Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales
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Categories: Accounting in the United Kingdom | British professional bodies | Institute of Chartered Accountants
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The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) was established by a Royal Charter in 1880[1]. It has over 128,000 members. Over 15,000 of these members live and work outside the UK. The Institute also has some 9,000 students. The Institute is the member of the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB)[2], formed in 1974 by the major accountancy professional bodies in the UK and Ireland. The fragmented nature of the accountancy profession in the UK, is in part due to the absence of any legal requirement for an accountant to be a member of one of the many Institutes. This is because the term accountant does not have the same legal protection in the United Kingdom as that given to, say, doctors and lawyers. There are, though, certain legal rights and duties which are available to professionally qualified accountants. For example, individuals who operate in the areas of audit and insolvency must be registered and only members of certain chartered accountancy bodies (such as the ICAEW) are eligible for such registration. Likewise individuals who describe themselves as "chartered accountants" must be a member of an accountancy body which holds a 'Royal Charter' and if working in public practice these chartered accountants must comply with additional regulations such as holding indemnity insurance and submitting to regular and independent inspections. The ICAEW has 2 offices; the main one is in Moorgate, London and the other in Central Milton Keynes, in the newly built Hub:MK complex.
Admission to membershipTo be admitted to membership of the ICAEW, applicants must generally complete a period of relevant work experience (training) and pass a series of examinations. The work experience lasts between three and five years and must be with an employer or employers approved by the Institute for training. The examinations are in two stages, professional stage (twelve papers) and advanced stage (two papers and a case study, which must be taken in the final year of training). Existing members of ACCA, CIMA and CIPFA of over five years membership may be admitted, subject to passing an Examination of Experience ([1]) and sponsorship by two ICAEW members. Members of equivalent bodies in other European Economic Area countries and Switzerland may also be admitted to membership after passing an aptitude test, provided they are a citizen of an EEA state or Switzerland. The Institute has mutual recognition agreements in place with:
ICAEW members may be admitted to full membership of the above institutions after passing an aptitude test or subject to other specific requirements. Membership categories
The FacultiesThe ICAEW includes a number of specialist faculties which provide additional benefits and information to members who can select which faculties to join on payment of an additional annual fee. The Faculties currently cover: Tax, Audit & Assurance, Finance & management, Information Technology, Corporate Finance and Financial Services. The faculties of the ICAEW were originally conceived as being centres of technical excellence for professionals working in each of six key areas. The faculties provide support and technical expertise but members who join them are not necessarily technically expert themselves. ICAEW members are attracted to join one or more of the faculties because they perceive that they receive value for money for the additional subscription through the magazines, books and other benefits they obtain including formalised opportunities to network with professionals who have similar interests, experiences and goals. Each Faculty has two masters. Their staff are employed by the ICAEW and are part of the Technical Directorate of the ICAEW. However they also have responsibilities to those members who have chosen to pay an additional subscription to belong to the faculty or faculties of their choice. Some of the faculties are obliged to provide information and resources to all members of the ICAEW albeit that Faculty members receive additional benefits and material that are not made available to all members of the ICAEW. The faculties are also responsible, through their staff and volunteer members, for representing the ICAEW's views on relevant subjects. This includes making representations to Government, responding to consultation papers and discussion documents as well as formulating and promoting a programme of thought leadership activities relevant to the faculty's main focus. HistoryUntil the mid-nineteenth century the role of accountants in England and Wales was restricted to that of bookkeepers in that accountants merely maintained records of what other business people had purchased and sold. However, with the growth of the limited liability company in Victorian Britain a demand was created for more technically proficient accountants to deal with the increasing complexity of the Companies legislation being introduced. To improve their status and combat criticism of low standards, accountants in the cities of Britain formed professional bodies. The ICAEW was formed from the five of these associations that existed in England prior to its establishment by Royal Charter in 1880.[3]
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