Updated 12 November 2026
The official way to check an ICPAK approved firm in Kenya is to use the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya’s public firm directory, not a letterhead, a website footer or a social-media page. The Institute still served that directory on 12 November 2026 at icpak.com/search-firm/. The page heading is “The CPA Firm Directory.” It tells you to “Search for ICPAK Firms by ‘First Letter’ or ‘Name’” and provides a button labelled “Download Approved Firms 2026,” which opens the official PDF at licenses.icpak.com/download-licensed-firms/2026.
The official PDF downloaded from that button on 12 November 2026 is titled “2026 APPROVED FIRM APPLICATIONS AS AT 2026-11-12 03:07AM.” On a count of that file the same day, there were 1,127 unique firm-name rows. The official Category column was printed as C on 1,016 rows, M on 71, T on 30 and A on 10. This guide does not paste the firm names or the partners listed against them. Search the exact official name. A later official PDF, which may carry a later “as at” stamp, would supersede that count.
On this page
In this guide
What an ICPAK approved firm is
The Institute’s Find A CPA hub at icpak.com/directory/, checked on 12 November 2026, points the public to a Member Directory and a Firms Directory as two separate official tools. A person who is an ICPAK member is not, by that fact alone, an ICPAK approved firm in Kenya. Check the firm on the firm directory or the approved-firms PDF, and check an individual member on the member directory.
The official Category letters on the 2026 PDF are explained on the Institute’s practising-licences page at icpak.com/practitioners-licences/, checked the same day: Category M is the Accounting, Controls and Consulting Licence; Category T is the Tax Licence; Category A is the Audit and Assurance Licence; and Category C is the Composite Licence. Read the Category letter on the firm’s official row rather than assuming the work from the trading name.
The same search-firm page also offers a “Download Approved Firms 2025” file. That is a different official year. This guide counts only the 2026 PDF named above.
How to search for an ICPAK approved firm in Kenya
To check an ICPAK approved firm in Kenya, ask for the exact official practice name and, if you were given one, the firm’s PF number. Then open icpak.com/search-firm/.
The page, checked on 12 November 2026, provides a “Search By Name/PF Number” field and a “Filter by county” control, with a Search button. The official instruction on the same page is to search by first letter or by name. Use the exact spelling from the letterhead or engagement letter you were given. If the live search does not help, download the current “Approved Firms 2026” PDF from the official button and search the Name column in that file.
The PDF’s official columns, as printed on 12 November 2026, are Name, Category and Partners. Partner lines print a name and a practising number in brackets, with a letter prefix such as P, M, T or A. A later download of the same official button may show a later “as at” time in the title; use the file you actually downloaded, and do not treat an older saved copy as the current list.
This guide does not republish the postal addresses, telephone numbers or email addresses that a live firm-search result may display. The official PDF counted here lists names, categories and partners, not a contact column. If you need a contact path, use the Institute’s own site rather than a number copied from a third-party page.
What the 12 November 2026 PDF includes, and what it omits
The count below is from the official “Download Approved Firms 2026” PDF as served on 12 November 2026, not from a media republication and not from a Business Radar tool. It is the current official snapshot of an ICPAK approved firm in Kenya in that file. This guide does not paste firm names, partner names or practising numbers.
There were 1,127 unique firm-name rows and no duplicate official names. The Category column was printed as C on 1,016 rows, M on 71, T on 30 and A on 10. Those four official letters add up to the 1,127 firms. Against those firms there were 1,461 printed partner lines. Every firm row had at least one partner line. On those partner lines, the practising number was printed with the prefix P on 1,315 lines, M on 87, T on 40 and A on 19. A partner prefix is not always the same letter as the firm’s Category; this guide does not force them to match.
The PDF does not print a county, a postal address, a telephone number, a practising-licence expiry date or a “good standing” badge in a separate column. Those facts, if you need them, sit outside this headcount. The title calls the file “2026 APPROVED FIRM APPLICATIONS” as at the stamped date and time; this guide quotes that official heading rather than renaming it.
How this sits with membership fees and other professional checks
Checking an ICPAK approved firm in Kenya tells you whether a practice name appears on the Institute’s current official firm list, and which Category letter is printed for that name. It does not tell you what an individual member pays in subscriptions or practising-licence fees. For those official fee tables, use the published ICPAK membership fees guide. It also does not tell you whether a lawyer is on the Law Society of Kenya roll; that is a different official register, covered in the published guide to checking a registered advocate.
An individual CPA can be checked on the official member directory at icpak.com/search-member/, which the Institute heads “The CPA Member Directory” and which asks you to search using an ICPAK member number. That member check is not a substitute for confirming an ICPAK approved firm in Kenya on the firm directory or the 2026 PDF.
What to do if the firm name is missing
If the practice name you were given does not appear in the 1,127 official rows counted on 12 November 2026, check the exact spelling, including LLP or “& Associates” wording, and search the live firm directory as well as the PDF. Then download a fresh official 2026 file; a later “as at” stamp would supersede this count. Do not treat the 2025 official file as a substitute for the current year.
If the name is still missing, or if the Category letter does not match the work you were offered, treat the official list as the current public record and use the Institute’s own site to ask for the current firm record. Include the exact practice name, the date you searched, and a copy of the letterhead or engagement letter you were shown. The register answers a narrow question: is this name on the current official approved-firms list, and what Category is printed for it? It does not, on its own, approve an engagement or a tax position.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the official list of an ICPAK approved firm in Kenya?
On the Institute’s CPA Firm Directory at icpak.com/search-firm/, checked on 12 November 2026. The same page has a “Download Approved Firms 2026” button that opens licenses.icpak.com/download-licensed-firms/2026. The Find A CPA hub at icpak.com/directory/ points to that firm directory separately from the member directory.
How many ICPAK approved firms are on the 2026 list?
On a count of the official 2026 PDF downloaded on 12 November 2026, there were 1,127 unique firm-name rows. The official title of that file is “2026 APPROVED FIRM APPLICATIONS AS AT 2026-11-12 03:07AM.” That is the current official snapshot of an ICPAK approved firm in Kenya in that file, not a later total.
What do the Category letters C, M, T and A mean?
On the Institute’s practising-licences page, checked on 12 November 2026, Category C is the Composite Licence, Category M is the Accounting, Controls and Consulting Licence, Category T is the Tax Licence and Category A is the Audit and Assurance Licence. In the 2026 PDF count, 1,016 firms were printed as C, 71 as M, 30 as T and 10 as A.
Is a member the same as an ICPAK approved firm in Kenya?
No. The member directory at icpak.com/search-member/ checks an individual member number. The firm directory and the 2026 approved-firms PDF check a practice name. Use the firm list for the practice you were asked to engage.
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