An accountant is responsible for ensuring that the business transactions of a certain firm are recorded accurately, and investors are presented with precise economic information. While the core of any accountant’s job is too accurate calculate financial information, the scope of the accountant’s job may include tax preparation, auditing, consulting, and budget analysis. This broad scope of responsibilities has led to the expansion of an accountant’s titles. We’ll now look at some of the most popular accountancy titles.
Public accountants perform many of the tasks mentioned above for their clients, which could include individuals, corporations, or governments. Currently, the “Big Four," a group of four accountancy firms, hires accountants who handle the vast majority of corporate audits for publicly traded companies. These accountants are paid to audit individual corporations in addition to internal auditing, which provides transparency of records.
Public accountants are also capable of work for individuals by preparing income tax returns and other record-keeping tasks. A prominent example of this type of company is H&R Block, where individuals are able to seek help from state accountants.
Unlike public accountants, managerial accountant's usually complete accounting tasks for the companies that they work for. While their main task is to sufficient account for all business transactions within the company, they are sometimes also required to help budgeting and evaluating operations. For example, a managerial accountant may work with an economist to conduct a cost-benefit analysis on the profitability of a marketing scheme.
Internal auditors are accountants who are also hired by corporations as full-time employees. Through accounting methods, internal auditors check the company’s balance sheets and accounts for inefficiencies and fraud. As internal auditors, these accountants usually focus on a specific area. For example, companies sometimes hire internal auditors as environmental compliance auditors or information technology auditors, who are responsible for maintaining emissions and efficiency standards, respectively.
