Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) provide several financial services to their clients including, but not limited to, assurance (audit), tax compliance and advisory, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, and estate and financial planning.
To become a CPA, individuals have to meet certain education requirements, experience, and passed the standardized CPA examination. Public accountants are required to pass the CPA exam and work in public accounting for at least one or two years to complete the CPA certification process. Once in the field, CPAs are required to take 120 hours of continuing education courses every three years to keep their certifications updated. CPAs must meet continuing professional education (CPE) requirements on an annual basis to maintain their license. This is because accounting is such a large, evolving field and rules and regulations are commonly changing.
CPA Duties and Responsibilities
A CPAs first duty is a duty to the public. As such, there are certain things CPAs can and cannot do. For example, CPAs cannot audit a company where they have family members working or where they have other connections. All relationships must be kept strictly professional. CPAs cannot make management decisions or accept gifts from clients.
CPAs can wear several different hats on a regular basis, making them eligible for several different career options. CPAs can work as private or industry accountants and perform internal tasks within a company. A private accountant may act as an internal auditor. Auditors will provide assurance for financial statement users by making sure the financial statements are free of misstatements and misrepresentations. CPAs specializing in tax compliance and consulting maintain knowledge about the most current tax rules and regulations and provide corporate and individual tax compliance for their clients. CPAs also have the financial knowledge needed to run their own companies. Accountants play an important role in society and will continue to be necessary to keep businesses running.