The article is an attempt to evaluate the role that the system of accounting, financial reporting and chartered accountants played in starting the financial crisis. Some of the solutions that were subsequently applied to improve the quality of information provided by accounting departments are presented and evaluated. The following topics are discussed: deceitful financial reporting and the beginnings of the financial crisis, proposals for improving the system of accounting in response to the financial crisis, including global accounting standards and MSSF for small and medium-size enterprises, a new EU directive for accounting and conclusions for chartered accountants drawn from the crisis. The final conclusion arrived at is that the financial crisis will never be caused by a faulty system but rather by people misusing it. Nevertheless, creating good principles of financial supervision could have prevented the financial crisis from occurring on such a large scale.