CPA Work

Work » Accounting Work » CPA Work

CPA work refers to the accounting work performed by Certified Public Accountants. These accountants are responsible to inspect the financial information presented in books of accounts and ensure the organizations adhere to accounting protocols issued by the business regulatory bodies. Candidates need to work hard to fulfill qualifications and experience requisites in order to gain the position of CPA.

CPA Work Nature and Responsibilities

A CPA performs calculations, analytical and advising functions. A CPA studies the financial records of organizations. They verify the content for accuracy and completeness. Besides, they analyze the financial data to find out the revenue sources, expenditure trends, budget analysis, potential investments, and taxation amount. A CPA works for different types of organizations. Thus CPA work is said to have a wide job scope.

Job Scope

Accounting is a basic function carried out in every organization. The expertise of a CPA enhances the job scope. A CPA finds job opportunities in following capacities:

Internal Auditor: These accountants review the financial information to check the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization's internal policies, internal controls and operational measures. They ensure the reliability and authenticity of the data.
External Auditor: These accountants enjoy an independent status. They are appointed solely for the purpose of auditing. They must inspect the accounts on behalf of the regulatory bodies and authorize them as authentic.
Forensic Accountants: These accountants apply the investigative techniques to find out deficiencies within the accounting data such as incomplete record keeping or proofs of fraudulent activities. They have knowledge in finance as well as law.
Management Accountants: These accountants verify and analyze the account-books to gather information relevant and important for the management to make their decisions. They are known by different names of cost, managerial or private accountants.
Government Accountants: These accountants are responsible to inspect the accounts maintained by the government agencies. They help the agencies working at federal, state and local levels to record every revenue source and transact expenditures as per the implied law.
Public Accountants: These accountants provide services of accounting, auditing, taxation and budgeting for different organizations such as corporations or individuals. Once inspections are over, they authorize the accounting statements to be true and complete.

Work Requirements

All CPA aspirants must pass the Uniform CPA Examination that is conducted on national level. However, to acquire the licenses the aspirants must approach the state level CPA body belonging to the state of their practice. The requirements for licensure differ from one state to another. The common requisites include 150 hours of semester studies and specific years of work experience. All such aspirants who have passed the CPA Examination but have not completed training hours are awarded as 'CPA inactive'. The licensure requirements are updated regularly and hence aspirants must research on the official websites for the relevant and updated information.

Work Environment

All accountants work in offices. Some accountants are employees of the organization and receive salaries while others work as external officers and receive fees against their services. The employed accountants have work timings of 8-9 hours a day and work in their own offices. The external officers work for 5 - 8 hours depending upon the work load. Their services are limited to few days. Also, they have the alternative of working from their offices or the client's offices, as per the requirement.

Employment Outlook

The employment opportunities for CPA work are expected to grow drastically over the next few years. The major reasons for the rising demand is increase in number of organizations, accountability of the organization towards the shareholders, emphasis on corporate social responsibility, complexities in the accounting protocols, changes in taxation policies, etc. Thus, organizations feel the need to acquire expertise on accounting principles and help in preparation of accurate accounts. Besides the increasing needs, the services of a CPA are required for different organizations, whether a private firm, government firm or not for profit firms. Hence, this improves the job opportunities for the CPA.

Recent Industry Developments

The accounting profile is considered to be tedious as it includes dealing with voluminous data and record keeping. However, with introduction of accounting, auditing and taxation software the work load of CPA has reduced significantly. Hence, along with accounting qualifications, a CPA must have competence in working on such software as well, to improve the prospects of acquiring a job.

We hope the CPA work description helps you identify with the requirements and assists you pave the way to achieve your career goals and become a successful CPA.