The Institute is a body incorporated by Royal Charter and operates under the terms of its Charter, bye-laws and regulations. The Council is the highest government organ of the Institute, determining its strategy and policy, and deciding on the allocation of resources to its various programmes. Council in turn has delegated certain functions to a number of boards and committees. The overall governance structure of the Institute is set out in the Governance Framework
Council consists of 19 elected members and Council can appoint up to five extraordinary members but must appoint at least two non-Chartered Accountant extraordinary members. There are currently three non-Chartered Accountant members, Padraig McManus, Bríd Munnelly and Ian Slattery. The immediate past president attends Council on an ex-officio basis.
The Bye-Laws make provision for a geographical spread of Council members between the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain and for a balance between members in practice and members in business.
Council usually meets every two months but more frequent meetings can be called if the need arises.