Public Accounting

A public accountant is a general accountant who performs a wide range of duties, including accounting, auditing, tax, and consulting for a variety of clients. A public accountant's clients will usually be corporations, nonprofit organizations, governments or individuals.

Public accountants can own their own accounting firms or work for public accounting firms that offer their services to the public for a fee.

In addition to having a college degree, most public accountants are Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). The industry is always changing, so public accountants must continually educate themselves on new tax laws and accounting techniques.

Recent accounting scandals have increased restrictions on public accountants and put renewed focus on proper accounting training. They are now limited in the non-auditing services they can provide to their clients, and accounting firms can no longer provide both audits and advice on technology, investment banking, legal matters or human resources to the same client. They can, however, still advise on tax issues.

Careers in public accounting will no doubt be challenging, but ultimately rewarding and refreshing as the changing nature of the industry demands continual learning.

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