What do accountants do? Well, an accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy, which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014). In many jurisdictions, professional accounting bodies maintain standards of practice and evaluations for professionals. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant or Certified Public Accountant. Such professionals are granted certain responsibilities by statute, such as the ability to certify an organization's financial statements, and may be held liable for professional misconduct. Non-qualified accountants may be employed by a qualified accountant, or may work independently without statutory privileges and obligations.
In particular the adoption of the International Accounting Standard has made the profession more challenging. Accounting is an extremely complex activity with substantial ethical implications which have changed over the last century. Accountants are increasingly becoming an important part of successful business teams. This is because they understand the language of money and a company's complex financial situation better than any other employees. The job outlook for Accountants and auditors seems promising for those still in college with a major in Finance or Accounting. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014), there is a projection of 13 percent growth for 2012 to 2022 for the employment of accountants and auditors. There are few issues that will hinder prospective acc...
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...se favors seem minor, they can build up a sense of obligation in the cost accountant's mind that the current analysis should be modified ever so slightly to cast the reviewer in a more favorable light. Another integrity issue involves the use of company assets. There is a temptation for employees to borrow company equipment or even access it for personal use while in the office. When a cost accountant does this, it creates a "gray area" in that person's mind regarding the extent to which assets can be used for other than company-specific purposes. This may lead to the cost accountant's overlooking any similar practices found during various cost accounting reviews if he or she finds that other employees are also borrowing company assets. As a result, accounting reports concerning the levels of control over company assets may not reveal that there is a usage problem.
Accounting is a way to provide information that” identifies, records and communicates the economic events of an organization”(Weygandt, J., Kimmel, P., & Kieso, D., 2012). In order to ensure that businesses and accountants produce similar financial statements, they are held to generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP standards (Weygandt, et.al. 2012). In addition to GAAP standards, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was passed by Congress to help reduce unethical behavior by large businesses (Weygandt, et. al., 2012). The combination of the two provides reassurance to stakeholders or interested parties that the financial statements are uniform and provide reliable data. This is of the utmost importance for a business to be successful.
The general percentage of women who are pursuing accounting in the world is estimated to be 50 percent. In the United States, women take a lion share in the field of accounting, whereby of all auditors and accountants, they hold a 63 percent (Bruce-Twun, 2013). In the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, the CICA, AICPA and ICAEW, they possess programs targeted at educating as well as supporting individuals and firms pertaining to the development of women in the profession. The efforts deal with sustainability of profession as being a foundational reason to promote the initiatives. Across the world, the accounting firms are hiring more women, with some firms reporting to have 70 percent of their staff being women (Adamy & Overberg, 2016; Goudreau,
* (200-300 words) After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, my goal is to find a position as a Staff Auditor for an accounting firm. To achieve that, I have set out to obtain an Audit and Accounting internship within the next year to acquire valuable professional experience and the possibility of being offered a full-time position. So far, I have applied for an internship at one of the Big Four accounting firms and I’m yet to apply to more local firms. As an alternative to becoming an auditor,
A country’s accounting system is a reflection of a number of factors that encompass both its past and present. Italy is a great reflection of this as it once stood as a leader in the accounting world, but since that point has become a bit entangled in itself.
Mired in dread by most and oft an exercise in futility, business owners spend agonizing hours tracking and paying obligations, calculating payroll, balancing checkbooks, and soliciting payments from past due accounts. From a place of naiveté, most business owners initially deny delegating these fundamental tasks to a seasoned bookkeeping professional whereby reasoning this method of business operation will improve their bottom line. Furthermore, each year a growing number of business owners find themselves scrambling in a near panic, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, to assimilate records in order to present to a CPA to meet tax deadlines. According to Jason Nazars’ article “16 Surprising Statistics
2-1 D. Given: Current Ratio = 2.2:1; Current Asset = $33,000, Non-current Asset = $55,000; Liabilities = $15,000
Accountants need excellent communication skills. They may interact with a variety of people ranging from managers and directors to members of the accounting staff. Accountants must be able to clearly converse or correspond to ask questions and discuss issues or discrepancies. In addition, they offer advice and make recommendations regarding the best financial business decisions.
