jobfacts

Chartered and certified accountants

SOC 2020 2421

Chartered and certified accountants provide accounting and auditing services, advise clients on financial matters, collect and analyse financial information and perform other accounting duties required by management for the planning and control of an establishment’s income and expenditure.

Also calledFinancial controllerChief accountantAuditorAuditor and accountantGroup accountantCompany accountantand 64 more titles
Typical full-time pay£50,1002025 Provisional
People in the job234,000across the UK
Demand for workersNot high
New adverts a month1,400↑ 3.8%on last year · 143rd of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time chartered and certified accountants earn between £38,700 and £68,100 a year.

What full-time chartered and certified accountants earn, 2025
£50,100 typical£29,600lowest 10%£38,70025%£73,500top 20%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£38,700–£68,100)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£29,600
Lowest 20% earn less than£37,000
25%£38,700
Median£50,100
75%£68,100
Top 20% earn more than£73,500
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £50,100
London!£62,600
South East!£56,500
North West!£53,300
South West!£46,600
East Midlands!£42,700
Wales!£40,400
North EastNot published by ONS–
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS–
West MidlandsNot published by ONS–
East of EnglandNot published by ONS–
ScotlandNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £50,100
London£62,600 (small sample)
South East£56,500 (small sample)
North West£53,300 (small sample)
South West£46,600 (small sample)
East Midlands£42,700 (small sample)
Wales£40,400 (small sample)
North EastNot published by ONS
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS
West MidlandsNot published by ONS
East of EnglandNot published by ONS
ScotlandNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £46,700
  • 2024 £49,800
  • 2025 Provisional£50,100
↑ 7.2% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 1,400 jobs for chartered and certified accountants are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as not high.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (1 in all)
Show as table
Aug 20261,474
Jul 20261,238
Jun 20261,710
May 20261,357
Apr 20261,273
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20261,157
Jan 20261,515
Dec 2025828
Nov 20251,639
Oct 20251,582
Sept 20251,702
Aug 20251,464
Jul 20251,449
Jun 20251,621
May 20251,573
Apr 20251,110
Mar 20251,474
Feb 20251,387
Jan 20251,412
Dec 2024903
Nov 20241,302
Oct 20241,315
Sept 20241,371
Aug 20241,423
Jul 20241,696
Jun 20241,583
May 20241,649
Apr 20241,779
Mar 20241,504
Feb 20241,760
Jan 20242,196
Dec 20231,667
Nov 20232,045
Oct 20232,237
Sept 20231,900
Aug 20231,999
Jul 20232,121
Jun 20232,816
May 20232,676
Apr 20232,778
Mar 20232,954
Feb 20233,099
Jan 20233,522
Dec 20222,820
Nov 20223,427
Oct 20223,567
Sept 20223,402
Aug 20223,212
Jul 20223,541
Jun 20223,549
May 20224,178
Apr 20223,343
Mar 20224,092
Feb 20223,928
Jan 20223,999
Dec 20213,381
Nov 20213,233
Oct 20213,405
Sept 20214,222
Aug 20212,965
Jul 20213,562
Jun 20213,241
May 20213,594
Apr 20213,085
Mar 20214,031
Feb 20212,652
Jan 20212,818
Dec 20202,340
Nov 20202,618
Oct 20202,499
Sept 20202,122
Aug 20202,007
Jul 20202,000
Jun 20201,871
May 20201,692
Apr 20202,228
Mar 20204,074
Feb 20204,211
Jan 20204,378
Dec 20193,018
Nov 20194,265
Oct 20194,152
Sept 20194,125
Aug 20194,708
Jul 20196,002
Jun 20195,995
May 20195,673
Apr 20193,744
Mar 20194,724
Feb 20194,321
Jan 20194,423
Dec 20182,737
Nov 20184,219
Oct 20183,833
Sept 20183,961
Aug 20183,977
Jul 20183,981
Jun 20184,249
May 20184,229
Apr 20184,004
Mar 20184,364
Feb 20184,247
Jan 20185,151
Dec 20173,226
Nov 20173,920
Oct 20174,278
Sept 20173,984
Aug 20174,165
Jul 20174,058
Jun 20174,971
May 20174,097
Apr 20174,068
Mar 20174,635
Feb 20174,007
Jan 20175,342
Is there a shortage of chartered and certified accountants?
Not high

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment.

  • Visas grantedAbove usual
  • Online job advertsUsual
  • Wage growthUsual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
16%against 27% for all jobs
DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London1,143
Manchester172
Birmingham126
Belfast114
Leeds107
Bristol, City of78
Glasgow City77
City of Edinburgh56
Liverpool45
Newcastle upon Tyne41
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where chartered and certified accountants are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 527 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from India, United States, Pakistan, ranking it 37th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of chartered and certified accountants
n/p
26%
24%
25%
17%
5.3%!
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–3426%
35–4424%
45–5425%
55–6417%
65+5.3% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent79%
Higher education below degree!3%
A levels or equivalent10%
GCSEs or equivalent!3.8%
Other qualifications!3.4%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent79%
Higher education below degree3% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent10%
GCSEs or equivalent3.8% (small sample)
Other qualifications3.4% (small sample)

Main employers: accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities; tax consultancy (34%), general public administration activities (6.9%), activities of professional membership organisations (6.1%), business and other management consultancy activities (5.9%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
79%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
3
from level 6, including degree apprenticeships
Apprenticeships take
3 years
typically

Apprenticeships

3 for this job
Level 6About 3 yearsDegree

Accounting finance manager

You gain
Accounting Finance Manager Degree
Leads to
Institute of Financial Accountants
Details on Skills England

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • plans and oversees implementation of accountancy system and policies
  • prepares financial documents and reports for management, shareholders, statutory or other bodies
  • audits accounts and book-keeping records
  • prepares tax returns, advises on tax problems and contests disputed claim before tax official
  • conducts financial investigations concerning insolvency, fraud, possible mergers, etc.
  • evaluates financial information for management purposes
  • liaises with management and other professionals to compile budgets and other costs
  • prepares periodic accounts, budgetary reviews and financial forecasts
  • conducts investigations and advises management on financial aspects of productivity, stock holding, sales, new products, etc

Skills

  • analyse financial performance of a company
  • attach accounting certificates to accounting transactions
  • calculate tax
  • check accounting records
  • draft accounting procedures
  • ensure compliance with accounting conventions
  • explain accounting records
  • follow the statutory obligations
  • identify accounting errors
  • interpret financial statements
  • manage accounts
  • perform balance sheet operations
  • prepare financial statements
  • prepare tax returns forms

Knowledge

  • accounting department processes
  • accounting entries
  • accounting techniques
  • bookkeeping regulations
  • commercial law
  • depreciation
  • financial department processes
  • financial statements

Suits people who like

  • Organising and following procedures
  • Leading and persuading

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for business, media and public service professionals, a group of 32 jobs that includes chartered and certified accountants.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 26%about 670,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20352.1 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.