In a DCG lecture hall, the confusion is common: students talk about “doing audit” or “doing accounting services” as if they were two options within the same job. In France they are in fact two regulated professions, each with its own institution, code of ethics and register. One produces or supervises a company’s accounts and advises it; the other certifies those accounts with full independence, on behalf of shareholders and third parties. Understanding what separates them helps you choose your internships, target your CV and prepare the rest of your path, especially since many professionals end up holding both titles.
Two opposite missions: producing the accounts or certifying them
The chartered accountant (expert-comptable) supports a business in producing its accounts and in managing itself. The French Order of Chartered Accountants (Ordre des experts-comptables) points out that the profession holds a legal prerogative: it may keep, correct, review and assess the accounts of businesses with which it has no employment relationship, and attest to the regularity and fairness of their financial statements. In practice, an accounting firm keeps the books of very small businesses, reviews those of SMEs that have their own accounting team, prepares annual accounts and the tax return package, often handles payroll and social filings, and advises the owner on pay, legal structure, financing and succession.
The statutory auditor (commissaire aux comptes) carries out a legal audit mission. Appointed by the general meeting of a company, an association or any body required to have one by law or by its articles, the auditor certifies that the annual financial statements are regular and fair and give a true and fair view of the results, financial position and assets. The auditor does not produce the accounts: they gather audit evidence to form an opinion on accounts prepared by others. The report is addressed to shareholders, but it also protects banks, suppliers, employees and the State, who rely on certified accounts.
The difference can be summed up in a sentence partners repeat to trainees: the chartered accountant is on the client’s side, the statutory auditor is on the side of the accounts.
Independence and incompatibilities
This opposition between the missions explains the independence rules of statutory audit. A statutory auditor cannot certify accounts they have kept or prepared themselves: that would mean auditing their own work. The profession’s code of ethics and the French Commercial Code strictly regulate the services an auditor may provide to an entity whose accounts they certify, with stricter prohibitions for public-interest entities such as listed companies, banks and insurers.
In practice, this leads to an organisation found in many firms:
- the same firm may practise both professions, but never for the same client;
- a chartered accountant may have a client whose accounts are certified by another firm, and the two then exchange information at year-end;
- files are allocated so as to avoid any conflict, and the firm checks these rules before each new engagement.
The chartered accountant is also bound by a code of ethics, professional standards and professional secrecy; they take an oath on registration and their work is inspected. But their duty to advise places them at the service of the business owner, which is precisely what a statutory auditor is forbidden to do for the entity they audit.
The same diploma for two separate registrations
This is the main source of confusion: the French chartered accountancy diploma (diplôme d’expertise comptable, DEC), which completes the DCG, DSCG and traineeship track, opens the door to both professions. But each one has its own registration:
- chartered accountant: entry on the roll (tableau) of the Order of Chartered Accountants, with the regional council of the Order where you practise;
- statutory auditor: entry on the list of statutory auditors, kept by the French audit oversight authority (Haute Autorité de l’audit, H2A, which succeeded the H3C), after taking an oath.
For statutory audit, the DEC is not the only route. The national institute of statutory auditors (Compagnie nationale des commissaires aux comptes, CNCC) presents a second path: a master’s-level degree, a three-year professional traineeship with an authorised statutory auditor, and then the certificate of aptitude for statutory audit (CAFCAC). This route leads to signing audit opinions without going through the DEC.
A professional who has completed the full track, and whose traineeship included a statutory audit component, can therefore apply for both registrations. This is the case for many partners in independent firms, who sign audit engagements while running a chartered accountancy practice.
The details of the path to the diploma are explained in our article on the DEC traineeship, and how to present it in our method for writing an audit CV.
