Accountant A person who has the requisite skill and experienc establishing and maintaining accuratefinancial rec s for an individual or a business. The duties of a ountant may include designingand controlling syste s of records, auditing books, and preparing financ tatements. Anaccountant may give tax advice and pr pare tax returns. A public accountant renders accounting or auditin rvices for a number of employees, each ofwhom pays the accountant a fee for services rendered. He or does more than just bookkeepingbut does not genera ly have all the qualifications of a certified publ ntant. A certified public accountant is one who has earn license in his or her state that attests to ahigh of skill, training, and experience. In addition to g an accounting examination, acandidate must have he proper business experience, education, and mora character in order toqualify for the license. he
AccountantApersonwhohastherequisiteskillandexperienceinestablishingandmaintainingaccuratefinancialrecordsforanindividualorabusiness.Thedutiesofanaccountantmayincludedesigningandcontrollingsystemsofrecords,auditingbooks,andpreparingfinancialstatements.Anaccountantmaygivetaxadviceandpreparetaxreturns.Apublicaccountantrendersaccountingorauditingservicesforanumberofemployees,eachofwhompaystheaccountantafeeforservicesrendered.Heorshedoesmorethanjustbookkeepingbutdoesnotgenerallyhaveallthequalificationsofacertifiedpublicaccountant.Acertifiedpublicaccountantisonewhohasearnedalicenseinhisorherstatethatatteststoahighdegreeofskill,training,andexperience.Inadditiontopassinganaccountingexamination,acandidatemusthavetheproperbusinessexperience,education,andmoralcharacterinordertoqualifyforthelicense.ThelettersCPAarecommonlyusedandgenerallyrecognizedtobetheabbreviationforthetitleCertifiedPublicAccountant.Thepracticeofaccountingisahighlyskilledandtechnicalprofessionthataffectspublicwelfare.Itisentirelyappropriateforthestatetoregulatetheprofessionbymeansofalicensingsystemforaccountants.Somestatesdonotpermitanyonetopracticeaccountingexceptcertifiedpublicaccountants,butotherstatesusethetitletorecognizethemoredistinguishedskillsofaCPAwhilepermittingotherstopracticeaspublicaccountants.Allstateslimittheuseofthetitleandtheinitialstothosewhoarelicensedascertifiedpublicaccountants.Allaccountantsareheldtohighstandardsofskillinissuingprofessionalopinions.TheycanbesuedforMalpracticeifperformanceoftheirdutiesfallsbelowstandardsfortheprofession.West's
Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale
Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
