- TPB registration, not a designation, decides who can charge for your tax work
- Chartered accountants running a practice also need a Certificate of Public Practice
- Designations signal training, not service quality
- Most small Pty Ltds need a registered tax agent, not a chartered accountant
If you have three quotes in front of you and you are stuck on public accountant vs chartered accountant, the distinction matters less than you think. “Chartered accountant” is a membership designation from Chartered Accountants ANZ. “Public accountant” describes an accountant who practises for external clients rather than working inside one business.
Neither term determines what they may legally do for you: only a registered tax or BAS agent can charge a fee to provide tax agent services, so check the Tax Practitioners Board public register first, then decide what level of help your company actually needs from Sleek’s accounting services or anyone else.
What actually decides who can do your company’s tax?
Registration, not letters. The Tax Practitioners Board states that generally only registered tax and BAS agents can charge or receive a fee or other reward for providing tax agent, BAS or tax (financial) advice services.
That obligation sits in section 50-5 of the Tax Agent Services Act 2009, with section 90-5 defining what counts as a tax agent service. The TPB is explicit that there are severe penalties for anyone providing tax agent services for a fee, advertising them, or representing themselves as a registered tax agent while unregistered. It is a licensing regime, and it is the only hard legal line in this whole comparison.
Designations sit on top of that line, not in place of it. A chartered accountant who is not TPB-registered cannot charge you to lodge your company tax return. A registered tax agent with no professional-body letters after their name can. Our guide to tax accountant vs tax agent covers where those roles diverge day to day.
What is a public accountant in Australia?
An accountant in public practice: someone providing accounting services to external clients for a fee, as opposed to an accountant employed inside a single company. The professional bodies use the term this way themselves.
CA ANZ’s own member obligations put it directly, describing public accountants as members who are principals in a practice that provides public accounting services. CPA Australia frames the same idea as “public practice”, and the Institute of Public Accountants is named for it. So when someone says they are a public accountant, they are describing what they do and who they serve, not a qualification they hold.
Two things follow. The term tells you the person works with external clients, which is useful. It tells you nothing about their training, their body membership, or whether they can legally charge you for tax work, which is where people go wrong when they treat “public accountant vs chartered accountant” as a quality ranking.
What is a chartered accountant, and what is a Certificate of Public Practice?
A chartered accountant is a member of Chartered Accountants ANZ, entitled to use the CA post-nominal. That is a membership designation, awarded by a professional body, and it says something real about training and ongoing obligations.
Here is the fact that makes the designation-versus-licence point better than any explanation: a CA ANZ member who wants to run their own practice must separately obtain a Certificate of Public Practice. Under CA ANZ Regulation CR 2, a member resident in Australia who is a principal in a practice providing accounting services to the public for reward must hold a current Certificate of Public Practice, and getting one means completing the Public Practice Program, carrying minimum professional indemnity insurance, and submitting to CA ANZ’s quality review process. Only practices where the principals hold CPPs (or are Affiliate members, within limits) may describe themselves as “Chartered Accountants” and use the CA logo.
So even inside one professional body there are two separate hurdles: being a member, and being licensed by that body to practise. And neither is the Certificate of Public Practice that lets you charge for tax work. That is still TPB registration, and the TPB says so, stating that it has no specific requirements relating to public practice certificates and directing practitioners to their own body’s rules.
Where do CPA and IPA fit?
They are the other two of Australia’s three main accounting bodies, and both work the same way: membership first, then a separate practice certificate, then TPB registration on top if the practitioner wants to charge for tax services.
CPA Australia. CPA is the designation for members who have completed the CPA Program and the required experience; FCPA is the fellow grade. A member who provides public accounting services needs a public practice certificate from CPA Australia, which requires CPA or FCPA status and completion of the Public Practice Program. CPA Australia is clear that its public practitioners may still need separate licensing depending on the services they offer, including registration as a tax agent, BAS agent or tax (financial) adviser.
Institute of Public Accountants. The IPA has offered AIPA (associate), MIPA (member) and FIPA (fellow) grades since 1923, and focuses on accountants serving small and medium businesses. Advancement to MIPA runs through the IPA Program’s Graduate Certificate in Public Accounting plus a Mentored Experience Program. Members in practice hold an IPA Professional Practice Certificate.
