Prior to 1956 the Association of Certified Corporate Accountants was represented in Guyana (British Guiana) by Colin Alan Campbell, FCCA, Governing Director of Real Daylight Balata Company Limited, a subsidiary of Bookers Mc.Connell and Company Limited. He co-opted the help of Messrs. E.A. Adams, ACCA and Charles Gonsalves, ACCA to assist with applications for student registration. The applications for student registration had grown considerably in the 1950’s and at his request a group of Certified Accountants consisting of Wilton Lloyd Wilson, Patrick C. Yansen, John G. and Noel F. Barcellos and V. J. Gangadin, undertook to relieve him of the task and to further set about forming a representative body of qualified Accountants to look after the interest of the profession in Guyana. With help of a number of well established qualified Accountants, including Fred Farrer CA (Canada), A .B. Way CA, John Jardim FCCA, W. G. Stoll, FCCA, and C.V. Too-Chung, FCCA, a meeting of Accountants was summoned and a resolution was passed to form an unincorporated body – The British Guyana Association of Accountants. The name Association of Accountants was selected because at that time, there were Chartered, Certified and one Incorporated Accountant F.B. Henderson Asam who was attached to the Bauxite Industry. The first chairman of the newly formed Association was Colin A. Campbell. Committees were formed by the Association to deal with applications for student registration, legal matters, e.g. misuse of the designation Certified Accountant, Taxation advice to the Minister of Finance, Entertainment and Public Relations.

On the 9th November 1966 eight Professional Accountants – Wilton Lloyd Wilson, A.S Ridler, J. Hudson, W. G. Stoll, J.L . Rawlins, Geo Gray, A.E. Bush and Noel F. Barcellos signed the Memorandum and Articles of Association for the incorporation under the Companies Act of the Guyana Association of Accountants, which was, renamed the Institute of Chartered Accounts of Guyana on the 11th July 1974.

The Parliament of Guyana enacted the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana Act 1991. This Act, which was assented to on 2nd April 1991, provides for the registration of persons as Chartered Accountants, to regulate the practice of accountancy and for matters connected therewith.

The Institute has been very active in the regional development of the accounting profession. In the 1970’s, under its then President Mr. John Barcellos Guyana endorsed the idea of a Regional Body of Accountants.

On 28th October 1988 the ICAG was one of the signatories at the inaugural signing ceremony of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean (ICAC). The first Vice President of the ICAC was Mr Christopher L Ram of the ICAG. In 1998 the then President of ICAG , Mr Ronald Alli was elected as the Second President of the ICAC.

While in the 1970’s the membership of the ICAG was in excess of 200, the membership for the past few years average 45 as the country continues to be affected by ongoing migration. Notwithstanding the limited resources at its disposals the Institute continues to work assiduously for the development of accountants and the Accounting profession.