W

hat is an ‘Accountant’
An accountant is a profesional person who performs accounting functions such as audits or
financial statement analysis. Accountants can either be employed with an accounting firm, a
large company with aqn interna accounting departement, or can set up an individual practice.
Accountants are given certifications by national profesional associations, after meeting state-
specific requirements, although non-qualified persons can still work under other accountants, or independently.

Breaking Down ‘Accountant’1

Chartered Certified Internal

Accountants (CA) Auditor (CIA)
• Certified • Public Accountant
Management (PA)
Accountants (CMA) • Certified Public
• Certified Genetal Accountant (CPA)
Accountants (CGA)

Accounting Designation

Accountants must abide by the ethical standars and guiding principicals of the region where they practice as IFRS
or GAAP. The most common accounting degignations are;
Chartered Accountants (CA)
Certified Management Accountants (CMA)
Certified Genetal Accountants (CGA)
Orther Designations include :
Certified Internal Auditor (CIA)
Public Accountant (PA)
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
A Certified Internal Auditor dosen’t have to receive any license in order to practice, and neither do Certified
Management Accountants.
Accountants can have more than one designation and may preform multiple types of accounting duties. The type
of educational background and designation that and individual has will determine their profesional duties.
Accountants have bachelor’s degrees, and they have to get a certifiate which can take up to a year to obrain
depending on the type of certification being pursued and in which state.
In the U.S., requirements for accountants can acquire these certificates and licenses vary form state to state. The
one requirement that is unifotm in every state is the passing of the Uniform Certifird Public Accountant
Examination, an exam that is written and graded by the national organization the American Institute of Certifoed
PublicAccountant.

1
IFRS or GAAP
Legal Requirements
Certified public accountants have a legal responsibility to their clients to be honest and to avoid negligence in their duties. CPA’s have real influence over their clients,
and their jidgments and work can affect not just and individual, but and entire company, their employees, board, and investors. Accountants can be liable for paying
uninsured losses to creditors and investors in the case of a misstatement, negligence, or fraud. Accountants have two different types of liability; common lawq and
statutory law. Common law liability includes negligence, fraud, and breach of contract, while statutory law includes any state or federal securities laws.

History
The first profesional association for accountants, the American Association of Public Accountants, was formed in 1887, and CPA’s were first licensed in 1896 when cost
accounting, and accounting in general became of real importance. It grew as a profession during the industrial revolition as bisinesses grew and shareholder and
bondholers who weren’t necessarily a part of the company but were monetarily invested wanted toknow more about its financial wellbeing.
After the astart of the Great Depressions and the formationn of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), rthe agency required all publicy traded companies to
issue reports written by accredited accountants. Since the turn of the 19th century and the reforms put in place the Great Depression, accountants are a ubiquitouws
and large part of any busines.
Source:
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/accoumtant.asp#ixzz4enOurWw9