Examples Of Circular 230

The PCAOB is responsible for providing independent oversight for public accounting firms. Auditors independence job is to limit conflict of interest and monitor the requirements of new auditor approvals. Corporate responsibility require that senior executives take sole responsibility for completeness and accuracy of all corporate financial reports. Last but not least, enhance financial disclosures assures the accuracy of financial reports and

3 – Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) (source: PYP7-6 Kimmel textbook.) The PCAOB was created as a result of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. It has oversight and enforcement responsibilities over CPA firms in the United States.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) is a professional accounting organization whose members are certified public accountants (CPAs).

The accounting profession is a highly regarded position of power. Since accountants possess this power, they are highly regulated to ensure the public they are practicing ethically. Although accounting opens doors for many professions, the world of tax accounting is one of the most highly regulated because it deals directly with the federal law through taxation of individuals and corporations. There are two regulatory bodies for tax practitioners: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Tax practitioners must follow the rules or guides within Circular 230, issued by the IRS, and the Statements on Standards for Tax Services (SSTS), issued by the AICPA. Even though these documents

The PCAOB gives a new meaning to the public accounting industry. The board must be composed of five members, appointed for a 5-year term, two of which are Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) or have previously been CPAs, and three of which have never been CPAs. The chair of the PCAOB may be a CPA, but only if he has been out of practice for at least five years. "The members must be independent of the accounting profession as no member may, concurrent with service on the board, share in any of the profits of, or receive payments from, a public accounting firm, other than fixed payment such as retirement payments" (4). All members of the PCAOB must be appointed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The board performs various jobs which include: "oversee the audit of public companies, establish audit report standards and rules, inspect, investigate and enforce compliance on the part of registered public accounting firms and those associated with the firms" (4). Not only do public accounting firms who audit the financial reports of public companies have to register with the PCAOB, but foreign public accounting firms must register as well. The standards of auditing include:

Certified Public Accountants handle a variety of jobs and task. They can offer tax income tax preparation and advise to range of clients including individuals, small businesses, and corporations. Some might choose to work as a forensic accountant to investigate accounting fraud that requires reviewing accounting reports, records and systems to expose any evidence of criminal activities. Other might choose a different path like consultation service, because they rather assist in financial matters with a private clients, not-for-profit organizations, government institutions and financial firms.

Accountants are responsible in analyzing and assessing the revenue, expenses, reporting financial matters and giving advice about the financial health of their employer. They help their client to know the best way to run a business by tracking and analyzing where does the money of the business go. They also give suggestions on where money could be made and advice in budgeting the money in the business.

Congress created the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) or known as the Board, a nonprofit corporation in 2002 after Sarbanes- Oxley Act. The PCAOB purpose is to keep watch over audits of public companies in order to protect investors. Their responsibilities are broken into three main parts besides registering public accounting firms, the first one which is setting auditing standards by establishing what they need to do for audits, establishing quality controls, ethics, and independence. Second, Inspecting registered public accounting firms by conducting inspections and investigations of registered accounting firms and third is enforcement of the Sarbanes-Oxley.

For nonpublic companies auditing guidance are issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, AICPA. Prior to PCAOB, AICPA served as the primary governing body of public accounting profession. Since the roles have changed with PCAOB regarding the auditing standards for public companies, the AICPA is still developing standards for the nonpublic companies. The organization has developed four fundamental principles that govern an audit conducted in accordance with GAAP. The principles are:

They require to make many various reports such as assets and liabilities, loss and profit, or other financial documents. Some other tasks they may do is to design accounting systems, financial forms, and instruction manuals for the firm’s accounting and bookkeeping workers to use. They give advice to the companies upon the investment, tax strategies, and risk management. They sometimes can train some other lesser skilled employees. Public accountants work for pubic accounting companies. They usually work for the offices, and they would use the computers as the reference and calculations.

A huge part of owning a business involves making sure it is compliant with the regulations of the land. From paying fees to completing the mandatory legal and conformity documents for just about any business, an accountant could possibly be the perfect liaison between a firm and regulations. Other activities they can do include setting up total annual claims of accounts, keeping details of administrative staff, managing payrolls and making sure employee tax rules are in conformity.

The public accountant provides a range of accounting and auditing services to everyone from individual taxpayers to businesses. Accountants can even become more specialized and become auditors and government accountants. Accounting is typically a 9-5 weekday job, as those are the hours that most businesses operate. Some overtime is typically required if there is an audit or it is tax season.

Public accounting involves the accounting work one does for another company. The “Big Four” are the most recognized companies by college students that deal with public accounting services and public accountants perform services not only for

I’ll start off talking about the roles and duties of these three accounting professions. A Chartered Accountant’s role or purpose is “providing professional advice, aiming to maximise profitability on behalf of their client or employer and undertaking financial audits”1. A Chartered Accountant has many things to do for a living. They have to review the company systems and analyze the risks involved, perform tests to check financial information, advise

A specialized accountant’s main duty is to “analyze, interpret, summarize, and present complex financial and business related issues in a manner that is both understandable and properly supported.” (Business Courier) They are commonly engaged in public practices, or in insurance companies, banks, police departments and other government agencies.