ICAEW support
Listed below are some of the ways ICAEW can support you if you decide to volunteer.
Charity Community – a community focused on supporting finance professionals in their paid and voluntary roles in or with the charity and voluntary sector. Membership is free and open to everyone, including non-ICAEW members. It provides regular e-newsletters, discounts on ICAEW charity events and a free webinar series to keep you up-to-date with the latest technical and sector developments.
ICAEW Trustee Training Modules – our online course is free to access, allowing you to reinforce and enhance your knowledge of the legal and financial responsibilities of charity trustees. The modules will give you with a deeper understanding of the trustees’ role in setting the charity’s strategy, risk management and impact measurement, and will prompt you to reflect on your charity’s board dynamics and key relationships. Most people complete the course and assessment within 3-5 hours.
The course consists of six interactive modules which you can fit in around your other commitments. You also have the option to complete a multiple-choice assessment at the end to receive a certificate.
ICAEW Volunteers – a site enabling you to search and apply for volunteering roles in the not-for-profit sector All charities and not-for-profit organisations can advertise voluntary roles for free on ICAEW Volunteers.
Advisory helplines and services – ICAEW has the following helplines to support you with your issues/queries:
- Advisory helpline (+44 (0)1908 248 250): Specialist advisory teams provide guidance on technical and ethical issues/queries. Advice is free and confidential.
- Support members (+44 (0)800 917 3526): Helpline to discuss personal worries about health or family, money troubles or work-related concerns with our volunteer team, who are always on hand to offer assistance.
- Library enquiry helpline (+44 (0)20 7920 8620): Helps answer your technical and research questions. The enquiry service is available to all ICAEW members and students – simply contact us and we will respond within 24 hours.
- CABA helpline (+44 (0)1788 556 366): Supporting past and present ICAEW members, ICAEW staff, ACA students and their close families from across the globe – see the range of services available on CABA – The charity supporting chartered accountants’ wellbeing.
Considerations for ICAEW members
If you would like to volunteer for a charity or not-for-profit organisation, there are a number of areas which you will need to be aware of and consider regarding ICAEW membership. The key areas are discussed below.
Code of Ethics
If you are volunteering, as an ICAEW member, you need to follow ICAEW’s Code of Ethics. As a reminder, the Code sets out five fundamental principles, which guide members’ behaviour:
- Integrity
- Objectivity
- Professional competence and due care
- Confidentiality
- Professional behaviour
Members are responsible for assessing threats to complying with those principles and for implementing safeguards where those threats are significant. The Code includes a number of Sections covering situations that members might be likely to encounter and suggests, or in some cases, requires, specific courses of action.
CPD
In line with ICAEW's Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Regulations, members who volunteer as charity trustees have specific requirements to complete each year. Find out about the requirements for charity trustees and the resources ICAEW has created to help you meet them.
If you use your finance and business skills in a different voluntary role, please consult our CPD guidance to find out more.
Practising Certificates
If you volunteer, consult the ICAEW statement on members engaging in public practice to check if the voluntary activity requires you to have a practising certificate.
Generally, you will not need a practising certificate if you gratuitously or for a token non-monetary reward provide accountancy services to a small charitable, community, religious or sporting body, or to similar bodies of a non profit-making nature.
- Trustees / treasurers: do not require a PC if undertaking this role gratuitously
- Volunteer independent examiners: may require a PC, please refer to our guidance
You should clarify your position by a written statement to your client, clearly stating that you do not have a PC or PII.
These scenarios may help.
For the purposes of a practicing certificate, accountancy services are defined in Annex 1 of the ICAEW statement on members engaging in public practice.