Regulation of individual professional accountants is primarily conducted at a national level, with professional accountancy organizations playing an important role in working with governments to ensure that such regulation is effective, efficient and in the public interest.

What is accounting regulation?

Accounting regulation focuses on financial accounting. Accounting regulation consists of a legal framework, standards, education, and licensure. A legal framework is fundamental to accounting regulation. It determines the types of entities available under the law.

Do accountants need to be regulated?

In order to practice as an accountant with a professional body, you have to have a practicing licence and hold professional indemnity insurance. As a member of a professional body they will be regulated by law under the Proceeds of Crime Act Money Laundering Regulations (AML) with very strict rules to comply with.

Who are accountants regulated by?

The accounting regulatory bodies in the UK are the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). They set standards for reporting, monitor and enforce accounting and auditing standards. They also oversee the professional accounting bodies and where necessary will complete disciplinary procedures.

Is it illegal to call yourself an accountant?

The term accountant is not regulated, so anyone can refer to themselves as an accountant regardless of their background, experience, training or professional qualifications. It is therefore vital that when choosing an accountant to partner with, you check their credentials.

Who is ACCA regulated by?

If your firm in the UK is controlled by our members (ie at least half of the partners/directors are members of ACCA and the ACCA partners/directors control at least 51% of the voting rights) or holds an auditing certificate from us, you/your firm are automatically supervised by ACCA.

Who can be called an accountant?

Keep in mind that there’s no hard line between the two terms. As long as they do misrepresent their qualifications, almost anyone can call themselves an accountant. This isn’t true of CPAs (Certified Public Accountants), which is a designation that requires specialized training.