Accountant definition
/What is an Accountant?
An accountant is a person who engages in accounting activities. These activities include the preparation of financial statements and tax returns, setting up accounting processes, and analyzing costs. The position is considered to be more advanced than the work conducted by a bookkeeper, and so usually calls for the completion of a four-year undergraduate degree in accounting. Given the complexity of modern business systems and the need to ensure that they produce accurate financial statements, accountants form a large part of the administrative staff of an organization.
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Types of Accountant
There are several types of accountants. They may work within a business, completing business transactions, setting up processes, and creating financial statements. Alternatively, they can be employed as auditors, either as internal auditors or by outside audit firms. In the latter role, they are required to review accounting systems and transactions and judge whether the resulting financial statements fairly present the financial results and position of the issuing organization. Here are some of the more common types of accountants:
General Ledger Accountant
A general ledger accountant is responsible for making journal entries into an organization’s general ledger. This means verifying that proposed entries are correct, documenting them to ensure that the reason for each one is clear, and personally entering them into the system. This accountant is also responsible for reconciling the balances in all general ledger accounts, to ensure that transactions have been recorded in the right place, and that all assets in the system should not be flushed out as expenses. The general ledger accountant is also involved in the preparation of financial statements.
Tax Accountant
A tax accountant prepares the tax returns for a business, or may be independently employed as a tax preparer for clients. In the latter role, it is more likely that the tax accountant will be certified as an enrolled agent in the United States, which is an important certification for practicing before the Internal Revenue Service. A tax accountant employed by a business may also be concerned with structuring business transactions to either defer or minimize the payment of income taxes.
Accountant Certifications
Accountants with sufficient training and experience can take either the CMA or CPA certification exams. If they pass these tests and meet all other requirements, they are professionally certified, though they must meet continuing professional education requirements in order to continue being certified. If not, the applicable certifying body will revoke the certification. Some certifications can be switched to retired status once an accountant reaches a certain minimum age.