Searching for an accountant online

Red_Marauder

Hi just a query about checking out an accountant's identity.

I am getting some emails from a personal email address which I suspect belongs to a company director, but who claims to be the company accountant (we doubt there is any such accountant).

The name is a relatively unusual one, so I was wondering if there is a public register for accountants like there is for doctors, for example, where you just enter the individual's name and presto, there's his/ her accreditation.

Thanks

dbran

Hi

There is a register of auditors on the CRO.

You can also find out his institute and from there check to see if he is a member.

Kind Regards

dbran

Red_Marauder

Thanks. Nothing on the CRO auditor's register. Is it possible to be a practising accountant and not be on that register?

Requests for info on which institute she is registered have been ignored so far.

I was on to the IAASA but they're not sure if this is something under their remit.

dbran

Hi

Unfortunately you dont have to be qualified to call yourself an accountant.

Kind Regards


dbran

J.Ryan

If you want to send me the name by PM, I may be able to do some research on this for you.

Red_Marauder

seriously? I didn't know that, I presumed it was one of those protected terms like solicitor or veterinary surgeon or dietician...

thanks j ryan i appreciate that, i will do so

J.Ryan

Its only a may be able, I'm not promising, but I'm in 3 institutes so should be able to turn up something

kennyb3

Red_Marauder wrote: »

seriously? I didn't know that, I presumed it was one of those protected terms like solicitor or veterinary surgeon or dietician...

thanks j ryan i appreciate that, i will do so

Unfortunately its true but i think its the same in any area - anyone can call themselves something. I could call myself a physio for example. What you have to look for is a) initials after their name and ask to see their certificate to show they are qualified b) their practising cert to show they are registered to practice.

Mongarra

I am a qualified Tax Consultant, not an accountant (but trained in a firm of practising accountants) but most people where I live, and most of my clients, for whom I prepare accounts and do tax returns, call me an accountant.

Never have I called myself an accountant since a comment from an accountant (qualified) friend many years ago complaining about non-qualified people calling themselves accountants.

Red_Marauder

kennyb3 wrote: »

Unfortunately its true but i think its the same in any area - anyone can call themselves something. I could call myself a physio for example. What you have to look for is a) initials after their name and ask to see their certificate to show they are qualified b) their practising cert to show they are registered to practice.

As far as I can establish, physiotherapists and dietitians and podiatrists (for example) are all protected titles, and have been so since the enactment into law of the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005.

The designation of protected titles seems to be an entirely haphazard one.

Architects enjoy a protected title (and rightly so), yet accountants, who might be asked to manage financial transactions many times greater than your average house build, do not. I find that bizarre and unfortunate.

I agree that it's simple enough to spot when an accountant is properly certified once one knows what to look out for, it's just that I assume many people, like myself, would have always thought that 'accountant' was one of those protected titles.