Public Accountants:

Perform a broad range of accounting, auditing, tax, and consulting activities for their clients, which may be corporations, governments, nonprofit organizations, or individuals.

Examples of the areas of expertise where Public accountants play:

·       Tax matters, such as advising companies about the tax advantages and disadvantages of certain business decisions and preparing individual income tax returns;

·      The design of accounting and data-processing systems, and the selection of controls to safeguard assets;

·       Audit clients’ financial statements and inform investors and authorities that the statements have been correctly prepared and reported;

·       For those relatively large public accounting firm like the Big Four, one of the section includes the specialization in forensic accounting, investigating and interpreting white-collar crimes such as securities fraud and embezzlement;

·      Insolvency and bankruptcies and contract disputes, and other complex and possibly criminal financial transactions, including money laundering by organized criminals.

Many of the Public Accountants are Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), where they generally have their own businesses or work for public accounting firms.

Management Accountants

Can also be called  Cost/Managerial accountants

• Responsibilities including

·      Budgeting, performance evaluation and cost management;

·       Involve in strategic planning or the development of new products.

Within accounting departments, management accountants may work in various areas which include financial analysis, planning and budgeting, and cost accounting.

Government Accountants and Auditors

Works in the public sector, maintaining and examining the records of government agencies and auditing private businesses and individuals whose activities are subject to government regulations or taxation.

Accountants employed by Federal, State, and local governments guarantee that revenues are received and expenditures are made in accordance with laws and regulations.

Those employed by the Federal Government may work as Internal Revenue Service agents or in financial management, financial institution examination, or budget analysis and administration.

Internal auditors

• Verify the accuracy of their organization’s internal records and check for mismanagement, waste, or fraud. Internal auditing is an increasingly important area of accounting and auditing;

• Internal auditors examine and evaluate their firms’ financial and information systems, management procedures, and internal controls to ensure that records are accurate and controls are adequate to protect against fraud and waste;

• Review company operations, evaluating their efficiency, effectiveness, and compliance with corporate policies and procedures, laws, and government regulations;

• Includes many types of highly specialized auditors, such as electronic data-processing, environmental, engineering, legal, insurance premium, bank, and health care auditors and

• Internal auditors also recommend controls for their organization’s computer system, to ensure the reliability of the system and the integrity of the data.

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