Partnership working is the order of the day in the modern public sector. Politicians and service leaders earn rounds of applause when announcing the end to siloed working, promising that the collaboration and efficiency of working together will mean better services, better outcomes and better value. The same benefits could soon be realised by two major chartered accounting bodies, with CIPFA members having the deciding say later this year.
CIPFA and ICAEW signed an agreement last summer to explore forging a closer union – resulting in plans for integration, with CIPFA becoming part of the ICAEW group but remaining a distinct body with its own brand and specialisms.
The institutes’ respective chief executives, Owen Mapley (left) and Alan Vallance (right), both took up their roles in 2024, by which time these conversations were well underway. A formal effort to join forces fell agonisingly short in 2005, and plans were put on hold, but a fresh round of talks took a major step forward in 2023 when the institutes signed a joint declaration to work more closely together.
Mapley and Vallance stepped into their roles in this context, and both were soon convinced by the project, and that their predecessors had the right idea.
“The two organisations have considered our relationship for decades,” Mapley explains. “There has been the potential to work more closely together at various points, and that has turned into formal propositions, but the timing was never right for both organisations to actually take the plunge and join together more formally.
“Looking at the world over the past few years, though, I think there’s so much change going on in the economy, with technology and with the role of professional organisations in the modern world, that it became logical to look again.”
Changing landscape
The 2005 vote, which was passed overwhelmingly (86.6%) by CIPFA members but narrowly voted down by ICAEW members (at 65.7%, it fell just short of the required 66.7% majority) certainly took place in a different context. The world facing a chartered accountant has undoubtedly changed.
“I think both in the private and public sectors, the role of the finance professional – particularly the senior members of the profession – has seriously broadened over the years,” says Mapley. “It’s moved way beyond the cliches of simply being bean counters, and we’re now seen as real shapers and influencers of value, whether that be shareholder value in the private sector, or public value in the public sector.
“CIPFA started its life as a treasurers’ institute, and of course, there are still some important core principles of being a treasurer. But the chief finance officer of today is involved in strategy-setting and stakeholder engagement and representation of the organisation, and acting as a sort of force multiplier – a source of value and productivity.”
With this expanded responsibility has come, in some cases, intense pressure, Mapley says. “In many organisations there are constraints and a constant need to find efficiencies and find new ways of delivering value. And in the public sector in particular we’re seeing senior practitioners come under enormous pressure, when the demands are greater than the finances available. The role of the finance professional has always been about integrity, trust and doing the right thing, but there are increasingly times where we need to see the finance leaders giving some quite difficult truths to power, and I’d say that has evolved very significantly over recent times.”
Vallance agrees. “The world is changing, and there are so many different challenges,” he says. “There are geopolitical issues, there are issues facing the profession in terms of technology, sustainability and regulation. I think regulation has become very burdensome and has limited growth. And I think we’ll face up to those issues better together.
“The one big issue that I deal with pretty much every day is the phrase ‘attractiveness of the profession’. How do we deal with some of the challenges while ensuring that we get the best talent into the profession so it’s fit for the future?”
“That’s not just in the private sector; it’s in the public sector as well. And it’s not just in the UK; it’s internationally. So there’s a range of issues that all professional bodies are facing up to.”
Some of these challenges, such as the fight against climate change, will reshape economies and in some cases public services, and the profession needs to adapt – for example by continuing CIPFA’s work on sustainability reporting. Others, such as the seemingly exponential development of artificial intelligence, will have a more direct effect on the day-to-day work of finance professionals as well.
“We need to invest in keeping qualifications, as well as the support CIPFA provides to our members, up to date and relevant to these challenges,” says Mapley. “Whether that’s adopting new approaches to sustainability assurance, or ensuring integrity and trust in data that has been influenced by AI. Working on that together with ICAEW will be hugely positive. And for CIPFA, as a proud but small organisation, we would definitely be in a better position to make some of those investments to respond to the changing world if we could do so mutually with ICAEW.”
Public sector pride
Pride in CIPFA – still the only professional accountancy body in the world with a sole focus on the public sector – is paramount for Mapley, and efforts have clearly been made to maintain the brand and the personality of the institute throughout the discussions on integration.
Mapley says: “One of the things we’re really pleased about is that the proposition retains CIPFA’s identity, brand, charter and charitable status, so it can stay as a trusted and visible part of the landscape. We would benefit from being part of the ICAEW group, but we would also benefit from being a discrete entity within that group.” He says CIPFA’s governance will evolve under the stewardship of a refreshed board of charity trustees. “We’ve also got a great tradition of having honorary officers elected from among the membership. That will continue.
“The role of CIPFA Council will evolve; it will be retained as a body to represent the membership and its diversity. And so that insight that we get from across our membership and the pride and prestige of rising to become honorary officers will continue.
“So I think the changes protect many of the things that members have valued over the decades that CIPFA has existed, and we get to benefit from working in this closer partnership with the breadth of expertise, the scale of the operation and the international network that ICAEW has. I think it’s a really good combination without losing that sense of identity and pride in being focused on the public sector.”
