Accounting services may only be performed by those holding a qualified auditor’s certificate or a chartered accountant’s certificate, or have qualifications equal to the qualifications of chartered accountants. On the basis of a separate application and individual judgement, accounting services may also be performed by those whose diploma awarded by a specialized higher educational institution outside Hungary has been recognized by the presiding authority after 01 May1995, and who possess the knowledge and command of the language required for practising these activities in Hungary, and furthermore, by those who have three-years of experience acquired in Hungary in the field of accounting, finance and auditing.

In the case of persons entitled to move and reside freely, professional experience must also be considered valid, if gained by the applicant in any member state of the European Union, in any other state who is a contracting party to the agreement on the European Economic Area or in a state whose nationals enjoy identical legal status as nationals of the European Community and its member states, as well as the nationals of a state who is a contracting party to an agreement on the European Economic Area in respect to the right of free movement and residence on the basis of an international agreement concluded with a state who is not a contracting party to the agreement on the European Economic Area.

Accounting service providers are registered in four special fields:

1. in the field of enterprises,
2. in the field of the state budget,
3. in the field of finances, and
4. in other organizational (non-profit) fields.

The specialised field shall be determined on the basis of the certification of qualifications or education, or in the absence of this, in accordance with the professional experience. In case the applicant failed to acquire three years of experience in a certain specialised field, but the entire amount of experience acquired in other fields is more than three years, the applicant will be registered in the specialised field where s/he gained the most experience.

In case a certified accountant has acquired a second or further professional qualifications after his/her first registered specialised field, s/he may apply for admission to the register of the specialised field corresponding to this new qualification.

The register

The register of accounting service providers shall contain the following details of authorized service providers admitted to the register

1. registration number,
2. identification data on the natural person, home address and mailing address, ID card number and date of issue of the card,
3. qualifications (including the specialised field in the case of certified accountant qualifications), as well as the professional university or college qualifications recognized as certified accountant qualifications in respect to authorization,
4. number of the diploma or certificate certifying the qualifications referred to in the above paragraph, name of the issuing institution and the date of issue,
5. place of acquisition of the accounting, financial or auditing experience prescribed for the authorization, the amount of this experience, as well as a description of the position or activity in which the professional experience had been for the most part acquired,
6. specialised field of registration, and
7. fulfilment of the obligation for continuing education in the profession.

The register of accounting service providers can contain the following details of those admitted to the register based on the voluntary provision of data by the accounting service providers

1. phone number,
2. electronic contact information,
3. other qualifications that can be utilized in the course of providing accounting services, the number of the diploma or certificate certifying these qualifications, as well as the name of the issuer and the date of issue, and
4. the type and degree of the successful language examination(s) certifying the command of foreign languages recognized by the state.

Application for registration

The application for registration must be submitted using the data sheet included in Annex 1 to Government Decree No. 93/2002. (05 May) to the regional offices of the Hungarian State Treasury or to the customer service of hte Ministry for National Economy. The following must be attached to the application:

1. a copy of the diploma or certificate certifying qualifications,
2. one passport size photo,
3. a document certifying the payment of the administrative service fee.

Accounting service providers must pay an administrative service fee of HUF 9,000 to account number 10032000-01460658-00000000, designated as the Hungarian State Treasury, Budapest. for their admission onto the register. The fee for data modification for the issuance of a new card is HUF 2,000. In case data modification does not involve the issuance of a new card, the fee for modifying the data in the register and deleting any data is HUF 1,000.

The data of the applicant for admission onto the register of accounting service providers (hereinafter: the applicant) shall be entered into the register by the Minister of Finance simultaneously with the granting of the authorization and the relevant card shall be issued accordingly, provided that the applicant meets the requirements set forth in the Accounting Act and Government Decree No. 93/2002. (05 May) and if all data are supported by the necessary documents.

The time limit for the administration of the procedure related to authorization shall be two months.

In case the data on the application are incomplete or not certified, as appropriate, the applicant must be called to submit the missing documents within thirty days of the date of submission of the application, fixing a time limit of 30 days for the submission of the missing documents.

The following natural persons must be deleted from the register

1. anyone who fails to attend further professional training, whose attendance is not verified by the body organizing the training or who fails to provide a proper excuse for not participating in the training,
2. anyone who has incurred a criminal record,
3. anyone whose authorization to practice his profession has been suspended by a court order related to accounting services,
4. anyone who provided any information that is false or misleading before or after registration or failed to report within thirty days any circumstances serving as grounds for removal from the register when it is established subsequently that false information has been provided or notification has not been made,
5. anyone who requests this,
6. anyone who is placed under guardianship or conservatorship by a legally binding court ruling, or
7. anyone who has died.

The obligation for attending training courses pursuant to Section 152 (1) of the Accounting Act shall be fulfilled by persons authorized to provide accounting services as of the training year following his/her admission to the Register. The training year shall last from 01 January to 31 December.

 Cross-border service provision

 If you wish to launch this service in the form of cross-border service provision, please click here to read the general conditions of cross-border service provision in Hungary.