Institut der Wirtschqftprufer in Deutschland e.V.

Germany’s main professional accounting and external auditing organization. The *Wirtschaftpriifer is the German equivalent of the *Certified Public Accountant, but the *public accounting profession is less extensive in Germany than in the English-speaking world. The Institut was established in 1931, and it had approximately 10,000 members in 2003. This is a very small number in relation to the size of the German population and the power of the German economy. While membership of the Institut is voluntary, all external auditors must by law register with the country’s Wirtschaftpriiferkammer. The latter may be translated as "accountants’ chambers." Web site (German only): www.idw.de