Chartered Accountant vs CPA: What Is the Difference?

Two professional bodies with similar entry standards

CA and CPA are membership designations, not job titles. Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) covers both countries. CPA Australia has members in Australia and overseas. Both are recognised professional accounting bodies, and their routes to full membership look much the same: an accounting degree, a postgraduate professional program, three years of relevant work experience and ongoing professional development.

The differences are in the detail: the structure of each program, how experience is supervised, the CPD rules and the requirements for running a public practice. For someone choosing an accountant, these differences matter far less than the person's experience, whether they are a registered tax agent and whether they understand your situation.

How someone becomes a Chartered Accountant

Candidates need a CA ANZ accredited degree, or an equivalent degree that covers 15 required competency areas, from accounting and taxation to ethics and business law. They join as provisional members, then complete the Graduate Diploma of Chartered Accounting (GradDipCA): nine subjects, seven core and two electives, totalling 120 credit points. CA ANZ says it typically takes one year full-time or two or more years part-time.

Alongside the study, candidates complete three years of Mentored Practical Experience in a relevant role with an approved training employer, mentored by a CA ANZ member or a member of a reciprocal body.

• Ethics and Business
• Risk and Technology
• Financial Accounting and Reporting
• Tax (Australia or New Zealand)
• Business Performance, and Audit and Risk
• Integrated Chartered Accounting Practice

How someone becomes a CPA

Candidates need a degree recognised by CPA Australia, then complete the CPA Program: six subjects, four compulsory and two electives. The compulsory subjects are Ethics and Governance, Financial Reporting, Strategic Management Accounting, and Global Strategy and Leadership. Candidates who have not already studied tax must take Australia Taxation as an elective, and those who have not studied audit must take Advanced Audit and Assurance.

They also need 36 months of relevant experience, signed off by a CPA, FCPA or equivalent member of an International Federation of Accountants body. CPA Australia gives Associate members six years from joining to complete all the requirements.

CPD and ethics requirements compared

Both bodies require 120 hours of continuing professional development over each three-year period, with at least 20 hours in every year. CA ANZ requires at least 90 of the 120 hours to be verifiable, and at least 2 hours of verifiable ethics training in each three-year period. CPA Australia requires at least 2 verifiable ethics hours each year and 10 over the three years.

Members who hold a statutory registration, such as registered tax agents, have extra requirements. CPA Australia, for example, says these members must complete CPD related to that field and meet their statutory obligations as well as the By-Laws.

Public practice certificates

Being a CA or CPA does not on its own allow a member to set up a practice serving the public. CA ANZ members in Australia who are principals providing accounting services to the public for reward need a Certificate of Public Practice. That requires two years of public practice experience, an understanding of Australian company law and tax, complying professional indemnity insurance, completion of the Public Practice Program (which can be waived while gross practice fees are $17,500 or less) and current CPD.

CPA Australia members providing public accounting services need a Public Practice Certificate. That requires completing the Public Practice Program eLearning and workshop, at least $2 million of professional indemnity cover for services in Australia, and the practical experience set out in the CPA Australia By-Laws.

Neither certificate is a tax registration. To charge you for preparing a tax return or giving tax advice, the accountant or their firm must also be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board.

Which one should you look for?

For most individuals and small businesses, either designation shows the person has met a recognised professional standard. Check the things that affect your work directly: TPB registration, experience with clients like you, and who will actually prepare and review your work.

Acquire Strategic Accounting provides registered tax agent services from Victoria Point and Jimboomba. If you are comparing firms, ask each one who will work on your file and what their qualifications are.