How To Become A Chartered Accountant In Ghana

How to become a chartered accountant in Ghana? If you have a passion for becoming a professional accountant in Ghana, then you are in the right place. In this guide, we’ll take you through the process and requirements for becoming a qualified and chartered accountant in Ghana.

Becoming a professional accountant in Ghana is not as easy as it seems. It requires advanced education, formal certification and a firm commitment to learning the trade. In fact, a large number of accounting graduates in Ghana are not chartered accountants as they don’t have any professional certification to back their claim.

Before we go into how to become an accountant in Ghana, let’s take a look at the general overview of accounting.

Who is An Accountant?

An accountant is a skilled personnel who is trained to record business transactions on behalf of an organization, reports on company performance to management, and issues financial statement.

What Does An Accountant Do?

Generally, accountants manage money. They deal with financial reporting, budgeting, pay, purchasing, procurement, and tax. In some companies, they may also audit financial figures.

How To Become A Chartered Accountant In Ghana

Below is a step-by-step procedure and requirement for becoming a chartered accountant in Ghana.

1. Obtain High School Education

The first thing that you need to become a professional accountant in Ghana is to go through secondary school education. This is the basics of becoming an accountant. Now, while in high school, you need to be in a commercial class.

By this we mean you need to offer subjects that are needed to study accounting in higher institution.

Now, regardless of your class, you are expected to pass your O’level with a minimum of credits passes in three (3) core subjects English Language, Mathematics, Integrated Science or Social Studies, and Three (3) Elective Subjects in the following groups; Business, General Arts, and General Science.

Once you have your papers complete, congratulations you are on the right path to becoming an accountant.

2. Obtain a Tertiary Education

Once you have met the above minimum requirement, you need to further your education. This could be either a university, technical university or a polytechnic.

In these institutions, you are expected to study accounting as a course. However, even if you never studied this course during your university/polytechnic days, you can still become an accountant by passing their professional exams.

But this will require you spending more years compared to those that studied accounting or accountancy in school.

3. Obtain Accounting Certifications

This is the last step to becoming a professional accountant in Ghana. In fact, most accounting graduates don’t get to this point. You really need this certification before you can become a professional accountant.

The certification is gotten from professional accountancy body. You can enroll in the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG). But before you do that, you need to meet their minimum admission requirements.

You also need to write and pass the ICAG examination. You can do this by downloading ICAG past questions which will serve as a guide.

Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana

The Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana) has been in existence since the mid-sixties. They have been providing accountancy training at both technician and professional levels. The ICAG School is located at Okponglo, East Legon, along the Trinity Theological Seminary-IPS Road.