If you want the head-to-head on the two largest bodies, we cover CA vs CPA compared separately. And if your question is really about tax specialism rather than general accounting, the chartered tax adviser designation is a different animal again.
| Credential | Issued or regulated by | What it legally permits | What it signals | How to verify |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered tax agent | Tax Practitioners Board, under TASA 2009 and TASR 2022 | Charging a fee for tax agent services, including preparing and lodging returns | Met statutory qualification, experience, fit-and-proper and PI insurance tests | TPB public register |
| Registered BAS agent | Tax Practitioners Board | Charging a fee for BAS services only, a subset of tax agent services | Activity-statement and bookkeeping competence | TPB public register |
| Chartered accountant (CA) | Chartered Accountants ANZ | Nothing by itself | CA ANZ membership; principals in practice must hold a Certificate of Public Practice | CA ANZ member directory |
| CPA | CPA Australia | Nothing by itself | CPA Australia membership; public practitioners need a public practice certificate | CPA Australia member directory |
| MIPA / FIPA | Institute of Public Accountants | Nothing by itself | IPA membership, SME focus; practitioners hold an IPA Professional Practice Certificate | IPA member directory |
| “Public accountant” | Not a body-issued designation; a description of the work | Nothing by itself | That the person practises for external clients | Ask which body they belong to, then check the TPB register |
Can any accountant do my company tax?
No. Can any accountant do my company tax return for a fee? Only if they are a registered tax agent, or a registered BAS agent working within the narrower BAS scope.
This is worth stating plainly because the job title “accountant” is not itself regulated in the way the licence is. Someone can be a genuinely skilled management accountant, hold a relevant degree, and still not be permitted to charge you to lodge. There is also a cost consequence most people miss: the ATO allows a deduction for fees paid to a recognised tax adviser, defines that as a registered tax agent, BAS agent, qualified tax relevant provider or legal practitioner, and states you cannot claim for tax advice given by someone who is not a recognised tax adviser. Using an unregistered adviser costs you the deduction as well as the safeguards.
One more wrinkle for anyone being invoiced by a firm rather than an individual. A company or partnership providing tax agent services for a fee must itself be registered, and must have at least one registered individual tax agent providing services on its behalf under supervisory arrangements. So check the entity on your invoice, not only the person who answers your emails.
How do you check an accountant’s credentials before you hire them?
Two searches, about a minute in total, and you should do them before you sign anything.
- TPB public register. Search the individual and the practice entity. Confirm the registration type, read any conditions the TPB has imposed limiting the scope of services, and check the disciplinary record, since the register also records Code of Professional Conduct breaches and sanctions.
- The relevant body’s member directory. If they claim CA, CPA or IPA membership, confirm it with that body, and ask whether they hold the practice certificate their body requires of principals.
- Ask what they will not do. A good answer to “what falls outside your scope” is more informative than any credential. Someone who tells you they refer trust structuring out is telling you something useful.
What qualifications should my accountant have, then? For most companies: TPB registration as a tax agent, membership of one of the three bodies, and demonstrable experience with businesses shaped like yours. In that order. What qualifications should my accountant have is a question that gets answered better by the register than by a letterhead.
What drives the cost of hiring an accountant?
Complexity, almost entirely. “How do your fee structures work” is one of the most common questions on our calls, and the answer has little to do with which letters your accountant holds. The drivers, roughly in order of impact:
- Number of entities. A company plus a family trust plus a self-managed fund is three sets of books and three returns.
- Trust distributions. Resolutions have deadlines and beneficiaries multiply the work.
- Payroll. Headcount, pay-run frequency, superannuation and Single Touch Payroll reporting all add hours.
- BAS frequency. Monthly reporting costs more to service than quarterly.
- Advisory on top of compliance. Tax planning, structuring and forecasting are separate from getting the return lodged.
- Fixed-fee versus hourly. This is the one that decides whether you can budget. Hourly billing is where “unpredictable” comes from, and it is the single most common reason people tell us they are switching.
