An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy (called accounting in the United States), which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and other decision makers make resource allocation decisions.
The word "accountant" is derived from the French word Compter which took its origin from the Latin word Computare . The word was written in Middle English as Accomptant , but in process of time the word, which was always pronounced by dropping the "p", became gradually changed both in pronunciation and in orthography to its present form.
The Big Four are the largest employers of accountants worldwide.
Commonwealth of Nations
In the Commonwealth of Nations, which includes the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several other states, the equivalents of Certified Public Accountant (CPA) include Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA), Chartered Accountant (CA or ACA), Chartered Management Accountant, International Accountant (AAIA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA - Ireland and CPA - Hong Kong), Certified Management Accountant (CMA - Canada), Certified General Accountant (CGA - Canada), Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA - Australia) and members of the NIA (Australia), Certified Public Practicing Accountant (CPPA) of the New Zealand Association of Certified Public Accountants (NZACPA) the operating name of New Zealand Association of Accountants Inc (NZAA)
United Kingdom
- A Chartered Certified Accountant must be a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (designatory letters ACCA or FCCA).
- A Chartered Accountant must be a member of one of the following:
- the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) (designatory letters ACA or FCA)
- the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) (designatory letters CA)
- the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI)
- a recognised equivalent body from another Commonwealth country (designatory letters being CA (name of country) e.g. CA (Canada))
- A Chartered Management Accountant must be a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (designatory letters ACMA or FCMA).
- A Chartered Public Finance Accountant must be a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (designatory letters CPFA).
- An International Accountant must be a member of the Association of International Accountants (designatory letters AIAA or FAIA).
- An Incorporated Financial Accountant must be a member of the Institute of Financial Accountants (designatory letters AFA or FFA).
- A Certified Public Accountant must be a member of the Association of Certified Public Accountants (designatory letters AICPA or FCPA).
Except Association of Certified Public Accountants,each of above bodies admits members only after passing examinations and undergoing a period of relevant work experience. Once admitted members are expected to comply with ethical guidelines and gain appropriate professional experience.
Chartered,Chartered Certified,Chartered Public Finance,and International Accountant engaging in practice (i.e. selling services to the public rather than acting as an employee) must gain a "practicing certificate" by meeting further requirements such as purchasing adequate insurance and undergoing inspections.
ICAEW, ICAS, ICAI, ACCA, AIA and CIPFA as six statutory RQB Qualification Bodies in UK, the member of them may also become Registered Auditors in accordance with the Companies Act, providing they can demonstrate the necessary professional ability in that area and submit to regular inspection. It is illegal for any individual or firm that is not a Registered Auditor to perform a company audit.
Further restrictions apply to accountants who carry out insolvency work.
In addition to the bodies above, the Association of Accounting Technicians and Association of Certified Accounting Technicians offers its members training and support in accountancy skills.
Canada
In Canada, there are three recognized accounting bodies: the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CA) and the provincial and territorial CA Institutes, the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGA), and the Society of Management Accountants of Canada, also known as the Certified Management Accountants (CMA). CA and CGA were created by Acts of Parliament in 1902 and 1913 respectively and CMA was established in 1920.
The CA program focuses on public accounting and candidates must obtain auditing experience from public accounting firms; the CGA program takes a general approach allowing candidates to focus in their own financial career choices; the CMA program focuses in management accounting, but also provides a general approach to financial accounting and tax. The CA and CMA programs require a candidate to obtain a degree as a program entry requirement. The CGA program requires a degree as an exit requirement prior to certification.
Auditing and Public Accounting are regulated by the provinces. Historically, only CAs can perform audits in Ontario. In 2004, the provincial government of Ontario passed a new Public Accounting Act that would allow qualified CGAs and CMAs to perform audits, conditional on their organizations being able to demonstrate that their qualification and regulatory programs are equivalent in rigour to that of the CA program. As of March 2006, this process of evaluation had not yet begun. On November 20, 2009, Quebec passed regulations granting qualified CAs, CMAs and CGAs statutory auditing rights. In British Columbia and Prince Edward Island, CAs and CGAs have equal status regarding public accounting and auditing; In the rest of Canada, CAs, CMAs, and CGAs are considered equivalents pursuant to provincial and territorial legislation.
As of year 2006, the Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA or FCCA) is also recognized by Canadian government as an eligible qualification to audit federal government institutions in Canada. Furthermore, The Canadian branch of ACCA is pursuing recognition for statutory audit purposes in the province of Ontario under the province's Public Accounting Act of 2004.
Australia
In Australia there are four main local professional accountancy bodies.
- Certified Practicing Accountants (CPA) are members of CPA Australia.
- Professional National Accountants (PNA) and Member of National Institute of Accountants (MNIA) are members of National Institute of Accountants Australia.
- Chartered Accountants are members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.
However, the Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA or FCCA) qualification is also recognized as a prescribed body for insolvency purposes under the Corporation Act 2001, section 1282 and for audit purposes by ASIC under Practice Statement 180 Auditor recognition in Australia.
Additionally the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA) awards the CMA designation, and is specialized in the area of Management Accounting. Description: are excerpt in in finance, taxation, and business leadership And work throughout the world in industry Education: The education is Skill based and they need to complete 19 courses which are consisted of 2 business cases
New Zealand
In New Zealand, there are two local accountancy bodies the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA) and the New Zealand Association of Certified Public Accountants (NZACPA) the operating name of New Zealand Association of Accountants Inc (NZAA).
To audit public companies an individual must be a member of either the NZICA or an otherwise gazetted body. Chartered Certified Accountant (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants or FCCA) qualification has also been gazetted under the relevant act (Under Section 199 of the Companies Act 1993: Qualifications of Auditors). An ACCA member can practice as long as they hold an ACCA public practice certificate (with audit qualification) in their country of origin.
Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, a Chartered Accountant must be a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (designatory letters ACA or FCA), therefore it is the sole local accountancy body. To audit public companies an individual must be a member of the ICASL.
Bangladesh
Main article: Accountancy profession in BangladeshUnited States
In the United States, legally practicing accountants are Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), and other non-statutory accountants are Certified Internal Auditors (CIAs), Certified Management Accountants (CMAs) and Accredited Business Accountants (ABAs). The difference between these certifications is primarily the legal status and the types of services provided, although individuals may earn more than one certification. Additionally, much accounting work are performed by uncertified individuals, who may be working under the supervision of a certified accountant.
A CPA is licensed by the state of their residence to provide auditing services to the public, although most CPA firms also offer accounting, tax, litigation support, and other
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