Salary and Outlook
According to the US Department of Labor, there are 1,449,800 people employed as accountants and auditors in
the United States.
The median annual salary is $77,250.
Entry level employees earn approximately $47,970 per year and senior employees earn approximately $128,970
per year.
Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.
Job Duties
- Collect and analyze data to detect deficient controls, duplicated effort, extravagance, fraud, or non-compliance with laws, regulations, and management policies.
- Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of accepted accounting procedures to record transactions.
- Supervise auditing of establishments, and determine scope of investigation required.
- Confer with company officials about financial and regulatory matters.
- Examine and evaluate financial and information systems, recommending controls to ensure system reliability and data integrity.
- Inspect cash on hand, notes receivable and payable, negotiable securities, and canceled checks to confirm records are accurate.
- Examine records and interview workers to ensure recording of transactions and compliance with laws and regulations.
- Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
- Prepare detailed reports on audit findings.
- Report to management about asset utilization and audit results, and recommend changes in operations and financial activities.
- Direct activities of personnel engaged in filing, recording, compiling, and transmitting financial records.
- Conduct pre-implementation audits to determine if systems and programs under development will work as planned.
- Analyze business operations, trends, costs, revenues, financial commitments, and obligations to project future revenues and expenses or to provide advice.
- Prepare adjusting journal entries.
- Review accounts for discrepancies and reconcile differences.
- Establish tables of accounts and assign entries to proper accounts.
- Examine inventory to verify journal and ledger entries.
- Report to management regarding the finances of establishment.
- Develop, implement, modify, and document recordkeeping and accounting systems, making use of current computer technology.
- 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.
- Examine whether the organization's objectives are reflected in its management activities, and whether employees understand the objectives.
- Audit payroll and personnel records to determine unemployment insurance premiums, workers' compensation coverage, liabilities, and compliance with tax laws.
- Review taxpayer accounts, and conduct audits on-site, by correspondence, or by summoning taxpayer to office.
- Compute taxes owed and prepare tax returns, ensuring compliance with payment, reporting, or other tax requirements.
- 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.
- Represent clients before taxing authorities and provide support during litigation involving financial issues.