Career Paper

Kenzie Porter
Fundamentals of Accounting I
Baker College
January 20, 2015

Accountants gather and offer financial information about businesses to help company
managers and shareholders make sound business decisions. The information compiled by
accountants are used by the federal government to decide how much tax businesses and
individuals should pay on an annual basis. The accounting profession involves many types of
jobs which all fall into one of four main fields: Public accountants, management accountants,
internal auditors, and government accountants. There are many career with an accounting career
and some of them include, cost estimators, financial analysts, loan officers, budget analysts,
personal financial advisors, and tax examiners.
Public accountants is one of the broadest accounting fields. Many public accountants are
certified public accountants. They provide accounting, tax, auditing and consulting services for
governments, corporations, nonprofits and individuals. Management accountants work for
companies as part of teams. Information they provide to company executives help to prepare
financial reports that are distributed to shareholders, creditors, regulatory agencies and the
Internal Revenue Service. Internal auditors work to examine the internal controls of an
organization and attempt to sniff out and prevent inaccuracy, mismanagement and fraud.
Government accountants/auditors are employed by federal, state and local governments for
various reasons. They do the books for government agencies as well as audit businesses and
individuals who are required to follow government regulations or pay tax. Accountants who
work for the federal government may be employed by the IRS, and may be responsible for
auditing branches of government organizations to ensure financial objectives are being met.
An accounting education focuses heavily on mathematics, business, economics and
finance. A typical college accounting program could contain many of the following classes:
Business and law ethics, computerized accounting, finance, human resources management,

managerial accounting, payroll processing, tax preparation, and applied business math which
varies from school to school. A Bachelors degree in Accounting is considered the minimum
education level required to land a job as an account. However, many employers seek applicants
that have earned Masters degrees in Accounting or Business Administration.
There a number of professional certifications available in the field of accounting, and
include their own set of requirements. They include Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified
Management Accountant (CMA), Certified in Financial Management (CFM), Certified Internal
Auditor (CIA), Certification in Control Self-Assessment (CCSA), Certified Information Systems
Auditor (CISA), and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). There are also a few organizations that
accountants can be involved in throughout their career which include, Michigan Association of
Certified Public Accountants (MACPA), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
(AICPA), and Institute of Management Accountants (IMA).
Accountants have the responsibility to provide clients with professional services while
presenting a truthful and accurate assessment of a companys financial health to the general
public. Integrity, objectivity, independence and due care are the most important ethics with an
accounting profession.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has the legal authority to provide
oversight and regulation of the accounting profession. The Financial Accounting Standards
Board is the organization officially recognized by the SEC as the governing body for the
accounting profession. The body of financial accounting standards and rules published in FASB,
APB and AICPA pronouncements is collectively known as generally accepted accounting
principles, or GAAP. All accounting professionals must comply with the rules and regulations of
the Internal Revenue Code. The IRC furnishes federal tax law guidelines in the United States.

References
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