ICAI Membership & Fees

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Dowee

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I'm a qualified Chartered Accountant but don't work as an accountant or auditor anymore (haven't done in 8-9 years) and am highly unlikely to again. I'm considering giving up my membership of the Institute as frankly the fees are very high and I get little to no benefit (given my current career etc) no doubt it is of benefit to those in other roles etc.

Has anyone on here ever done this or have experience of discussing it with them? Do you know if it is possible to re-join at a later point if you wanted to?

I'll eventually be contacting the institute about it but I'm just trying to get some information before I do.

Thanks
 
Hi,

Its been a few years but just to add to the above.

Do any ICAI members on this forum ever wonder about the size of the annual subs fee requested. This year its €695. All I get in return for this is a monthly magazine that I don't read.

What are other CAs thoughts on this fee and does anyone know what its for?

circa 25k members in Ireland paying this equates to circa €17m in subs fee income alone for the Institute. What do they spend this money on? What are members getting in return for their fee and is there value for money?
 
jim said:
Hi,

Its been a few years but just to add to the above.

Do any ICAI members on this forum ever wonder about the size of the annual subs fee requested. This year its €695. All I get in return for this is a monthly magazine that I don't read.

What are other CAs thoughts on this fee and does anyone know what its for?

circa 25k members in Ireland paying this equates to circa €17m in subs fee income alone for the Institute. What do they spend this money on? What are members getting in return for their fee and is there value for money?
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its 595 + 100 optional payment to a benevolent fund.
 
I gave up my membership years ago, and I do work part time as an accountant.

I wanted to save myself the fees and i wanted to avoid the regulation. Now my relationship is with my clients and not mediated by the Institute.

The only downside I can see is that I would not be able to sign audits. Unless you wish to be in that space, membership is not really relevant. Clients who don't need an audit mostly don't care, nor do most potential employers outside practice.
 
I called them a few years ago and told them that I was retired so I didn't want to pay the membership fee. I wanted to remain a member but wanted to pay a "retired" fee. They had no such thing. Eventually they wrote to me asking me to fill in a Standard Financial Statement so I could make a case on hardship. I told them that it was nothing to do with hardship and that I just wasn't getting any value as a retired member. The ACCA has some sort of retired membership fee.

So I resigned.

They rang me a couple of months later to say that Council would be considering my "application to resign" the following day and did I want to go through with it? I laughed.

Then they wrote to say that Council had accepted my resignation. Whew! Imagine if they had turned me down!


Brendan Burgess XFCA
 
Am a member of another institute. General practice cert only not Audit. Membership fees nearly €2000 per year. Strongly thinking of not paying this year as I think it is too much for Letters after name that revenue, cro etc dont seem to have any interest in.
 
I find this an absolute scandal. Yes its €595 plus optional €100 but even leaving out the optional €100 its a huge sum and for what exactly.

I have emailed them asking them this very question. I also asked them if in general do members complain about the fee so will be interesting to see what I get back.

It just doesn't make sense that they charge this fee annually to all members regardless of role they are in. Yes there is a reduced fee for those that are unemployed etc but I and the vast majority of ACAs that I know do not work in financial accounting or external audit - they work in internal audit, risk-type roles and others. I have no use for the Institute so why must I pay this fee each year? Granted my employer pays it but still....it really bugs me and they don't even try to explain where the money goes.
 
A lot of companies used to pay these fees but now revenue have stated that BIK needs to be charged....This is going to be a bad year for those organisations...
 
Sunny said:
A lot of companies used to pay these fees but now revenue have stated that BIK needs to be charged....This is going to be a bad year for those organisations...
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BIK on ACA fees? not if you work in finance as far as i am aware.
 
I don't think that is correct Sunny. Do you have any link or reference point? Its a typical business expense in their P&L just like electricity etc.
 
Sunny said:
A lot of companies used to pay these fees but now revenue have stated that BIK needs to be charged....
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Absolutely correct. Unless being a member is a legal / necessary part of your job it's now taxable.

[broken link removed]

I'm an accountant, but it's not needed for my current role. So my employer is taking the hit and grossing up my membership so after tax I get the full amount back. Not sure if it'll continue that way though.
 
Sunny’s correct.

A scandalous change brought in a couple of years ago.

Unless it’s a statutory requirement for you to have the qualification, there’s BIK.

So the FD’s ACA sub is a problem.

A joke.
 
Blackrock1 said:
BIK on ACA fees? not if you work in finance as far as i am aware.
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I work for one of the big US houses and they always paid the fees for all professional bodies. For some reason they got a clarification from revenue last year (not sure if this is something revenue are starting to chase) and will now be charging BIK on professional subscription fees as they are not required by the bank. All they care about is that you are qualified. Not that you stay a member. I don't think people have realised it yet but there will be a shock when they go to pay. Anyone I have talked to is looking to resign from the body.
 
i worked at a semi state some time ago and they queried it at the time, it was ultimately decided that if you were an accountant working in a finance role then it was covered under:

You can also pay the subscription without deduction of tax where:

  • the duties of your employee require them to either:
    • be a member of a professional body

The job description indicated that you had to be a member of a professional accounting body to apply for the role.
 
its a large unnecessary annual fee. Where is the ICAI's accountability?
 
jim said:
I find this an absolute scandal. Yes its €595 plus optional €100 but even leaving out the optional €100 its a huge sum and for what exactly.
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You are an accountant, they publish their accounts, surely you can figure it out.....

jim said:
I have emailed them asking them this very question. I also asked them if in general do members complain about the fee so will be interesting to see what I get back.
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Go to the AGM and ask the questions, that is where the decision are made.

jim said:
I have no use for the Institute so why must I pay this fee each year? Granted my employer pays it but still....it really bugs me and they don't even try to explain where the money goes.
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It takes money to run an organisation like the ICAI and if you feel not benefit, then just resign, it is not exactly rocket science to make up your mind on it.
 
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