A Certified Public Account (CPA) is a valuable human resource in any type of business or organization. The role of CPAs is diverse but in general, they perform a wide array of accounting and business-related services for businesses as well as individuals such as management accounting and internal auditing, among others.
CPAs primarily serve in public accounting or in financial audit service firms. Some CPAs work in specialized fields or industries while others provide general financial services and work in various roles. CPAs perform their jobs in virtually any area of Finance. This includes Financial Accounting, Financial Planning, Financial Analysis, Income Tax, Tax Preparation, Management Consulting, Corporate Finance, Corporate Governance, Assurance and Attestation Services and many others. On the other hand, CPAs work into four major fields as listed below. Each field has a separate job description.
- Public Accountant: This is popularly known as a typical accountantç—´ work. The job responsibilities of a public accountant encompass a broad range of auditing, tax preparation, accounting and consulting activities. For instance, a public accountant may choose to specialize on tax matters while others may choose areas such as employee compensation or health care benefits and financial statements auditing.
- Government Accountant: CPAs working as government accountants handle financial records within the public sector such as government agencies. They also audit private businesses or individuals whose activities are subject to taxation and government control. Government accountants are employed by federal, state, or local governments working as Internal Revenue service agents or handling financial management, budget analysis and administration, and financial institution examination.
- Management Accountant: A Management Accountant is also referred to as a managerial, industrial, corporate, cost or private accountants. CPAs working in this field analyze and record financial information of the companies in which they work for. Some common activities of a Management Accountant involve budgeting, performance evaluation, cost management and asset management. All of these are vital for organizations in the analysis and interpretation of financial information and strategic planning to take a sound business decision.
- Internal Auditor Accountant: An Internal Auditor Accountant basically takes care of the accuracy and soundness of an organizations internal records and ensures proper audit against mismanagement or fraud. To do this, internal auditors thoroughly review a companies financial operations, management procedures, financial information systems and internal controls. They analyze and verify these components if they are in compliance with corporate policies and procedures including laws and governmental regulations.
Aside from these, CPAs are also needed in the area of academics. CPAs can work as teachers to help others acquire the skills of bookkeeping or accounting.
A CPA description may vary yet whatever role a Certified Public Accountant may take on, high ethical standards, honesty and integrity are very important qualities they must have. It is their responsibility to guide their clients through the best strategies for their specific circumstance and business and/or personal objectives. Being a CPA is just like being a doctor with a specialty. Thus, it very important that a client is able to choose a CPA with the right set of experience and qualification.
