who are accountants, anyway? barbara clemenson, cpa, cfre
TRANSCRIPT
Who are accountants, anyway?
Barbara Clemenson,CPA, CFRE
Clemenson - Who are accountants? 2
Who areaccountants?Who are
accountants and CPAs?What is the differencebetween accountants and auditors?What should I remember when I’mdealing with accountants?
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Who are accountants?
Accountants are sometimes referred to in a derogative way as “bean counters.” Can anyone guess why?
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Who are accountants?
Beans were the first mobile form of currency. Hence, those who kept track of the “beans” (i.e. money) were “bean counters.”
Some businesses have even turned the term to their advantage:
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Who would want tobecome anaccountant, anyway?These are generalizations and are NOT true of all accountants!
Numbers thinkers more than idea peopleDetailed oriented people more than broad
visionariesPeople who like things to fit, work. More
binary [“double-entry”] than creative.Task-oriented more than people-oriented.More risk-adverse people than risk-taking
people.
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Who are CPAs? CPA stands for “Certified Public Accountant.”“Certified” means that we are licensed by
the state in which we work. Each state has slightly different qualifications for CPAs.
“Public” means that although we might work for an accounting firm or for a company, our primary responsibility is to the public – to make sure the public has good financial information.
“Accountant” is who we are and what we do.
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Who are CPAs?
In the State of Ohio, only CPAs can call themselves accountants or hold themselves out to thepublic as providing accounting services.Non CPAs cannot legally use those terms.
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Who are CPAs?How do youbecome a CPA?In Ohio CPAs need: Training in Accounting 150 credit hours of college A degree To pass the CPA Exam And to have two years of experience To pass the ethics exam. Every 3 years they need 120 hours of CPE /
Continuing Professional Education in order to be recertified and keep their license active.
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What is the difference between an accountant and an auditor?An auditor works for
a CPA firm and conducts independent audits of other organizations.
A “CPA in Industry” works for a company and does not audit other organizations.
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What should I remember when dealing with an accountant?
CEO and Accountants/CFOs are different: In Personality In Perspective In Training
In Language and Communication
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Personalities of Administration
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Learning to Communicate
CEOs
We are both responsible to learn each other’s language, understand each other’s perspective, and anticipate each other’s information needs
Accountant Forget GAAP and organize your
financial information in whatever way it makes sense to your Executive Director
Listen to your Executive Director’s ideas and help him/her quantify and codify them so they are easy to understand and communicate
Anticipate your Executive Director’s needs and point out potential risks
Tell your Accountant what information you need
Tell your Accountant what is happening so he/she can anticipate needs of which you are not aware
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What CEOs want in CFOsCFO Magazine, July 1999
Most Important Skills & Qualities
Multitasking Required-- CFO Important in:
Financial expertisePersonal integrityCommunication
skillsStrategic vision Industry expertise
Business development
Human resources Information tech.ReengineeringMarketing/Sales
Integrity, Objectivity, Confidentiality:CFOs are most CEOs’ main professional
confidant and often influence their thinking
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What should I remember when dealing with an accountant?
Be patientBe gentleBe encouragingGive them time
to think things through and make up their mind
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Why wouldn’t
anyone want to
become an
accountant?