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Accountants and Auditors
Examine, analyze, and interpret accounting records to prepare financial statements, give advice, or audit and evaluate statements prepared by others. Install or advise on systems of recording costs or other financial and budgetary data.
Also Known As:
Accountant
Accounting Officer
Audit Partner
Auditor
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
Cost Accountant
Financial Auditor
General Accountant
Internal Auditor
Revenue Tax Specialist
Wages
Annual wages for Accountants and Auditors in United States
Job Outlook
Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
1,652,600
5% Change From 2024
Explore Accountants and Auditors video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Conduct pre-implementation audits to determine if systems and programs under development will work as planned.
- Report to management about asset utilization and audit results, and recommend changes in operations and financial activities.
- Prepare adjusting journal entries.
- Analyze business operations, trends, costs, revenues, financial commitments, and obligations to project future revenues and expenses or to provide advice.
- Report to management about asset utilization and audit results, and recommend changes in operations and financial activities.
- Collect and analyze data to detect deficient controls, duplicated effort, extravagance, fraud, or non-compliance with laws, regulations, and management policies.
- Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
- Establish tables of accounts and assign entries to proper accounts.
- Direct activities of personnel engaged in filing, recording, compiling, and transmitting financial records.
- Report to management regarding the finances of establishment.
- Prepare detailed reports on audit findings.
- Collect and analyze data to detect deficient controls, duplicated effort, extravagance, fraud, or non-compliance with laws, regulations, and management policies.
- Confer with company officials about financial and regulatory matters.
- Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of accepted accounting procedures to record transactions.
- Inspect cash on hand, notes receivable and payable, negotiable securities, and canceled checks to confirm records are accurate.
- Review taxpayer accounts, and conduct audits on-site, by correspondence, or by summoning taxpayer to office.
- Report to management about asset utilization and audit results, and recommend changes in operations and financial activities.
- Examine and evaluate financial and information systems, recommending controls to ensure system reliability and data integrity.
- Examine records and interview workers to ensure recording of transactions and compliance with laws and regulations.
- Develop, implement, modify, and document recordkeeping and accounting systems, making use of current computer technology.
- Supervise auditing of establishments, and determine scope of investigation required.
- Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
- Evaluate taxpayer finances to determine tax liability, using knowledge of interest and discount rates, annuities, valuation of stocks and bonds, and amortization valuation of depletable assets.
- Advise clients in areas such as compensation, employee health care benefits, the design of accounting or data processing systems, or long-range tax or estate plans.
- Review accounts for discrepancies and reconcile differences.
- Prepare adjusting journal entries.
- Review accounts for discrepancies and reconcile differences.
- Compute taxes owed and prepare tax returns, ensuring compliance with payment, reporting, or other tax requirements.
- Examine and evaluate financial and information systems, recommending controls to ensure system reliability and data integrity.
- Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
- Examine inventory to verify journal and ledger entries.
- Audit payroll and personnel records to determine unemployment insurance premiums, workers' compensation coverage, liabilities, and compliance with tax laws.
- Compute taxes owed and prepare tax returns, ensuring compliance with payment, reporting, or other tax requirements.
- Examine whether the organization's objectives are reflected in its management activities, and whether employees understand the objectives.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")