Episode 23: Celebrating 10 Years of Chartered Accountants Worldwide

A Decade of Building Trust: Celebrating 10 Years of Chartered Accountants Worldwide

This year marks a significant milestone for Chartered Accountants Worldwide: ten years of bringing the global accountancy profession together under a shared commitment to trust, integrity, and excellence.

What began as an ambitious idea a decade ago has grown into a truly global community, representing more than 1.8 million members and students across over 190 countries. Fifteen leading chartered accountancy institutes now work side by side, collaborating across continents to speak with one voice on the issues that matter most to business, government, and society.

While the scale of this network is impressive, the real story lies beyond the numbers. The tenth-anniversary film released to mark the occasion highlights the people behind the profession — chartered accountants at every career stage, in every corner of the world, united by a commitment to doing the right thing, even when it’s not the easiest option.

Over the past decade, the global environment has been anything but stable. Financial shocks, geopolitical change, a global pandemic, and rapid advances in technology have all tested institutions and markets. In times like these, trust becomes essential. Chartered accountants play a critical role in sustaining that trust, providing reliable information, independent judgement, and assurance that underpins sound decision-making.

The impact of the profession reaches far beyond financial statements. Across the Chartered Accountants Worldwide network, members are supporting sustainable businesses, strengthening governance, advancing sustainability reporting, and helping public and not-for-profit organisations make the most of limited resources. Collectively, this work delivers real and lasting value to economies and communities.

As Chartered Accountants Worldwide looks ahead to its next decade, the focus remains firmly on the future. Technology, sustainability, and rising expectations around transparency will continue to reshape the profession. Through global insight, collaboration, and advocacy, the organisation is committed to helping members and students not just adapt to change, but lead it.

The tenth-anniversary film is both a celebration and a statement of intent — a reminder of what has been achieved together, and a signal of the ambition that lies ahead. Here’s to ten years of building trust, and to many more to come.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Chartered Accountants Global Update, the weekly audio newsletter from Chartered Accountants Worldwide. I'm delighted you've joined us for Episode 23.

This week, we're marking a significant milestone. Chartered Accountants Worldwide is celebrating its tenth anniversary – a decade of bringing together the global accountancy profession under one banner.

To mark the occasion, we've released a short anniversary film that captures the journey so far. Over the next few minutes, I want to take you through the story it tells – and, more importantly, what it means for you as part of this community.

A decade ago, Chartered Accountants Worldwide set out with a clear purpose: to unite the profession globally around shared values of trust, integrity, and excellence. The goal was ambitious – connect the leading chartered accountancy institutes across continents and create a community that could speak with one voice on the issues that matter.

Ten years on, that community now represents over 1.8 million members and students across more than 190 countries. Fifteen member institutes spanning Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australasia, working together toward common goals.

But numbers only tell part of the story. What the anniversary film captures so well is the human dimension – the faces behind those figures. Chartered accountants at different stages of their careers, in different corners of the world, but united by something fundamental: a commitment to doing the right thing, even when it's not the easy thing.

The theme running through the film – and through everything we've done over the past decade – is trust. It might sound abstract, but consider the context.

The past ten years have brought us financial volatility, geopolitical upheaval, a global pandemic, and now the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence. In that kind of environment, trust becomes currency. It's what allows markets to function, organisations to make decisions, and societies to hold together.

Chartered accountants sit at the heart of that equation. We're the ones organisations turn to when they need reliable information, sound judgement, and independent challenge. We provide assurance over the numbers, help boards understand risk, and support policymakers in building better frameworks.

The anniversary film reminds us that this role isn't just technical – it's foundational to how the global economy operates.

Another thread in the film is impact. Yes, our profession is built on rigour and technical expertise. But the real story of these ten years is how that expertise translates into outcomes that matter.

Chartered accountants across this network are supporting entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses. They're embedding stronger governance and accountability in large organisations. They're playing a critical role in sustainability reporting – ensuring environmental and social impacts are measured and managed. And they're bringing financial discipline to public services, charities, and not-for-profits where every resource counts.

If you've ever wondered whether your work makes a difference, this anniversary is a reminder that collectively, it absolutely does.

Anniversaries invite us to look back, but they also prompt us to look forward. The next decade will bring its own challenges and opportunities.

Technology will continue to reshape how we work. Stakeholder expectations around sustainability, ethics, and transparency will keep rising. Careers will become more varied, with chartered accountants moving into an ever-wider range of roles and sectors.

Chartered Accountants Worldwide is committed to helping members and students not just keep pace with this change, but lead it. That means sharing insight from across our global network, creating opportunities to connect and collaborate, and continuing to champion the relevance and value of the chartered qualification worldwide.

The anniversary film is, in many ways, a statement of intent. It celebrates what we've achieved together and signals our determination to keep evolving.

If you haven't seen the anniversary film yet, I'd encourage you to take a few minutes to watch it. You'll find it on the Chartered Accountants Worldwide YouTube channel – just search for "Chartered Accountants Worldwide 10 year anniversary" or follow the link in the show notes.

And please do share it. Send it to a colleague who's newly qualified, or to students considering the profession. Share it on your organisation's channels. Use it to start a conversation about what being part of a global professional community really means.

As we mark this milestone, I want to say thank you – to every member, student, institute, partner, and supporter who has helped build this community over the past decade.

For ten years, you've been building trust, driving better decisions, and making a positive impact in ways that often go unseen. This film is for you.

Here's to the first ten years – and to many more to come.

That's all for this week's Chartered Accountants Global Update. Thank you for listening, and for being part of our global community. Until next time, take care.