Certified Public Accountant

Certified Public Accountant is a title given to qualified accountants in the United States, who have passed a series of rigorous test by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountant. All accountants are not CPA’s and to become a CPA, the accountant must meet additional state education with experience to be certified as a CPA. CPA is a vital part of any strong business or an organization.

About Certified Public Accountant  

A certified Public Accountant is licensed by the state. In California, to earn the CPA license individuals have to demonstrate their knowledge and must pass the Uniform CPA Exam. Accountants who have passed the exam but if they don’t have enough work experience then in many states they are designated as “ CPA Inactive”. In the US only licensed CPAs can do auditing and attestation on financial statements. The CPA designation is restricted to some places such as Arizona, Kansas, North Carolina and Ohio in the United States but they can practice auditing. The CPA designation is a valuable credential for accountants in accounting and auditing. It provides deep knowledge in accounting principles and practices including law and regulation. There are many CPA holders practicing privately and spending time preparing and filing tax returns for business and individuals. If you want to pursue careers as an auditor then the CPA must be advanced. Without it, you would be restricted to entry level jobs. If you already hold CPA then use it to seek positions in financial sectors. A CPA license is respected widely and it indicates an accountants quantitative skill and standard of professionalism. They can also lead to travel opportunities, personal growth and job promotion.

Selecting CPA as a Career

Certified Public Accountants perform a variety of tasks and jobs. To pursue a career as a CPA you are required to pass the exam and must fulfill professional education requirement. Most states have their own board of accounting and they award the CPA licensed to individuals based on their rules. So, qualifying and practicing in one state may not allow you to practice in another place. If you work within a multi state corporation, then you may overcome such complications.  

CPA provides a variety of career paths from which you can choose the best one. You can work in any firm, ranging from large international to the small local accounting firm. You can choose your career working in different areas such as financial accounting and reporting, management accounting, financial analysis and cash management. You can work for government sectors either federal, state or local level. Many individuals work with a public accounting firm for two to five years to get experience and to be a licensed CPA. 

Compensation is also another factor that has to be considered while choosing the CPA as a career. There is a greater demand for CPA’s in the market so the starting salary has risen and there is tough competition between industries. Slowly you can ask for increased salary after some time. A person having 10 years of work experience can expect of getting the salary within six figures. 

An individual holding CPA are well respected in the business community. The certification accepts your ability, training and educational background. This will help you to get respect in a new company or you can publish articles in trade journal. You will find some downsides in this field but they tend to be quite common in any type of professional industry. In the beginning of your career, the working hours can be long, especially during the busy season. Sometimes it can be tough to grasp the complicated internal political process. But these types of issues are quite common at large industries or service related profession. These issues or problems shouldn’t be an obstacle from pursuing career as a CPA.  

The CPA’s are known for professionalism, commitment to career, experience and expertise, ethical responsibility and technical aptitude. In today’s professional world, all these qualities are valuable assets in any business. Accounting is a vibrant field with full of opportunities to travel, excitement with job satisfaction. Now days’s financial reporting has become more complex, there is a greater chance of criminal activity and negligence. So, forensic accountants are in greater demand in local firms and state police to find out the fraud and capital crimes. They are being called as an expert witness during criminal trials. As a whole, CPA professionals are capable to perform a variety of job functions including business consulting, tax advisory service, information technology, management consulting and auditing.

Services Provided by CPA

CPA performs a variety of job and tasks. The primary function of CPA is related to public accounting. In financial audit services CPAs attest reasonableness of disclosures. They are also employed by the private sectors as chief financial officer or as a finance manager. They may not provide services directly to the public. They prepare income tax and advises clients such as individuals and small business. You can also find CPAs performing tasks such as a business record keeping, auditing and consulting work. To maintain their license, CPAs have to attend 120 hours of continuing education to learn the changes happened in their profession. The FBI also offers opportunity to CPAs and to serve FBI, the applicant must be either Attorney or CPA. Many other state government agencies also offer positions for CPAs such as controllers, chief financial officer and chief executive officer.

CPA perform the role as a consultant. In this role, CPA finds different ways to save corporation or small business which will help them to look more attractive towards investors. Like lawyers, they are bound by a code of ethics. They must give clients good ethical advice. However, individuals who work as a consultant don’t work as auditors. Many small sized firms have tax and auditing department. The CPAs have a niche with with income tax preparation industry. They work with attorney and enrolled agents and represent taxpayers before the internal revenue service. CPA can help small business or mid size business owners and much more.

US CPA Requirements By State