Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Chartered Accountants Worldwide Created

The ICAEW has announced the birth of a new organisation, Chartered Accountants Worldwide, which brings together the members of leading institutes to create a community of hundreds of thousands of Chartered Accountants in more than 180 countries.

The organisation comprises six professional bodies:

- ICAEW
- ICAS
- Chartered Accountants Ireland
- Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia
- New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants
- The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants

Chartered Accountants Worldwide aims to provide:
  • a consistent platform globally to promote the expertise of Chartered Accountants
  • the ability to maximise opportunities to work anywhere around the world
  • greater opportunity to connect and network with your peers worldwide
  • access to member facilities in other partner institutes including events, technical information, business centres, libraries, information services, websites and newsletters

Connecting hundreds of thousands of members and students, it aims to:
  • promote the commitment of our global membership to the highest standards of professional and ethical practice
  • create greater opportunities globally for those seeking to become or develop as Chartered Accountants – and those looking to train or employ them
  • share expertise and innovation to maintain Chartered Accountancy’s position as the preeminent qualification for those in accountancy, finance and business.

Meanwhile the Global Accounting Alliance (founded in 2006 and which also includes a.o. the ICAEW) still exists:
"Representing over 700,000 of the world's leading professional accountants, the Global Accounting Alliance will promote quality professional services, global membership support, share information and collaborate on important international issues.

The Alliance will work with national regulators, governments and stakeholders, through member-body collaboration, articulation of consensus views, and working in collaboration, where possible, with other international bodies."
Is it possible that there is a wee bit of an overlap here?

3 comments:

  1. There is a big overlap! What I've noticed is that the non chartered institutes HKCPA, AICPA have been excluded. Not sure why CICA Canada is not part of this newer version of GAA.

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  2. More muddled thinking and bureaucratic deadwood. In practice, no one cares which Institute one belongs to. What is actually needed is for the individual Institutes to drop their closed-shop mindsets and automatically make PRACTICING CERTIFICATES available based on residency, without additional examination requirements.

    Does anyone really believe that I, for example, can't pick up the local tax or audit code in a new country in a matter of weeks - after spending fifty years as a CA, resident in six different jurisdictions and advising on a dozen more? (Or hire the right locals to build up the necessary team, also in weeks)?

    What is actually needed is a super-national QUALIFICATION which is accepted everywhere. Our biggest problem is the parochial, closed-shop, dog-in-the-manger minded dunderheads who infest the Boards and Committees of our Institutes.

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  3. Anonymous,

    - I would guess AICPA and HKICPA are excluded because they use the dreaded words "CPA"?

    - CICA probably because they have been talking amalgamation or similar with AICPA?

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