Check an Accountancy Firm Before You Hand Over the Books.
Anyone can call themselves an accountant. Every accountancy firm must be supervised for anti-money-laundering. See the company position and find out exactly where to confirm both.
The one thing that is always required
Qualification is optional. Supervision is not. Every accountancy service provider in the UK must be supervised for anti-money-laundering, either by HMRC or by a professional body such as ICAEW, ACCA or AAT. Ask the firm who supervises it, then check that answer on the right register. A firm supervised by a professional body will not appear on the HMRC list, so check both before you conclude anything.
What people get wrong about accountants
Most of it comes from assuming the profession is licensed in the way solicitors are. It is not, and the gaps are worth understanding before you sign anything.
Accountant is not a protected title
In the UK anyone can call themselves an accountant, open an office and take on your books, with no qualification, no exam and no insurance. Chartered accountant and chartered certified accountant are protected, and the firms using those terms should appear on their body's register.
AML supervision is mandatory
Every accountancy service provider in the UK must be supervised for anti-money-laundering purposes, either by HMRC or by a professional body. Providing accountancy services without supervision is a criminal offence, not an administrative slip.
You have to check both places
HMRC publishes a register of the businesses it supervises. Firms supervised by ICAEW, ACCA or AAT are legitimately absent from that list, because their professional body supervises them instead. Absence from the HMRC register on its own proves nothing, which is exactly why people get this check wrong.
They sit between you and your money
Tax refunds, VAT, payroll, sometimes client money. Insist any repayment from HMRC is paid straight into your own bank account, and read anything you are asked to sign that assigns a refund to the firm.
Who is behind the practice
We follow every director to their other companies and count what happened: dissolved, liquidated, struck off. A practice that folds mid-year with your records and filing deadlines inside it is a genuinely expensive problem to unpick.
A firm that cannot file its own accounts
Overdue accounts or confirmation statements at an accountancy practice are worth a raised eyebrow. It is their core competence and it is a legal deadline they missed on their own company.
Where to confirm supervision and qualifications
These registers do not publish machine-readable data, so we do not claim to search them for you. We tell you which one is the legal requirement, what each of the others proves, and give you the direct link.
HMRC Anti-Money-Laundering Supervised Business RegisterLegally required
Every accountancy service provider in the UK must be supervised for anti-money-laundering purposes, either by HMRC or by a professional body.
Firms supervised by ICAEW, ACCA or AAT are legitimately absent from the HMRC list, so check the professional bodies below before concluding anything.
ICAEW
Chartered accountants. Requires qualification, CPD and insurance.
'Chartered accountant' is a protected term. Anyone using it should appear here.
ACCA
Chartered certified accountants in public practice.
ACCA firms holding a practising certificate are listed here.
AAT licensed accountants
Licensed members in practice, with mandatory insurance.
Common route for smaller bookkeeping and accountancy practices.
Audit Register
Firms authorised to carry out statutory audits.
Only relevant if the firm says it can audit your accounts. Audit is a restricted activity.
What to ask before you engage a firm
None of this is rude. A supervised, insured practice answers every one of these in a single email.
Who supervises you for anti-money-laundering?
You should get a straight answer naming HMRC or a professional body, with a registration number. Then check that answer on the relevant register. A firm that cannot answer this question quickly is a firm to walk away from.
Which professional body, and do you hold a practising certificate?
Membership of a body and a licence to practise are not the same thing. ICAEW, ACCA and AAT all publish directories of firms and licensed members you can search directly.
Professional indemnity insurance details
Insurer, cover limit and expiry. Professional body members are required to hold it; unregulated firms may hold nothing. Confirm the insurer named is an authorised firm on the FCA register.
A letter of engagement before any work starts
Scope, fees, what is included and what is charged extra, deadlines, and who is actually doing the work rather than whose name is on the door.
How your HMRC authorisation will be set up
Agent authorisation lets them deal with HMRC on your behalf. It should never mean tax refunds land in their account instead of yours. Ask where repayments will be paid and get it in writing.
What happens if you leave
Ask about professional clearance and handover of records to a new accountant. Reputable firms have a clear process. This is the question that gets awkward answers from the firms you want to avoid.
Whether they are registered to audit, if you need an audit
Audit is a restricted activity. Only firms on the audit register may carry out statutory audits, so if a firm says it can audit your accounts, that claim is checkable in a minute.
Checking the insurer
Professional indemnity insurance is what you would rely on if bad advice cost you money. Take the insurer name from the certificate and confirm it is an authorised firm on the Financial Services Register. There is no public database of live policies, so verifying the insurer and the expiry date is the check that is actually available to you.
Search the FCA registerWhat the accountant check is not
It is not a credit score, not a recommendation, and not a judgement on whether a firm is good at tax. A clean public record means nothing bad has been recorded, which is not the same as nothing bad having happened, and an unqualified firm is not automatically a bad one. Use it as one input alongside confirming supervision on the registers, reading the engagement letter, and asking the questions above.
Common questions
Does my accountant have to be qualified?
No. There is no legal requirement to hold an accountancy qualification to offer accountancy services in the UK, and plenty of competent bookkeepers and practices operate outside the chartered bodies. What is legally required is anti-money-laundering supervision. So the question is not only whether the firm is qualified, it is whether it is supervised, insured, and honest about which of those apply.
How do I check that an accountant is AML supervised?
Ask the firm who supervises it, then verify. If they say HMRC, check the HMRC supervised business register. If they name ICAEW, ACCA or AAT, check that body's own directory, because professional body supervised firms are legitimately absent from the HMRC list. Checking only one side is the most common mistake, and it produces false alarms in both directions.
Is chartered accountant a protected term?
Yes. Chartered accountant and chartered certified accountant are protected descriptions tied to membership of the relevant body. Accountant, tax adviser, bookkeeper and accountancy consultant are not protected and can be used by anyone. If a firm advertises itself as chartered, it should be findable on the body's register, and if it is not, that is a question worth asking before you engage it.
Do you check the HMRC and professional body registers automatically?
Not in this version, and we will not claim otherwise. We give you the direct link to each register, explain what it proves, and flag which one is a legal requirement, so you can confirm supervision in a minute or two. What we do check automatically is the company itself: status, insolvency, filing behaviour, charges, the full director network, HSE records and employment tribunal decisions, all with the source linked.
What does the free accountant check include?
Company status and age, registered office, insolvency status, whether accounts or confirmation statements are overdue, director count, and a red, amber or green verdict with the top warning signs, plus the register checklist that applies to an accountancy firm.
What does the £9.99 report add?
The full director network with every other company each director is involved in and what happened to it, phoenix pattern analysis, charges and secured borrowing, employment tribunal decisions and any HSE records naming the firm, the complete accountancy register checklist with direct verification links, an insurance checklist, and a PDF you can keep on file.
Check the firm before you sign the engagement letter
Free check, about twenty seconds, no sign-up. Full report £9.99 if you want the whole picture.