We have deliberately not printed a dollar range here, because one that spans a sole trader and a multi-entity group helps nobody. Ask any firm you are considering for a fixed quote against your actual structure, and ask what triggers a variation.
Which accountant does your situation actually need?
Four common shapes, with a verdict for each.
| Your situation | What you actually need | Nice to have | Main cost drivers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sole trader, one income stream | A registered tax agent, or a BAS agent plus a tax agent at return time | Body membership | Turnover, GST registration, BAS frequency |
| Small Pty Ltd, simple share structure | A registered tax agent with experience in your industry | CA, CPA or IPA membership; Division 7A familiarity | One entity, payroll, whether advisory is included |
| Company with a family trust | A registered tax agent with real structuring depth | CTA-level tax specialism | Two-plus entities, trust distributions, resolution deadlines |
| Multiple entities and employees | A registered tax agent plus a named adviser who knows the group | CA or CPA in practice with a current practice certificate | Entity count, payroll, monthly BAS, consolidated reporting |
Notice what is missing from the middle column: “chartered accountant” never appears as a requirement. That is not a swipe at CA ANZ. It is that for a small Pty Ltd with one trading entity and a handful of staff, a registered tax agent who understands your industry and returns calls will serve you better than a more decorated adviser who treats you as a small file.
Is a chartered accountant better? Not inherently, and not for that business. Where the answer to “is a chartered accountant better” starts to tilt is at the multi-entity end, and even then what you are buying is the experience, not the designation.
For sole traders specifically we go deeper in choosing an accountant as a sole trader. And if you have already decided your current arrangement is not working, how to switch accountants covers the mechanics, which are less painful than the fear of them.
How Sleek helps with public accountant vs chartered accountant decisions
Sleek’s accounting is delivered by registered Australian tax agents, and the firm’s TPB registration number is 26131380. Check it on the public register alongside whoever else you are considering, because a provider that asks you to verify them is giving you something more useful than a page of credentials.
Beyond that, the offer is deliberately narrow: fixed-fee accounting and tax for Australian companies and sole traders, with a dedicated accountant, bookkeeping and BAS handled on the same engagement rather than split across three suppliers. That suits businesses that want predictable pricing and one point of contact. It suits you less if you need audit work, or highly specialised structuring, in which case a specialist firm is the right call and we will say so.
Our tax accountant service sets out the tax side, and the accounting and tax FAQs answer most onboarding questions.
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FAQs on public accountant vs chartered accountant
Can a bookkeeper prepare my company tax return?
Not for a fee, unless they are a registered tax agent. A registered BAS agent can prepare and lodge activity statements, which is a narrower set of services than a tax agent provides, and company income tax returns fall outside that scope. Many bookkeepers work alongside a registered tax agent who reviews and lodges, which is a perfectly sound arrangement as long as you know who is doing what.
How hard is it to switch accountants mid-year?
Easier than most owners expect, and mid-year is often better than at year end. Your records belong to you, so the outgoing firm must release your working papers and returns and cannot withhold them over a fee dispute, and your new agent handles the ATO nomination and change of agent. The main work is agreeing a clean cut-off date so nothing is prepared twice or missed.
Can my overseas accountant do my Australian company tax?
Only if they hold Australian TPB registration, which most overseas accountants do not. Registration is not conferred by qualifications from another country, so an accountant in London or Auckland generally cannot charge you to lodge an Australian company return. Overseas-owned Australian companies usually keep their offshore accountant for group reporting and appoint an Australian registered agent for lodgement.
What should be included in a fixed-fee accounting package?
At minimum: bookkeeping and reconciliations at a stated frequency, activity statement lodgements, the company tax return, and a named accountant you can reach. Look for what is excluded as carefully as what is included, since tax planning, personal returns and multi-currency handling are commonly priced separately. Ask what event triggers a fee variation, because that is where fixed-fee arrangements stop being fixed.
Do I need an audit, and can my accountant do it?
Most small proprietary companies are not required to be audited, so this is usually a question you can set aside. Where an audit is required, it must be performed by a registered company auditor independent of the accountant who prepared the accounts, so your own accountant generally cannot audit their own work. If you are unsure whether your company meets a reporting threshold, that is worth a specific conversation rather than an assumption.
