An ATO explainer for employers
What exactly is an ATO?
An Authorised Training Office, or ATO for short, is a business or organisation that has been authorised by ICAS to train Chartered Accountants.
Who are the current ICAS ATOs?
Our current range of ATOs includes BDO, Lloyds Banking Group, Morgan Stanley, the ‘Big 4’ and most accounting practices in Scotland.
In addition, many of the UK’s lesser-known local companies have registered to become ATOs and are actively training the next generation of Chartered Accountants.
We also train CAs with businesses large and small, with public sector organisations and we’re continually branching out to increase and support the variety of organisations we work with.
Why did they become ATOs?
The common thread between all these organisations is a recognition of the benefits of becoming an ATO and training CAs: it helps them attract the best talent and equips them with top-class accountancy and business professionals.
Additionally, employers can take advantage of the strong degree of loyalty demonstrated by newly qualified CAs, who often stay with their training office for years after qualification.
Why is having a range of ATOs important for everyone?
The relatively low average age of the ICAS membership is testament to the sheer number of students currently studying to earn their CA designation, and to all those potential new recruits keen to follow in their footsteps.
And all these talented youngsters need somewhere to gain and employ their expertise – the more training firms we work with, the more options they’ll have.
In addition, having our students train within an ever-diversifying variety of sectors serves to widen the overall base of experience, strengthen the profession, and ultimately benefit the industries and sectors our qualified CAs go on to serve.
Register your interest to get started
To begin the process of training an ICAS CA, please register your interest and we’ll be in touch to guide you through the next steps:
Find out more
Why you should train a CA
- Explore some of the ways in which an ICAS CA will add value to your organisation.
- Discover how strong ethical values set our CAs for professional success.
- Learn what makes ICAS CAs the best option for a range of businesses, industries and organisations.
Why you should choose to train with ICAS
- Find out what makes our training programme a perfect fit for most organisations.
- Explore the ICAS approach to learning and the many benefits it brings to employers and students.
- We have training options for everyone, from graduate recruitment to government-funded apprenticeships.
- Discover how we’ll help you recruit, develop and retain the best and brightest talent.