Vallance adds: “We’re very keen to make sure that CIPFA operates effectively as it does now. The governance will change, but both organisations will retain their brand, their identity and essentially what they do.
“I think you’ll see a lot more of how we’ll work together coming out over the next couple of years. We’ve got an international network of offices and a structure, and CIPFA has an international offer in terms of public sector capability. Putting those two together, there are obvious benefits for both organisations and the members.
“I think getting access to CIPFA’s expertise, in parts of the public sector where ICAEW has not really had that expertise before, is really going to be valuable. And that goes both ways: our tax expertise, for example, would be something that CIPFA could really make use of. There’s so much more we can do with those knowledge pools put together; it really is two plus two equals five.”
Day-to-day, things have already changed at CIPFA. For members with less than five years’ experience, the opportunity to apply for the fast track to dual membership of each institute has been available since the 2023 agreement.
“We’re increasingly seeing that careers are not linear the way they were years ago, and we see people moving, not just between different organisations but between different sectors,” says Mapley. “I’m not remotely unusual in having spent time in both the private sector and the public sector.”
Beneficial moves
CIPFA’s London-based team has moved into ICAEW’s headquarters, and the latter has taken over much of the running of CIPFA’s disciplinary function, overseeing the assessment, investigation and prosecution of disciplinary cases.
“There’s greater depth in the ICAEW team, so CIPFA has certainly benefited from moving the review of our cases into that model – still, obviously, against CIPFA’s rules and standards, but benefiting from the enlarged team,” says Mapley. “We are looking at how we can work together in other ways as well, bringing together the strengths of both organisations into a single group that’s greater than the sum of its parts.”
Vallance adds: “I think the move in was really important, with CIPFA teams coming into the building, because that kind of physical closeness I think has helped us to explore a lot more of what we could do together. That collaboration has benefited from simply being in the same place and talking to each other.
“That starts from the top down: Owen and I meet regularly, our teams are collaborating and constantly looking at what we can do. And I think the interesting thing for me is the complementarity of the skills between the two organisations. If we were to draw a Venn diagram of each institute’s skills, I think what that would show is that together, we’re much more capable than we are individually.”
It’s easy to focus on the changes. But, as Mapley points out, many aspects of CIPFA’s work, and what members expect from the institute, are constant. “There are some things that will remain unchanged. Members want a professionally run organisation that provides them with the core services they need, such as continuing professional development and support to enhance their skills. Something we’re working on in CIPFA is this concept of our members feeling like we’re their trusted ‘career companion’, that’s with them at all different stages of their career.
“Members also want representation for the profession and for the sectors they work in. They want a voice and an influence on the issues of the day. Members’ sense of community, engagement and being represented is all going to continue to be really important.”
At the basic level, Vallance adds, the bread and butter of the profession is unchanged. “Underlying all of this for any professional body, and especially for ours, is trust and confidence in accounts. And to do that, essentially, you need people to be the best that they can be, and that really is at the heart of what we do.
“It’s about making sure we give students who qualify the best opportunity to be the most professional professional, and then to journey with members wherever they go in their careers. Whether that’s in the public sector or the private sector, they can continue to hold themselves to the highest professional standards for themselves, and we do the same.
“The world is shifting, things are changing, and there is, I think, an inevitable move towards consolidation of professional bodies over time, and we both think it’s really important that we’re setting that pace rather than reacting to something that would, I think, inevitably happen at some point down the track anyway.
“My view is that both our member groups should be really excited about what might come out of this in the future. It’s great for both institutes.”
As Mapley sums up: “I’d agree with that. There’s a reason the institutes keep coming back to look at this, and I think the refreshed approach we’re taking looks to protect and enhance the things that CIPFA members hold dear, while finding a natural partner with a mutual focus on standards, quality and integrity. I share that optimism that while it is a hugely changeable world out there, we have two organisations with such a proud history – 140 years in CIPFA’s case and 145 in ICAEW’s. I think together we can write some bold new chapters in that history.”
What comes next?
- CIPFA submitted draft proposals to the Privy Council in November, with a decision expected in early 2026.
- A microsite will be launched to further explain the rationale behind the changes, and allow members to scrutinise the proposals, as well as add comments and ask questions.
- Further engagement activity will be scheduled, including events at which members can ask questions directly to the institute’s leadership.
- CIPFA members will then have the opportunity to vote on the proposals – most likely in late spring or early summer. The vote will be open for 21 days and will require at least a two-thirds majority to pass.
- No such vote is needed for ICAEW members, because the plans would not involve changing its constitution.
- A special general meeting will be called to announce the result. If the revised charter and byelaws are approved, CIPFA would then apply to the Privy Council for formal approval.
- If the changes are approved, ICAEW will take a key role in the governance of CIPFA, formalising the close working relationship that has been developed between the two institutes over several years.
- The intent is for the two bodies’ scale and shared infrastructure to help both operate more efficiently, spreading investment in technology, education and regulatory capacity across a larger combined base.
Image credit | Alex Rumford