What is the profile of an accountant?
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2025 10:30 am
Given the level of responsibility that he or she has in handling critical information, you will realize that an accountant is a professional who brings together very specialized skills .
To become an accountant, a person needs to graduate from a degree in Public Accounting or a similar degree—not to be confused with a private accountant, which I will tell you about later.
As I said, this person is a specialist in the analysis and preparation of financial statements, budgets, balance sheets, accounting books, and compliance with tax obligations. In some cases, they even deal with issues related to payroll and employee benefits.
For these reasons, an accountant is not phone data only a professional in the use of Excel and specialized accounting software; this professional also knows about laws. And it goes without saying that they are people with great capacity in data analysis and mathematical reasoning .
The skills and competencies of an accountant vary depending on the position they occupy in a company.
That's right: this professional can be a junior or senior accountant, but can also find work as a financial analyst, auditor or, even the most advanced and with the most complete profile are usually Finance Directors or CFOs — Chief Financial Officers —.
Tip: Something you may not know, Accountant's Day is celebrated in Latin America. It's on December 17 in Argentina, May 25 in Mexico, September 13 in Chile, and March 1 in Colombia. Run and congratulate yours, even if it's late. Remember: anonymous heroes.
How many types of counters are there?
Like every profession, an accountant has areas of specialization. Some of the most common types are:
Public accountant
Private accountant
Auditor
Accounting Consultant
Tax accountant
Government Accountant
Now I'll tell you briefly what each of them does.
Public accountant
This is the archetype of the professional we have described in this blog. What a public accountant does is keep the accounts to ensure the financial health of the organization.
Prepares financial statements, tax returns, accounting books, budgets, etc. Also interprets this information for shareholders or owners, to show losses or profit margins for the period.
Private accountant
As we also mentioned previously, you should not confuse it with the public accountant.
The private accountant is an accounting assistant who contributes to the preparation of the financial statements, but does not present them to the partners or shareholders. In any case, he speaks about the financial situation of the company to the directors. Although he keeps the accounting books, he will never be able to sign them because he does not have the authority to do so.
Auditor
What an auditor accountant does is examine all the financial records of a business or organization to verify that no one has made mistakes and that the entire operation complies with tax provisions.
They are fastidious in pointing out any anomaly or discrepancy in the information, but they can also provide guidance on correcting the problem. The auditor can be internal —an employee who is on the company's payroll— or external —through a firm specializing in these services—.
To become an accountant, a person needs to graduate from a degree in Public Accounting or a similar degree—not to be confused with a private accountant, which I will tell you about later.
As I said, this person is a specialist in the analysis and preparation of financial statements, budgets, balance sheets, accounting books, and compliance with tax obligations. In some cases, they even deal with issues related to payroll and employee benefits.
For these reasons, an accountant is not phone data only a professional in the use of Excel and specialized accounting software; this professional also knows about laws. And it goes without saying that they are people with great capacity in data analysis and mathematical reasoning .
The skills and competencies of an accountant vary depending on the position they occupy in a company.
That's right: this professional can be a junior or senior accountant, but can also find work as a financial analyst, auditor or, even the most advanced and with the most complete profile are usually Finance Directors or CFOs — Chief Financial Officers —.
Tip: Something you may not know, Accountant's Day is celebrated in Latin America. It's on December 17 in Argentina, May 25 in Mexico, September 13 in Chile, and March 1 in Colombia. Run and congratulate yours, even if it's late. Remember: anonymous heroes.
How many types of counters are there?
Like every profession, an accountant has areas of specialization. Some of the most common types are:
Public accountant
Private accountant
Auditor
Accounting Consultant
Tax accountant
Government Accountant
Now I'll tell you briefly what each of them does.
Public accountant
This is the archetype of the professional we have described in this blog. What a public accountant does is keep the accounts to ensure the financial health of the organization.
Prepares financial statements, tax returns, accounting books, budgets, etc. Also interprets this information for shareholders or owners, to show losses or profit margins for the period.
Private accountant
As we also mentioned previously, you should not confuse it with the public accountant.
The private accountant is an accounting assistant who contributes to the preparation of the financial statements, but does not present them to the partners or shareholders. In any case, he speaks about the financial situation of the company to the directors. Although he keeps the accounting books, he will never be able to sign them because he does not have the authority to do so.
Auditor
What an auditor accountant does is examine all the financial records of a business or organization to verify that no one has made mistakes and that the entire operation complies with tax provisions.
They are fastidious in pointing out any anomaly or discrepancy in the information, but they can also provide guidance on correcting the problem. The auditor can be internal —an employee who is on the company's payroll— or external —through a firm specializing in these services—.