Chartered certified accountant: roles and career path
Discover what a chartered accountant is, their responsibilities, qualifications, salary, and career path.
A chartered certified accountant is a highly qualified professional role that offers a varied and rewarding career. If you’re interested in becoming a chartered certified accountant, this job profile will tell you everything you need to know. We’ll guide you on the roles and responsibilities of a chartered certified accountant, what qualifications you’ll need, the salaries and benefits you can expect, and your career development path.
Find out how to become an accountant.
What is a chartered certified accountant?
A chartered certified accountant is a qualified accountant who has completed their training through the ACCA pathway. The term ‘chartered certified’ is legally protected and can be used only by a member of ACCA.
Not every chartered accountant needs to be certified, and an employer will specify if they require a chartered certified accountant. Employers may have a preference for different accounting qualifications, such as ACA or CGMA.
Read the accountancy qualification guide.
Responsibilities of a chartered certified accountant
As a chartered certified accountant, you will be highly qualified to perform a range of accounting tasks, including:
Financial forecasting
Investigating financial anomalies
Auditing
Qualifications for becoming a chartered certified accountant
To become a chartered certified accountant, you need to:
Complete the ACCA qualification
To begin the ACCA professional qualification, you will need three GCSEs, and two A-levels, or equivalent qualifications. If you have a degree, you may be exempt from some of the exams in the qualification route.
If you don’t meet these requirements, ACCA has a foundations entry route that will open up your path to becoming a chartered certified accountant.
ACCA’s professional qualification is made up of three levels. These are Applied Knowledge, Applied Skills, and Strategic Professional.
During the Strategic Professional level, you’ll also need to complete the Ethics and Professional Skills module.
See the full list of ACCA exams.
Earn three years of professional experience
You’ll need to have acquired three years of professional experience in a role related to accountancy. To qualify, a role must have you working mostly on tasks such as accounting, finance, audit and assurance, or areas such as forensic accounting, taxation, or insolvency.
Become an ACCA member
Having completed your qualification and professional experience, you’ll be invited to become an ACCA member.
This will allow you to use the letters ACCA after your name, designating you as a highly qualified chartered certified accountant.
Everything you need to know about the ACCA qualification route.
Skills required for becoming a chartered certified accountant
To become a chartered certified accountant you will need a range of skills.
These include:
Commitment
The ACCA qualification is challenging, and accountancy is a highly competitive field. You will need good commitment to complete your studies while earning professional experience.
Time management
You will often find yourself with a busy schedule. For both becoming a chartered certified accountant, and during your career, you will need effective methods of managing your time, and prioritising tasks.
Numeracy skills
While many tasks can be carried out by software, you will need to be able to check for errors, as well as correct them. A strong grasp of mathematics will be important in order to carry out your role.
For a full list of the skills you need as a chartered accountant, read the guide.
Salary and benefits for chartered certified accountants
Your starting salary will vary considerably depending on the location and size of the firm you work for, the sector and your qualifications. As a graduate, you could start on a salary of around £25,000 while you earn your qualification and complete your professional experience.
Once qualified, your salary can range from £26,000 to £45,000 for more senior accounting roles.
Chartered certified accountants with significant experience can earn over £100,000, with added benefits such as large bonuses. This could be the case if you find yourself as the director of a large company.
Starting salaries for the corporate sector are generally higher than the public sector, so salaries for chartered certified accountants working in banks and insurance companies will reflect this.
Some organisations can offer additional benefits, such as profit-sharing schemes, private health insurance, pensions, or car allowances and bonuses.
Career path for chartered certified accountants
As a chartered certified accountant, your opportunities for career development are limited only by the company you work for. You can progress to senior roles as your experience grows and your skills develop further, and with these roles comes greater responsibility.
You could become the manager of your financial team, or even move onto director level roles.
