Public Accountants

Individuals who perform a broad range of accounting, auditing, tax and consulting activities for their clients who may be corporations, governments, nonprofit organizations or individuals. Some public accountants concentrate on tax matters such as advising companies of the tax advantages and disadvantages of certain business decisions and preparing individual income tax returns. Others offer advice in areas such as compensation or employee health care benefits, the design of accounting and data-processing systems and the selection of controls to safeguard assets. Still others audit clients' financial statements and report to investors and authorities that the statements have been correctly prepared and reported. Public accountants, many of whom are Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), generally have their own businesses or work for public accounting firms.