When we formed the ICPA we recognised that there were Accountants in Practice who were not in any organisation and as such did not have access to special rates on products nor a forum where their interest could be best served.
We have, over the last few years, developed a range of benefits which we have offered to all Accountants in Practice, irrespective of their Institute membership.
We have been very pleased with the take up from members of the ICAEW, ACCA, AAT CIMA etc but especially pleased by the take up from Accountants that did not belong to any organisation.
There have been calls by various Institutes, but mainly the ICAEW, to limit the use of the term "Accountant" to their members only.
This is a move we at the ICPA have constantly opposed believing that there are good and bad Accountants and being a member of any one organisation is not a guarantee of the former.
Our Chairman Tony Margaritelli has campaigned on this issue and below is the response received from the BERR :
"Dear Mr Margaritelli
Thank you for your email of 3 November in which you expressed concerns that about possible restrictions of the use of the term “Accountant” to only ICAEW or similar members.
I can confirm that although the idea of introducing a statutory definition of an “accountant” and regulating the whole market may have some attractions, the Government believes that the balance of the argument is against this. The Government considers that the benefit of introducing a statutory regime for all accountants would be outweighed by the drawbacks involved in statutory regulation of all persons undertaking accountancy work.
Restricting the practice of accountancy to individuals who hold certain accountancy qualifications would be bureaucratic and would add significantly to costs. Furthermore, it would be anti-competitive by restricting choice and by proving a disincentive to innovation in the supply of services. All of these consequences would particularly affect smaller businesses. The Government also believes that such a measure would be at variance with the OFT analysis of competition in the professions, which was published in March 2001.
We note that you share the Government’s view that the term chartered accountant should continue to be restricted to appropriately qualified members of one of the professional accounting bodies. The Government believes that this is rightly regarded as providing a good basis on which the public may make an informed judgement between individuals who hold a qualification from a professional body and those who do not.
However, as a general principle, the Government does not believe in regulating unless it is convinced that it is necessary, cost effective, and that no other alternative exists. It does not believe this to be the case in this area."
Yours sincerely,
Rufus Rottenberg
Rufus Rottenberg
Corporate Law and Governance
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
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