What is a CPA? What does a Certified Public Accountant Do?

NorthStar Academy
2 min readJul 17, 2023

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A US CPA stands for US Certified Public Accountant, who is a professional licensed to offer accounting, auditing, tax, and other financial services. CPAs are required to pass the four-part Uniform CPA Examination with a minimum of 75 points. The four parts are-

  • Auditing & Attestation (AUD),
  • Business Environment & Concepts (BEC),
  • Financial Accounting & Reporting (FAR), and
  • Regulation (REG).

US CPAs are professionals who provide accounting & auditing services to clients. These professionals are usually hired by large companies and organizations, but they can also be self-employed.

There are many different types of accountants who have different responsibilities. These include public accountants, management accountants, Certified Management Accountants (CMA), US Certified Public Accountants (CPA), Forensic Accountants, Tax Accountants, etc. While US CPAs are in charge of auditing company books and providing tax advice, they also offer a wide variety of services, such as business consulting. To know more about what a CPA is and what they do, click on the link here!

US CPAs mainly work in three fields; these include Management Services, Audit/Assurance Services, and Tax Services. Hence, some of the services that a CPA provides can include the following:

  • Financial Planning
  • Tax Preparation
  • Accounting Services
  • Auditing

Apart from providing services in the above-mentioned fields, US CPAs even work for companies who are involved with the government in terms of business and compliance audits for government agencies, performance & financial performance, as well as government agencies in general.

Being a US CPA (Certified Public Accountant) provides a higher status to an accountant among regulators, professional peers, business contacts, and clients alike. This is mainly due to the fact that a US CPA requires optimum skills, knowledge, and education qualifications and needs to successfully pass a comprehensive exam consisting of four parts, and finally, a CPA needs to agree to strictly follow the code of ethics to obtain the CPA license. After all, the US CPA certification, offered by the AICPA, is the most sought-after and adaptable accounting certificate all over the globe.

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