The Accountancy Club: ACCA

About ACCA (The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants)

ACCA is the global body for professional accountants. They offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.

ACCA’s Missions is to:

Provide opportunity and access to people of ability around the world and support our members throughout their careers in accounting, business and finance.
Achieve and promote the highest professional, ethical and governance standards
Advance the public interest
Be a global leader in the profession

ACCA’s Core Values are:

Opportunity: we provide opportunity, free from artificial barriers, to people around the world-whether students, members or employees and we support them in their careers
Diversity: we respect and value difference, embracing diversity in our people and in our output
Innovation: we create new and unexpected possibilities, providing innovation solutions for the future
Accountability: we accept individual and corporate responsibility for our actions, working together to deliver a quality service and to promote the best interests of our stakeholders
Integrity: we act ethically and work in the public interest, treating people fairly and honestly; we encourage the same from others

History of ACCA

ACCA is the global body for professional accountants with 162,000 members and 428,000 students in 173 countries. We also have a network of over 89 offices and centres across the world.

In 1904, eight people formed the London Association of Accountants. Their aim was to provide more open access to the accountancy profession than the two existing accountancy organizations. ACCA went through a number of mergers and amalgamations over the years. In 1984 we became the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants to reflect the fact that we had been granted a Royal Charter of Incorporation. In 1996 we began to use our current name, The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

1904	On 30 November eight accountants found the London Association of Accountants, the forerunner of ACCA.
1905	The Association has 312 members and introduces its first examinations. The Circular is launched, which becomes The Certified Accountants' Journal in 1909, Certified Accountant in 1981 and Accounting & Business in 1998.
1907	The term 'certified accountant' is introduced. There are 13 members outside the UK including in Argentina, Burma (Myanmar), India, South Africa and Spain.
1908	The first students' association is established.
1909	Ethel Ayres Purdie becomes a member, the first woman to belong to a professional accountancy body.
1910	A milestone is reached - the registration of 1,000 members
1913	The first branch outside the UK is opened in South Africa.
1914	One quarter of our members enter the armed services in World War I.
1918	Membership is formalized. Members now have to pass final examinations and complete five years' relevant experience.
1930	There are 56 female members, more than the other UK accountancy bodies put together.
1933	The London Association is renamed as the London Association of Certified Accountants.
1936	The Malayan (Malaysia/Singapore) branch is set up.
1938	Members are recognized in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
1939	A merger is completed with the Scottish-based Corporation of Accountants, leading to a new name: the Association of Certified and Corporate Accountants.
1940	With the help of the Red Cross, prisoners of war are able to sit ACCA exams.
1945	A joint university scheme is introduced, allowing exemptions for graduates.
1948	Members’ letters are formalized: FACCA (fellow) and AACCA (associate member).
1950	Branches are set up in Hong Kong, Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Trinidad and Tobago, British Guiana (Guyana), Nigeria and Nyasaland (Malawi).
1951	Nearly 60 per cent of members now work in the corporate sector - a similar proportion to the present day.
1954	ACCA celebrates its first 50 years.
1960s	Formal links are developed in Africa as accountancy bodies are established in Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, followed in the 1970s to 1990s by Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
1963	Students are given the option to prepare for final exams through full-time study.
1965	A joint examination scheme is established in Jamaica, leading to partnerships with many bodies in the Caribbean. The Malaysian branch is formed after the separation of Singapore and Malaysia.
1971	ACCA is renamed again, becoming the Association of Certified Accountants. The letters FCCA and ACCA are introduced.
1974	ACCA is granted its Royal Charter.
1975	A committee is set up in Australia, which subsequently expands to include New Zealand.
1980s	ACCA begins to explore opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe, helping to develop the profession in former Soviet states and in the Russian Federation. A branch is also set up in Canada.
1980	Vera di Palma becomes the first female president of an international accountancy body.
1984	A new name is announced, the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants.
1986	A members' branch is formally established in the US. In the UK, ACCA becomes recognised under the Financial Services Act.
1988	A new logo is introduced, which is modified to become the now familiar mark in 2000. Market development starts in mainland China.
1991	An environmental reporting awards scheme is introduced - the first of its kind.
1993	Anthea Rose becomes chief executive: her vision helps to turn ACCA into a global body with students and members in 160 countries.
1995	ACCA's website is launched, from which a comprehensive suite of e-business services are developed.

1996	The final name change is approved: the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. ACCA has 50,000 members and nearly 130,000 students. A new syllabus is launched, based on international accounting standards: a first in the profession. Numbers begin to grow in Pakistan: there are under 100 students and members in 1996, growing to 12,000 by 2002.
1997	The Certified Accounting Technician qualification (CAT) is introduced. Members become entitled to call themselves chartered certified accountants. ACCA's first International Assembly meeting is held.
1998	The university and college registration scheme is introduced.
1999	A BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting is launched in partnership with Oxford Brookes University. Examination results are released online for the first time. Market development commences in the Middle East.
2001	An exclusive MBA programme is launched in partnership with Oxford Brookes University. ACCA also offers diplomas in International Financial Reporting (DipIFR) and Corporate Governance (DipCG). ACCA announces record numbers of student registrations.
2002	ACCA Connect is opened, the first global contact centre to be set up by an accountancy body.
2004	ACCA holds its centenary celebrations with events around the world.
2005	The continuing professional development scheme is introduced, which requires members to keep their skills and experience up to date.
2007	The revamped ACCA Qualification is launched, placing ethics and professionalism at its heart. US Vice President Al Gore gives a presentation about sustainability to 400 delegates at an ACCA event for business leaders in Hong Kong.
2008	Helen Brand becomes chief executive of ACCA. ACCA celebrates 20 years in China under the banner of “Partners in Progress”.
2009	ACCA begins a major programme of transformation to ensure the organization is fit for the future. ACCA opens an office in Brussels to represent more than 100,000 ACCA members and students living and working in the EU.
2010	ACCA is a Gold Sponsor of the World Congress of Accountants in Malaysia. More than 6,000 delegates attended this global event.
2011	ACCA launches Foundations in Accountancy, a new entry-level suite of qualifications...