As of 16 August 2026, Morocco's Order of Chartered Accountants lists 400 members on its register, present in 22 cities and attached to 6 regional councils. Four hundred for the whole country. That is few, and it is the first thing to understand: most people offering to "keep your accounts" in Morocco are not chartered accountants. That is not necessarily a problem. Moroccan law recognises two distinct professions, governed by two different statutes, and both may legally keep a set of accounts. But only one may certify them. Confusing the two, when you run a company or an estate from Paris, Brussels or Montreal, eventually costs you. From abroad, the difficulty is not finding someone. It is verifying that the person opposite you actually exists in an official register, and is entitled to do what they are offering. This guide sets out who may do what, and how to check it yourself in a few minutes without leaving your desk.
Timeline
Tell the chartered accountant from the licensed accountant
Two professions, two statutes. The chartered accountant (expert-comptable) falls under Law 15-89, enacted by dahir no. 1-92-139 of 8 January 1993, which created the Order of Chartered Accountants. The licensed accountant (comptable agréé) falls under Law 127-12, amended and supplemented by Law 53-19, which created the Professional Organisation of Licensed Accountants. Both may keep, centralise, open and close a set of accounts. The difference lies elsewhere: Law 15-89 gives the chartered accountant the exclusive right to certify accounts. A licensed accountant cannot certify your financial statements, nor act as statutory auditor.
💡 Tip: The question to ask is not "are you an accountant?" but "under which title are you registered, and under what number?". Both professions have a public register.
⚠️ Warning: The word "fiduciaire" matches neither protected title. Such a firm may employ registered professionals, or none at all. The name on the door proves nothing.
Check the register yourself, before committing to anything
The Order publishes its members' directory on oec.ma. You can search by the accountant's name, by firm or by city. If the professional is not there, they are not a chartered accountant, whatever the business card or the website says. The Professional Organisation of Licensed Accountants keeps its own directory on opca.ma. Those two registers are the only proof that counts.
💡 Tip: Search by person rather than by firm. A firm may still carry the name of a partner who no longer practises there.
⚠️ Warning: A professional who will not give you their registration number, or who points to a certificate they issue themselves rather than to the register, should be set aside.
Identify the regional council they belong to
The Order's 400 members are attached to 6 regional councils. This looks like an administrative detail. It is not: the regional council is the body to address if a dispute arises with a registered member. Knowing which region your firm belongs to, before you engage them, means knowing where to write if the relationship deteriorates. The regional structure is published on the Order's site.
💡 Tip: Record the regional council in the same file as the engagement letter. It is the sort of detail you can never find at the moment you need it.
Write to several firms, not one
From abroad, the temptation is to rely on the first name a relative recommends. It is the main source of unpleasant surprises. A firm that excels at company accounts is not necessarily the right contact for a non-resident's rental income, or for a structure still being set up. Send the same request, worded the same way, to several firms, and compare what comes back: how precise their questions are, how fast they answer, how clear they are about who will actually do the work.
💡 Tip: A firm that starts by asking you questions, rather than answering immediately with an offer, usually works better.
Put the scope of the engagement in writing
This is the most neglected point, and the one that matters most at a distance. An engagement letter states what is done, what is not, who sends what and by when. Without it, a disagreement is settled from memory, and the memory of the person 2,000 kilometres away rarely carries much weight. Have it spell out in particular who files what with the administration, within what deadline, and what happens if a document reaches them late from abroad.
⚠️ Warning: An engagement agreed through a string of messages, with no single document summarising it, leaves each party with their own version of the scope.
Set up how documents will travel
A file run from abroad lives or dies on how the paperwork circulates. Agree from the outset on a single, traceable channel, and keep a copy of everything you send. If a power of attorney is needed for the firm to act in your name, that is a separate instrument with its own formal and legalisation requirements.
💡 Tip: Keeping a written trail works for you too: it documents what you sent, and when.
In depth
400 chartered accountants for a country of more than 37 million people: that is the figure the Order published on 16 August 2026. Spread across the 22 cities where they practise, it makes for a scarce profession, and that scarcity explains most of what Moroccans abroad run into on the ground.
Where demand far exceeds the number of registered professionals, a parallel market forms. It is not unlawful in itself: Law 127-12, as amended and supplemented by Law 53-19, created the licensed accountant profession and its organisation, the OPCA, precisely to bring part of that activity within a framework. A licensed accountant may lawfully keep, centralise, open and close a set of accounts. What they cannot do is certify accounts: Law 15-89 reserves that exclusively to the chartered accountant.
The grey zone starts beyond those two professions. "Fiduciaire", "accounting office", "management bureau" are not protected titles. A firm may employ registered professionals, one, or none. Nothing in the name reveals which, and someone dealing from abroad has no way of guessing by walking through the door.
Hence the only method that holds: check a named individual in one of the two official registers. The Order publishes its members' directory on oec.ma, the OPCA publishes its own on opca.ma. That check takes minutes and rests on no trust extended in advance. Which is exactly what makes it useful from 2,000 kilometres away.
❌ Common mistakes to avoid
- ✕Treating "fiduciaire" as a professional title. It is not one, and matches neither Law 15-89 nor Law 127-12.
- ✕Checking the firm instead of the individual. It is a named professional who appears on a register, not a trading name.
- ✕Asking a licensed accountant to certify accounts. Law 15-89 reserves that exclusively to the chartered accountant, and a certification obtained elsewhere is worthless.
- ✕Accepting a registration certificate issued by the professional themselves, rather than looking them up in their order's public directory.
- ✕Approaching a single firm on a relative's recommendation, with nothing to compare it against on a non-resident file.
- ✕Starting work with no single document setting out the scope, which leaves each side with its own version once a disagreement arises.
- ✕Overlooking which regional council the firm belongs to, when that is the body to address if the relationship breaks down.
🔗 Official links and resources
Order of Chartered Accountants of Morocco, members' directory
Search by name, firm or city. The register that settles whether a professional really is a chartered accountant.
Order of Chartered Accountants, laws and regulations
The texts governing the profession, including Law 15-89.
Professional Organisation of Licensed Accountants
Directory of licensed accountants, a separate profession governed by Law 127-12.
Law no. 15-89 regulating the profession of chartered accountant
Full text published by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
❓ Frequently asked questions
Need an expert for your project?
Find a Moroccan professional verified by LesMRE to guide you step by step.
Find a verified expertCreate your free account
Registration is 100% free and opens every guide, kept up to date whenever the rules change, with the full detail of each procedure for Moroccans abroad.