A professional accounting body is an organization or association of accountants in a particular jurisdiction. Usually a person needs to be a member of such professional body to hold out to the public of the jurisdiction as an accountant. The designations for qualified accountants vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, such as Chartered Accountant (CA), Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA), Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Practising Accountant (CPA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Cost & Management Accountant (CMA), Certified Commercial Professional Accountant (CCPA).
For Example in UK Certain bodies, known under the Companies Acts 1989 and 2006 as Recognised Qualifying Bodies (RQBs), award the qualifications necessary for audit work, as an entry requirement. A similar but not identical list of Recognised Supervisory Bodies (RSBs) may authorise their members to carry out company audits.
The six RQBs in relation to company auditing under the Companies Acts are:[1]
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Association of International Accountants (AIA) Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI) Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) since 2006[2] but currently in abeyance[1]