Accountancy name campaign gathers pace

News Article - 31 July 2008
Category: Industry

Calls to grant legal protection of the term 'accountant' are growing louder, with a new poll showing huge support from the industry.

In news that may interest those looking to install accounting software, the survey by Accountancy Age found 96 per cent of its readers are keen to stop unqualified advisers calling themselves accountants.

It follows a petition by Alan Shooter, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, which was lodged on the Downing Street website and attracted thousands of signatures.

Speaking at the latest Accountancy Age web seminar, Richard Aitken-Davies, president of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, said the movement remains a top priority for accountancy bodies.

He explained: "There are a number of people out there who are calling themselves accountants who are not professionally qualified. An awful lot of them are not measuring up to the sort of standards that clients would be reasonably expecting from an accountant."

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable recently tabled a motion in the Commons to call for the term to be legally recognised.

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