Choosing an accountant
How do I check if an accountant is registered?
By Pick My Accountant Editorial · Updated 9 July 2026
The two-minute verification routine
First, the professional body: search the firm or named accountant on the body's own register (for example find.icaew.com for ICAEW, or ACCA's find-an-accountant directory). Second, the company: look the practice up on the Companies House register — status should be Active with accounts filed on time; an accountancy firm late on its own filings is telling you something. Third, insurance: ask for confirmation of professional indemnity cover, which regulated members must hold.
What if they're not with any body?
It's legal to practise without one (except for reserved work like audit), but you lose every protection: no ethics code, no required insurance, no complaints route, no disciplinary process. Unqualified practitioners must still be registered with HMRC for anti-money-laundering supervision — ask who supervises them; no answer means they may be operating unlawfully. Given how many affordable, properly regulated firms exist, taking the unregulated risk rarely makes sense.
Red flags that end the conversation
Letters after the name that don't appear on the body's register. Vagueness about who exactly holds the qualification. No professional indemnity insurance, or refusal to confirm it. A dissolved or strike-off-pending company behind the trading name. Guarantees of specific tax refunds before seeing your records. Any one of these justifies walking away — several together demand it.
People also ask
How do I verify a firm listed on Pick My Accountant?
Qualification badges on our profiles link directly to the official register concerned, and register-imported profiles link to the firm's Companies House record with its company number. We verify what we can at listing time, but memberships change — the register is always the source of truth.
What's an AML supervisor and why does it matter?
UK law requires everyone providing accountancy services to be supervised for anti-money-laundering — by their professional body if they have one, or by HMRC if not. It's a simple compliance question to ask, and a legitimate practice answers instantly.
Can I check an accountant's disciplinary history?
Partially — the professional bodies publish disciplinary outcomes and exclusions. Searching the body's site for the individual or firm name alongside their public register entry covers the common cases.
This article is general information for UK businesses, not tax, legal, or financial advice, and thresholds change — confirm current rules on GOV.UK or with a qualified accountant before acting. Fee figures are indicative benchmarks from ourmethodology.