Understanding Business Accounting For Dummies, 2nd Edition by Colin Barrow, John A. Tracy Read Free Book Online Page A

fee-paying clients from the private individual to large commercial and public sector organisations. These services include audit/assurance, accountancy, tax, business advisory, and other management services. In commerce/industry and the public sector, chartered accountants work in a variety of financial management and financial reporting roles. It is possible for accountants to set up their own firm or become a partner in a private practice. This requires a Practising Certificate, which is awarded by one of the relevant qualifying bodies to accountants with at least two years' experience. There are also opportunities to work abroad.
Because accountants work with numbers and details, you hear references to accountants as bean counters, digit heads, number nerds, and other names we don't care to mention here. Accountants take these snide references in their stride and with good humour. Actually, accountants come out among the most respected professionals in many surveys.
Chartered Accountant (CA)
In the accounting profession, the mark of distinction is to be a CA , which stands for chartered accountant. The majority of chartered accountants train in public practice and the first three years are devoted to achieving the chartered qualification. The training involves completion of professional exams together with a period of structured work experience. The professional exam training is provided by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) ( www.icaew.co.uk ), which is the largest, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) ( www.icas.org.uk ), and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) ( www.icai.ie ) - Dublin Office. The structure of the exams and methods of training delivery vary slightly between the institutes and full details can be found on their Web sites. However, the qualifications cover broadly similar syllabuses and are of equal status and recognition, all leading to the designation ‘chartered accountant' (ACA or CA). The syllabuses cover subjects such as accounting, audit, business finance, taxation, law, and business management, which are assessed primarily through formal exams. Chartered accountants must remain up-to-date on technical and business issues, so there is a strong emphasis on continuing professional development after qualification.
Other professional bodies that train accountants and are useful to know about include the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants ( www.cimaglobal.com ), who focus on accounting for and in business, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy ( www.cipfa.org.uk ), who specialise in the public sector, and the Association of Accounting Technicians ( www.aat.org.uk ), whose 36,000 members assist chartered accountants in their work, or can themselves join a chartered institute after further study.
The Financial Controller: The chief accountant in an organisation
After working for an accountancy firm in public practice for a few years, most CAs leave public accounting and go to work for a business or other organisation. Usually, they start at a mid-level accounting position with fairly heavy accounting responsibilities, but some step in as the top accountant in charge of all accounting matters of a business. The top-level accountant in a business organisation is usually called the Financial Controller , or chief accountant.
The Financial Controller designs the entire accounting system of the business and keeps it up-to-date with changes in the tax laws and changes in the accounting rules that govern reporting financial statements to outside lenders and owners. Controllers are responsible for hiring, training, evaluating, promoting, and sometimes firing the persons who hold the various bookkeeping and accounting positions in an organisation - which range from payroll functions to the several different types of tax returns that have to be filed on time with different government agencies.
The Controller is