you have hired them.
Accounting Qualifications at Logical BI
At Logical BI Limited, our director Pauline Healey is a chartered management accountant with CIMA and has completed the thorough Members in Practice (MIPs) certification, that allows her to practice on a freelance basis. Make sure if you hire a CIMA accountant that they have the additional MIPs classification that can be found with the following link https://www.cimaglobal.com/About-us/Find-a-CIMA-Accountant/Logical-BI-Limited-14502/
Thinking of switching accountants for proactive support? Logical BI make it easy, taking the strain, why not book a no-obligation, free discovery call today;
