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Practitioner of accounting or accountancy

An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certified Accountant or Certified Public Accountant, or Registered Public Accountant. Such professionals are granted certain responsibilities by statute, such as the ability to certify an organization's financial statements, and may be held liable for professional misconduct. Non qualified accountants may be employed by a qualified accountant, or may work independently without statutory privileges and obligations. Cahan & Sun (2015) used archival study to find out that accountants' personal characteristics may exert a very significant impact during the audit process and further influence audit fees and audit quality. Practitioners have been portrayed in popular culture by the stereotype of the humorless, introspective bean counter. It has been suggested that the stereotype has an influence on those attracted to the profession with many new entrants underestimating the importance of communication skills and overestimating the importance of numeracy in the role. An accountant may either be hired for a firm that requires accounting services on a continuous basis, or may belong to an accounting firm that provides accounting consulting services to other firms. The Big Four auditors are the largest employers of accountants worldwide. However, most accountants are employed in commerce, industry, and the public sector.

In the Commonwealth of Nations, which include the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong pre 1997, and several other states, commonly recognised accounting qualifications are Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA), Chartered Accountant (CA or ACA), Certified Management Accountant (Institute of Certified Management Accountants) (CMA), Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA) and International Accountant (AAIA). Other qualifications in particular countries include Certified Public Accountant (CPA – Ireland and CPA – Hong Kong), Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA – Canada), Certified Management Accountant (Institute of Certified Management Accountants|CMA – Australia) (CMA – Sri Lanka), Certified Practising Accountant (CPA – Australia) and members of the Institute of Public Accountants (Australia), and Certified Public Practising Accountant (CPPA – New Zealand). The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) received its Royal Charter in 1854 and is the world's first professional body of accountants.

In Australia, there are three legally recognised local professional accounting bodies which all enjoy the same recognition and can be considered as "qualified accountant": the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA), CPA Australia (CPA) and the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ). Other international bodies such as ACCA (The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) enjoy recognition for the purposes of supporting their members in their careers. For instance, ACCA has achieved recognition by the Tax Practitioner Board, as Tax and BAS agents, in 2010.

In Canada, a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) must be a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (designatory letters CPA). Up to 2013, there were three nationally recognized accounting designations in Canada: Chartered Accountant (CA), Certified General Accountant (CGA), and Certified Management Accountants (CMA). The national CA and CGA bodies were created by Acts of Parliament in 1902 and 1913 respectively, The national CMA organization was established under the Canada Corporations Act in 1920. In January 2012, following eight months of member and stakeholder consultation, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA), the Society of Management Accountants of Canada (CMA Canada) and Certified General Accountants of Canada (CGA Canada) issued A Framework for Uniting the Canadian Accounting Profession under a new Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation. Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada) was established by CICA and CMA Canada on January 1, 2013, under the Canada Not for profit Corporations Act, to support Canadian provincial accounting bodies that were unifying under the CPA banner. CGA Canada integrated with CPA Canada on October 1, 2014, completing the unification of Canada's accounting profession at the national level. All recognized national and provincial accounting bodies in Canada have now unified under the CPA banner. The Canadian CPA designation is held by more than 200,000 members in Canada and around the world.

In Japan, a certified public accountant must be a member of the Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (JICPA). It is the sole professional accountancy organization in Japan.

Chartered accountancy is offered in India by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), the second largest accounting body in the world. This Institute was established in 1949 under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 for the regulation of the profession of chartered accountants in India. The ICAI set up the Accountancy Museum of India in 2009, the third museum of accounting in the world. It is located at ICAI's office in Noida. A Cost and Management Accountant is registered as a member under the Institute of Cost Accountants of India(ICMAI) previously known as (ICWAI) which is a statutory body constituted under the Cost and Works Accountants Act 1959 enacted by the Parliament of India, it is also the second largest Management Accountancy body in the world. The members of the Institute are widely recognized as Cost and Management Accountants (FCMA, ACMA).

Under Public Accountants Law ( UU 5/2011), the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Indonesia (IAPI) is the professional organization having the authority to issue CPA designation which is the statutory requirements for obtaining public accountant license from the government.

Chartered accountancy is governed in Bangladesh by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB). And The Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) offers management accountant studies in Bangladesh.

In New Zealand, there are two local accountancy bodies the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) and the New Zealand Association of Certified Public Accountants (NZACPA) the operating name of New Zealand Association of Accountants Inc (NZAA). To audit public companies an individual must be a member of either the CAANZ or an otherwise gazetted body. Chartered Certified Accountant (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants or FCCA) qualification has also been gazetted under. An ACCA member can practice as long as they hold an ACCA public practice certificate (with audit qualification) in their country of origin.

In Singapore, a public accountant must be a member of any professional accountancy body in Singapore. Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) is the sole local accountancy body, therefore the public accountant must be a member of the ISCA.

In Sri Lanka, a chartered accountant must be a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (designatory letters ACA or FCA). It is the sole local accountancy body, therefore to audit public companies an individual must be a member of the ICASL. A Certified management account also must be a member of the Institute of Management Accountants of Sri Lanka (designatory letters ACMA or FCMA).

In Austria, the accountancy profession is regulated by the Bilanzbuchhaltungsgesetz 2006 (BibuG – Management Accountancy Law).

In Hong Kong, the accountancy industry is regulated by Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants(HKICPA) under the Professional Accountants Ordinance (Chapter 50, Laws of Hong Kong). The auditing industry for limited companies is regulated under the Companies Ordinance (Chapter 32, Laws of Hong Kong), and other ordinances such as the securities and futures ordinance, the listing rules, etc. HKICPA terminated all recognition of overshare bodies in 2005 for accreditation under professional accountants ordinance. In general, all British RQBs except for CIPFA were re accredited. Please refer to HKICPA for latest recognition.

In Portugal, there are two accountancy qualifications: the Contabilistas Certificados (CC), responsible for producing accounting and tax information, and the Revisor Oficial de Contas (ROC), more related to auditing practices. The CC certification is exclusively awarded by the professional organization Ordem dos Contabilistas Certificados (OCC), and the certification to become an auditor is awarded by another professional organization, the Ordem dos Revisores Oficiais de Contas (OROC). In general, accountants or auditors accredited by OTOC or OROC are individuals with university graduation diplomas in business management, economics, mathematics or law who, after further studies, applied for an exam and received the certification to be a CC or ROC. That certification is only received after a one year (CC) or three year (ROC) internship. Any citizen having a polytechnic degree as a bookkeeper is also entitled to apply for the exam and certification at the OCC.