Clients, pace and responsibilities day to day
The two professions look alike in early-career tasks (reading a trial balance, supporting an account balance, understanding a cycle) but quickly diverge in daily life.
| | Chartered accountancy | Statutory audit | |---|---|---| | Typical clients | very small businesses, SMEs, liberal professions, associations, property companies | companies above the legal thresholds, groups, grant-funded associations, public-interest entities | | Relationship | long-term and frequent, with the business owner | an engagement covering several financial years, with the finance department and governance bodies | | Calendar | tax season in spring, monthly filings, year-end accounts spread across the year | interim visits in autumn, year-end work concentrated from January to April | | Deliverables | annual accounts, tax returns, interim statements, forecasts, advice | audit report, special reports, summaries for audit committees | | Responsibility | quality of the accounts produced and of the advice | an opinion on the accounts, with the auditor’s own civil and criminal liability |
The pace is not the same either. A staff accountant in an accounting firm manages a portfolio of client files followed all year round and knows the business owners. An auditor moves from one engagement to the next, lasting from a few days to a few weeks, often as part of a team, at different clients, with a marked peak at the start of the year.
Which path to choose depending on your profile
Neither is superior to the other, and the choice is not final: many students do both during their traineeship. A few pointers for steering your first years.
Chartered accountancy suits you if you enjoy following clients over time, understanding a business as a whole (tax, payroll, legal, management), having a direct contact who expects your advice, and if the idea of setting up or taking over a firm appeals to you.
Statutory audit suits you if you enjoy investigating, varying sectors and company sizes, working in a team on short engagements, and if the methodological rigour of a risk-based approach appeals to you more than advising a business owner.
Mixed firms, which are common outside Paris, often offer the best testing ground: a trainee there splits their time between a portfolio of accounting clients and audit engagements. That is the path shown in our trainee chartered accountant CV example.
In the longer term, both professions lead to partnership, but also to roles in industry: head of accounting, financial controller, finance director. Auditors more often move into financial control and consolidation; accounting firm staff more often into running the accounting function of an SME.
Presenting your plans on an internship CV
A recruiter in a firm reads your CV to find out which profession you lean towards. Saying it clearly avoids being steered by default.
In the summary, name the profession and the contract:
- Before: “DSCG student looking for an internship in an accounting firm.”
- After: “DSCG student, two years of work-study in chartered accountancy, looking for a six-month internship in statutory audit to round out my practice before the DEC traineeship.”
In your experience, separate what belongs to each profession. A work-study placement in accounting services is described by the portfolio (number of files, types of clients) and the deliverables (year-end accounts, tax returns, filings); an audit season by the files, the cycles tested and the procedures carried out (stock counts, external confirmations). Mixing the two in a single line blurs the message.
In your education, highlight the units that support your choice: the DSCG “accounting and audit” unit for statutory audit, the tax and employment-law units for chartered accountancy.
More advanced profiles will find suitable templates in our examples of the accounting firm staff accountant CV and the statutory audit partner CV. To format your own background, the CV editor takes care of the structure and layout, and produces a PDF that can be read by the screening software used by mid-tier firms and the large networks.
Sources
- Ordre des experts-comptables, what is a chartered accountant? 🔗
- Compagnie nationale des commissaires aux comptes, accessing the profession 🔗 and the CAFCAC 🔗.
- Onisep, chartered accountant job profile 🔗.
- Haute Autorité de l’audit, official website 🔗.
Frequently asked questions
Can you be both a chartered accountant and a statutory auditor?
Yes, by being registered on the roll of the Order and on the list of statutory auditors. The only limit is never to carry out both missions for the same entity.
Is a statutory auditor a chartered accountant?
Not necessarily. Many are, because the DEC opens both professions, but the CAFCAC route makes it possible to become a statutory auditor without being a chartered accountant.
Do you have to choose between the two during your studies?
No. The DCG and DSCG are common to both, and the chartered accountancy traineeship can combine the two activities. The choice is often made during the first years of practice.
Which profession offers more opportunities in industry?
Both do. Audit often leads to financial control, consolidation or internal audit; chartered accountancy to running the accounting and finance function of an SME.