Today's Accountant

Where is the guy with the skinny tie, white shirt, three-piece suit and bulky briefcase? Where is the nerd with the green eyeshades sitting in a dark cubicle putting little numbers in little boxes? Where is the math geek who is more comfortable with forms than with people?

Today's accountant does not fit the mold of yesterday's stereotypes.

Who is today's accountant?
Certified Public Accountants have passed a rigorous exam and continue to update their knowledge every year. CPAs also subscribe to a high code of conduct that includes honesty, integrity, and independence.

Today's CPA is known as a strategic business advisor, technology guru, personal financial consultant, tax and estate planner, and fraud examiner. CPAs are found in a variety of roles working for a variety of organizations.

What is accounting?
Accounting is the language of business and, as such, all organizations need fluent speakers. CPAs can be found working for all types of businesses and organizations, including not-for-profits, schools, hospitals, sports teams, and government.

Whatever an organization does has to be turned into usable information. For example, Wal-Mart makes a sale and collects cash. Or the Indianapolis Symphony sells a season ticket and accepts a Visa card. Or the Indians sell advertising space to Red Gold. All these activities must be recorded and summarized for management to review and analyze.

Computers are used to collect, sort, and summarize information. Who makes sense of it? CPAs help set up the systems and then help make sense of the information that is produced.

What do CPAs do?
They perform a variety of functions. Examples are:

• Assurance Services: Information is all around us, but can it be trusted? If a business gives its financial statements to a bank, the bank probably requires that the information be audited. CPAs perform audits that are indepen- dent examinations. If a purchaser wants to buy something from a web site, the web site needs to be secure and reliable. CPAs test web sites so that users can trust the information provided.

• Financial Planning: How do you plan to have enough money to re- tire comfortably? How can you make the wisest use of your money through investments? What should a business do as it grows and ex- pands? CPAs can answer questions on planning for the future.

• Technology: CPAs work with tech- nology in doing their jobs but also in helping clients and employers use technology better. They may oversee software applications, system design, or web site development.

• Tax: CPAs do tax work for individu- als as well as businesses. They un- derstand the laws and requirements. They use computers to input infor- mation and to process it in the form of tax returns, but they also know how to help individuals and busi - nesses plan for the future. Should a small business incorporate for tax benefits? CPAs are involved in com- pliance, advice, and planning.

• Consulting: Because CPAs have a wide knowledge of various types of businesses, they are in demand as advisors. How does an organization improve its operations? How can a business grow and expand? How should two companies structure a merger? CPAs answer these ques- tions and more.

This is just a sample of what today's CPA does. Can one person do all these things? Probably not, so CPAs specialize. But they all have a general knowledge of business and accounting as a background.

What do CPAs earn?
In the past few years, accounting majors with four-year college degrees started at $35,000 - 40,000 in the Indianapolis area. However, with increased education requirements, five-year graduates are earning $8,000 - $10,000 more than this, and some even higher, depending upon location and type of firm. As you gain experience working in the field, incomes over $100,000 are possible at the level of partner or controller.

There are currently shortages of new accounting graduates in Indianapolis and in many locations. The Department of Labor projects a 34% increase in openings by 2005.

Becoming a CPA
Good communication and logic skills are needed. CPAs can't be afraid of math but they don't have to do much more than add, subtract, divide, and multiply. (WHAT to add, subtract, divide, and multiply is the issue!) A good college prep high school program with English, math, psychology, speech, economics, etc. is what you need.

A four-year college degree is the best educational background. A two-year or technical degree will qualify you for a record-keeping job in the accounting field but the chance to move up will be limited. A fifth year of college is required to sit for the CPA exam. You may major in accounting but finance, information systems, or other business degrees with a minor in accounting are also good. There are a number of fine Indiana colleges and universities with programs that can prepare you to be a CPA.

So who is today's accountant? Advisor, consultant, planner. Someone that helps others understand information. Someone to turn to for advice. Someone to trust. Someone to make sense of a changing and complex world.

Provided by Cindy Peck, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Accounting, Falls School of Business, Anderson University.