Accounting firm with ACCA membership only (not ICAEW)

[Simran Kaur2]

Hi,
Hope everyone is doing fine
I am having few years experiences as accountant in few different industry and completed all ACCA papers (some with exemptions from my undergraduate) and joining membership of ACCA. I am planning to run my own accounting firm next year. However, few things have come up to my mind and I have been searching around through websites and asking friends but no straight answer as they mostly have no planning to have the firm yet. Firstly, I would like to apologize if similar thread has been discussed earlier and would like to start new here.
My questions are:
1. Does to open an accounting firm in the UK (England), I can be the sole director and shareholder, meanwhile the remaining will be the accounting staff to manage the tasks? As I have no idea who will be other qualified accountant yet to join
2. Is it sufficient to have the firm running with only me being ACCA member and using their logo, without having ICAEW membership? Because I have seen most of accounting firms have ICAEW logo and being known as 'Chartered Accountant'.
The reason I am opt for it because ICAEW is slightly pricey over ACCA, and I believe they do not provide certain exemptions for ACCA member (If some of ACCA exams are being exempted too), which means I will need longer time to complete it plus the training by ICAEW. To add, my services will be mainly for bookkeeping, tax services (tax filing, tax planning and strategies, inheritance tax and some other tax services included) and finance/mortgage advices, not thought for public auditing services yet.

I highly hope for some responses

Regards

 

[DWS]

Do you have an ACCA practising certificate to allow you to run your own business?

 

[Ziggy2024]

You don't need any qualifications to open an accountancy firm but as per DWS post, if you are a member of a professional body you must follow their rules which means you will require a practicing certificate.

ICAEW & ACCA are both chartered qualifications, there is no reason to swap between the two IMO. Both qualifications require you to have completed practical work experience before you can apply for a practice certificate. ACCA is 3 years IIRC.

 

[Bobbo]

1) You say you have experience as an accountant in a few different industries. But do you have experience working in an accounting practice - as opposed to in a business? If not, then with all due respect you should not be looking to start an accounting firm.

2) As covered by others being a member of ACCA will mean you likely need a practicing certificate from them to run your own firm.

3) There is probably no issue with you being sole director and shareholder - especially as it sounds like you are the only qualified person.

4) ACCA have rules on the use of their logo. If you an ACCA member with a practicing certificate control an accounting firm then that firm is probably fine to use the logo.

 

[Simran Kaur2]

Do you have an ACCA practising certificate to allow you to run your own business?

I have more than 3 years experiences in accountancy and cleared all the papers, so I believe I could apply and obtain for it soon through ACCA

Do you have an ACCA practising certificate to allow you to run your own business?

 

[Simran Kaur2]

You don't need any qualifications to open an accountancy firm but as per DWS post, if you are a member of a professional body you must follow their rules which means you will require a practicing certificate.

ICAEW & ACCA are both chartered qualifications, there is no reason to swap between the two IMO. Both qualifications require you to have completed practical work experience before you can apply for a practice certificate. ACCA is 3 years IIRC.

Yes, however I feel stick with ACCA would be alright for now. As what I have read from ICAEW website, it stated few ACCA exemptions papers need to be taken again and longer training may be require.

 

[Simran Kaur2]

1) You say you have experience as an accountant in a few different industries. But do you have experience working in an accounting practice - as opposed to in a business? If not, then with all due respect you should not be looking to start an accounting firm.

2) As covered by others being a member of ACCA will mean you likely need a practicing certificate from them to run your own firm.

3) There is probably no issue with you being sole director and shareholder - especially as it sounds like you are the only qualified person.

4) ACCA have rules on the use of their logo. If you an ACCA member with a practicing certificate control an accounting firm then that firm is probably fine to use the logo.

1. I have experiences working in a specific accountancy firm but I could not reach them to get me the signing, however some other companies I been working with have given me the sign for PER
2. Yes, I would apply for it soon

Thank you for your response

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Hi,
Hope everyone is doing fine
I am having few years experiences as accountant in few different industry and completed all ACCA papers (some with exemptions from my undergraduate) and joining membership of ACCA. I am planning to run my own accounting firm next year. ...

My best advice to you is to get some practical experience working in an accountancy practice before setting up on your own. Without any practical experience you will have a significant lack of essential knowledge. You'll also need some relevant experience to obtain a practising certificate. Have a read here