Requirements

Chartered or certified accountant - requirements

As a chartered or certified accountant, you’ll be an expert in financial recordkeeping, auditing or advising and help your clients run their charitable, business or government operations. Here you can learn more about accounting careers, find out what it involves and what you’ll need to study and do to get a role.

Know what you'll need to land a job below.

What qualifications do you need to be a chartered or certified accountant?

Employers in this sector typically take on graduates from any background if they have good results and show relevant professional skills and attitude. However, a degree in one of the following will be especially useful:

You can get into accountancy without a degree or higher national diploma, but it will be more challenging to compete against graduates. To be a chartered accountant you must complete one of several pathways to an accountancy qualification that legally allows you to work as a chartered accountant.

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Do you need a postgraduate qualification to be a chartered or certified accountant?

A postgraduate degree can increase your employability, contribute to your chartership training or help you get management accountant roles, but it isn’t needed to start a career in this field.

Examples of taught MAs and research degrees at postgraduate level include MAs in:

Accounting and finance
Professional accounting
Forensic accounting
International accounting and finance
Charity accounting and financial management

What skills do you need to be a chartered or certified accountant?

As well as an analytical and problem-solving mindset, you’ll need to show strong motivation, teamwork and IT skills.

Hard skills usually include:

Accounting
Auditing
Finance
Statistical analysis
Mathematics
Accounting software

Soft skills include:

Budgeting and forecasting
Management skills
Communication
Eye for detail
Planning skills
Leadership skills

Do you need work experience to be a chartered or certified accountant?

Work experience isn’t needed in most cases if you are looking to get onto a graduate training programme but is useful if you are applying to competitive training pathways or to a well-known company. Work in experience in accountancy is obviously useful, but you can demonstrate relevant skills and attitude through other types of experience too.