ABTA travel agents

ABTA Accounts

The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) requires its member travel agents to provide copies of their annual audited accounts (or equivalent). Until January 2007, CIMA Members in Practice were not recognised for this purpose, despite the fact that Practising Certificate holders were permitted in general terms to act as Reporting Accountants. The ABTA Board, following representations from the Institute, has now agreed to add CIMA to the list, with the conditions that:

• the members undertaking this work hold a current Practising Certificate
• they are independent of the member travel agent.

Excerpts from the ABTA Rule Book as revised:

What’s the definition of a ‘reporting accountant’?

If you're required to provide us with audited accounts, then the reporting accountant must be a registered auditor. If you aren't required under the Companies Act or otherwise to be subject to an audit, then the reporting accountant must be an independent qualified accountant and the individual or the individual's firm must be a member of and hold a current practising certificate from one of the six supervisory bodies listed below:-

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
The Association of Authorised Public Accountants
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

What format should my accountant use for the unaudited accounts?

Accounts that haven’t been subject to an audit must be in a format as close to that required by the Companies Act as is reasonably possible, including comparatives, accounting policies, and notes to the accounts. They must also confirm that proper books of account have been maintained.