What do accountants do every day?


There are many types of jobs in accounting. Listed below is a brief discussion of six:

• Financial Accounting,
• Managerial & Cost Accounting,
• Taxation,
• Auditing & Assurance,
• Forensic & Fraud Investigation, and
• Systems & Computerization

Financial Accounting

• Financial accountants record, classify, summarize, interpret, and communicate financial information about a business including where their money and resources come from and how they are used.
• Financial accountants prepare the financial statements that are shown to parties outside the organization. Publicly-traded companies must make their financial statements public and report them to the Securities Exchange Commission.
• Financial accountants may collect and record financial transactions related to the following areas:
  • Customer transactions known as sales and accounts receivable;
  • Transactions with suppliers known as purchasing and accounts payable;
  • Payroll;
  • Inventory management;
  • Asset management; and
  • Other areas.
• Classes in financial accounting include
  • Principles of Accounting I
  • Intermediate Accounting I and II
  • Advanced Accounting

Managerial & Cost Accounting

• Cost accounting is the process of tracking, recording, and analyzing costs associated with products and services provided by the organization and activities performed by the organization.
• Managerial accounting is the practice of providing information to managers within organizations to assist management in decision making and control.
• Managerial accountants may perform some of the following duties:
  • Prepare budgets that represent the future plans for acquiring and using resources;
  • Track the cost of manufacturing a product or providing a service to help management set prices and ensure profits;
  • Provide profitability information about product lines to help management decide which products to continue to manufacture; and
  • Other responsibilities.
• Classes in managerial and cost accounting include
  • Principles of Accounting II
  • Cost Accounting
  • Advanced Cost Accounting

Taxation

• Accountants who practice in the field of taxation in the United States calculate and prepare tax returns to pay taxes due to government agencies.
• Taxes include the following:
  • Individual federal and state income tax,
  • Social security and medicare tax (a.k.a. FICA),
  • Corporate income tax,
  • Sales tax,
  • Federal and state unemployment tax, and
  • Taxes on specific items like alcohol and gasoline.
• Many taxes paid by the individual are withheld from the individuals’ paychecks and remitted by the employer. Tax accountants for the employer are responsible for calculation and payment of these taxes, and completion of related documents such as the W2 received at the end of the year.
• Classes in tax include
  • Individual Income Tax
  • Corporate Income Tax
  • Tax Research
  • Estate Planning

Auditing & Assurance

• Assurance services are provided by independent (external) accountants that who document and evaluate processes, procedures, and their outputs, which is a sign of reassurance of information security and quality. An auditor is the person who gives the assurance.
• Financial auditing is a specific type of assurance given by an auditor signifying reasonable assurance that the financial statements of a company are presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and are free of material misstatement.
• Publicly-traded companies in the United States are required by law to hire a public accounting firm to conduct a financial audit once per year. The opinion of the public auditor is made public along with the financial statements of the company.
• Other assurance services include
  • CPA WebTrust providing assurance about the security and integrity of data collected via a company’s website; and
  • HIPPA or FERPA compliance providing assurance that the data collected by medial facilities and educational institutions is used appropriately.
• Classes in auditing include
  • Auditing
  • Internal Auditing (not presently offered by UCA)

Forensic & Fraud Investigation

• An accountant who specialized in fraud investigations is hired by a company who believes that someone may be stealing or inappropriately using company assets. These accountants are trained to investigate money trails.
• The FBI hires many accountants to perform this kind of investigations in the fight against white-collar crime and money laundering.
• Forensic accountants are hired when testimony about financial transactions may be needed in a court of law. The court cases may be civil in nature (i.e., one part suing another for economic damages) or criminal (i.e., a suit brought by federal or local government because a law may have been broken).
• A forensic accountant may investigate the following:
  • Calculating and quantifying losses because of a breach of contract;
  • Valuation of a business related to business acquisitions;
  • Determining the source or destination of funds obtained via fraud; and
  • Other cases in which legal testimony may be needed.
• Classes in forensics and fraud include
  • Fraud Auditing (not offered by UCA)

Systems & Computerization

• Accountants who work in systems and computerizations specialize in developing and maintaining the system and database for financial information. These systems are designed to collect, store, process, and output information.
• The area of accounting information systems also involves documenting how a system works, evaluating its efficiency and adequacy, and suggesting alternative processes and procedures.
• Classes in systems include
  • Accounting Information Systems
  • Other database classes offered by the Information Systems department (MIS or CIS)

Some of the information on this page was taken from www.wikipedia.org.



This website is maintined by Beta Alpha Psi's Theta Lambda Chapter
at The University of Central Arkansas • Department of Accounting • 201 Donaghey • BBA 309 • Conway AR 72035
Dr. Stephanie F. Watson • Advisor • 501-450-5317 • swatson@uca.edu
Dr. Patricia H. Mounce • Advisor • 501-450-5333 • pmounce@uca.edu