Chartered accountants are feeling the squeeze, with levels of personal borrowing going up over the past year, according to new research by the Chartered Accountants' Benevolent Association (CABA).

CABA's statistics show that 19% of working, unemployed and retired accountants surveyed by the charity say they have higher levels of personal debt than 12 months ago. Of these, 42% said that this higher debt had been placed on their credit card, 37% had increased their mortgage and 21% had a bigger overdraft.

Although the majority (73%) of those working felt that they were 'in control' of their debts, 20% said that they had more overall debt than a year ago, 15% saw their debts as an 'increasing burden' and 10% 'sometimes struggle' with the debts that they have.

Almost half (44%) of working accountants said that they were concerned about the increased cost of living, 30% reported that they were dipping into their savings and 26% have been cutting back on spending on 'luxury' items.

Paul Day, CABA debt support officer, said the survey showed that while accountants have a high degree of financial expertise, they are not immune to the difficulties of the current economic situation.

'Our research does suggest a degree of "belt tightening" at least and trends such as increased credit card and overdraft debt is potentially of concern, being broadly indicative of higher spending month-by-month. Around 7% of the direct enquiries we received last year concerned debt. The majority of these were linked to unemployment, health issues or the failure of their business rather than being an indication of irresponsible overspending,' Day said.

Day added that CABA was able to provide a high degree of help to chartered accountants who found themselves with debt problems over the long term.

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