5 Reasons to choose Chartered

1. Get the best advice for your business

Choosing a Chartered Accountant – whether to employ or consult – gives your business the edge giving you outstanding knowledge, skill and commitment. It’s the assurance of leading-edge expertise that’s constantly developing, and delivery of the highest ethical and professional standards. You’ll be choosing from the very best and contributing significantly to your bottom line.

That’s why Chartered Accountants are trusted not only to ensure efficiency and accountability, but to help source capital, identify opportunities for growth and advise on strategic direction.

More than this, Chartered Accountants give competitive companies and organisations access to talent. Individuals with a proven, tested ability to think with vision, create bold new solutions and achieve high performance in real-life circumstances.

By choosing a Chartered Accountant you’re already ahead.

2. Regulation and professional standards

In organising your financial affairs, you demand the same excellence from everyone on your team. Should something go wrong or if you have any doubts or complaints, you rightly expect some recourse to an oversight body.

Unfortunately, many people in business do not realise that anyone can call themselves an accountant. Despite calls from Chartered Accountants Ireland, the designation ‘Accountant’ remains unregulated.

When you employ or retain Chartered Accountant, you can have peace of mind in knowing that our members maintain the highest standards of integrity, professional independence and confidentiality.

Chartered Accountants are:

• Professionally qualified
• Undertake mandatory professional development
• Bound by a code of ethics and professional standards

Chartered Accountants who work in public practice are:

• Monitored by quality reviews of their professional practices
• Required to have professional indemnity insurance in place
• Required to have a complaints procedure in place
• Subject to disciplinary procedures by Professional Standards (see below)

Chartered Accountants on the island of Ireland are regulated by Chartered Accountants Ireland Professional Standards (previously the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board/CARB). Professional Standards was established to regulate members of Chartered Accountants Ireland independently, openly and in the public interest. All members, working either in business or in practice, are subject to regulation by Professional Standards.

Professional Standards ensures that the highest standard of professional services is provided by members and member firms by monitoring compliance with the Standards of Professional Conduct.

3. Breadth of experience

The training of Chartered Accountants places a unique emphasis on generating experience from a wide range of business areas and client companies. During their training and subsequently when qualified, our members will have had exposure to high-performing client companies as well as those who are struggling, and will have learnt lessons from both.

The importance placed on real-life business experience is a hallmark of the training programme undergone by Chartered Accountants and sets apart our members. With that experience comes insight, commercial acumen and professional judgement. Many of our member firms have specialism in a particular sector, so it’s worth spending time to match your requirements with the focus of your accountant.

Make sure you benefit from and leverage these skills in your business.

4. Trust and integrity

Your working life is busy enough without having to worry about how your accountant is delivering for your business. Chartered Accountants are bound by a code of ethics to uphold the highest professional standards. This means that they will always put their clients’ interests before their own.

Ethics and integrity are core values that direct and inform every aspect of our members’ professional lives, and have been central to what it is to be a Chartered Accountant since the foundation of our Institute in 1888.

5. A mentor and advisor in your corner

Leadership can be a lonely place, but being a director or owner shouldn’t mean you’re on your own.

More than just doing your tax and year-end returns, your accountant should be able to help you sustain and grow the business, as well as to protect the business and manage risk. In order to move seamlessly to the next stage in your development, you may benefit from an experienced business coach with strategic financial sense, who has your interests at heart. Your Chartered Accountant has probably worked with businesses with similar challenges and problems and can apply solutions to your situation.

If you would like to contact a Chartered Accountant in your area, please visit our Firms Directory.