Evaluating Trust in the Accountancy Profession

On behalf of Chartered Accountants Worldwide (CAW), Edelman Intelligence surveyed over one thousand business leaders and key decision-makers across the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to measure their trust in chartered accountants, the accountancy sector and business as a whole. In South Africa 250 respondents were interviewed. In an era where trust in businesses is being shaken to the core, the results of the survey show that more than three quarters (77%) of global business leaders and key decision-makers trust chartered accountants to do the right thing. This is ahead of other professions: legal services (68%); financial services (59%) and insurance (55%).

Chartered Accountants specifically, hold a trusted position amongst key decision-makers, with more than three quarters (77%) saying they trust chartered accountants to do the right thing. Similarly, the majority (61%) believe chartered accountancy professional bodies are performing well in building trust in the profession. More than half (54%) of global business leaders and decision-makers cited protection of clients’ data, ethical behaviour (50%) and transparency (47%) as key areas for building trust in business.