The accountancy profession is rated highly in terms of its demonstration of certain values, attributes and behaviours considered important for supporting public value. A competent professional accountant in business is an invaluable asset to the company. These individuals employ an inquiring mind to their work, founded on the basis of their knowledge of the company’s finances. Using their skills and intimate understanding of the company and the environment in which it operates, professional accountants in business ask challenging questions. Their training in accounting enables them to adopt a pragmatic and objective approach to solving issues.
A corporate accountant prepares financial statements for the organization, checks the accuracy of the financial statements to ensure they comply with the GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), and makes a budget for the company and ensures they follow the budget. There are a lot
What does the accountant of the future need to be successful? A sturdy education that while is based on traditional accounting practices, also prepares future accountants for the plethora of changes happening in the accounting universe. Frequently, most of the institutions responsible for educating professionals fail to evolve as rapidly as the professional practice itself (Bedford et al. 4). In every way, accounting is expanding and in order for the future to have competent accountants, accounting education must expand as well. Major changes occurring in the world of accounting include the expansion of services and products, changes in competition, an increase in specialization, and an increase in and an advancement of technology. It is up to academic institutions to find proactive ways in which to prepare students for such changes. Accounting education of the future will require more breadth to cover the inevitable expansion of services and products, increased knowledge of economics, marketing, management and information systems to increase competitive advantage, a balanced course load that provides a general accounting knowledge as well as increased knowledge of a specialization, and also a greater, proactive focus on the use of continuously advancing accounting technologies (Bedford et al. 8). Also in play is the chance of change in accounting standards, the move from US GAAP to IFRS. While there are no certainties surrounding the threat of such change, students in the U.S. should acquire at least a general, basic feel for the practices used in regards to IFRS. The future health of the accounting profession depends, to a great extent, on the health of our students (Gormon and Hargadon 4). Reorganization of curriculums would surely be difficult and assumedly time-consuming, but nevertheless, completely
An accountant performs financial functions related to the collection, accuracy, recording, analysis and presentation of a business, organization or company's financial operations. The accountant usually have different roles in a company's operations. In a smaller business, an accountant's role may consist of the main financial data collection, input and report generation. Between, the middle to larger sized companies could use the accountant as a consultant and financial interpreter, who may present the company's financial data to people within and outside of the business. In generally, the accountant can also deal with third parties, such as suppliers, customers and financial
...an guide an individual down the best financial path. They help one save money, file accurate taxes with the optimal refund, advise and aid in budget planning, forecast and lastly, ensure that you or your business is completely accurate and valid with all that they report. It is crucial that everyone consider the advantages and benefits one can receive from hiring an accountant.
The evolution of auditing is a complicated history that has always been changing through historical events. Auditing always changed to meet the needs of the business environment of that day. Auditing has been around since the beginning of human civilization, focusing mainly, at first, on finding efraud. As the United States grew, the business world grew, and auditing began to play more important roles. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, people began to invest money into large corporations. The Stock Market crash of 1929 and various scandals made auditors realize that their roles in society were very important. Scandals and stock market crashes made auditors aware of deficiencies in auditing, and the auditing community was always quick to fix those deficiencies. The auditors’ job became more difficult as the accounting principles changed, and became easier with the use of internal controls. These controls introduced the need for testing; not an in-depth detailed audit. Auditing jobs would have to change to meet the changing business world. The invention of computers impacted the auditors’ world by making their job at times easier and at times making their job more difficult. Finally, the auditors’ job of certifying and testing companies’ financial statements is the backbone of the business world.
An accountant makes sure that the Nation’s firms are run efficiently, the public records are kept accurately, and that taxes are paid properly and on time (“Accountants and Auditors”). Accounting is the study of how a business tracks their income, assets, expenses, and many other things for a period of time. They also do many other things like quality management, tax strategy, and health care benefits management (“Welcome to Careers in Accounting”). An accountant is crucial to the success of a business, without one the business tends to fail.
Accounting is a very important term to our modern society. It is the career for men and women who at the start have their eyes set on top positions in industry, management, government, and general business. Accounting is a basic need of every businessman, from the operator of a filling station to the government of the United States. It's so important to our society. None of the business organization can operate without is. They are there-somewhere-in every business. In small business, people use pen, ink and skill keep the records. In large business, modern accounting machines are used to operate. Men and women are directing these machines in the accounting process. Wise businessmen enter business must have some accounting knowledge.