Accountant, CPA
St Helena,  Napa Valley, San Francisco North Bay, Ca. USA

Services Provided by CPAs

While CPAs are known by the general public in part for their business consultants, finance and tax expertise, as well as for "keeping the books" of small organizations, they are uniquely educated for the attestation function discussed above. Because accountants are educated on the fundamental aspects of a business, they are commonly called upon for general business knowledge.

CPAs are employed by corporations in finance functions such as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or finance manager, or CPAs are employed as CEOs subject to their full business knowledge and practice. These CPAs do not provide services directly to the public.

Although some CPAs serve as business consultants, the consulting role is under scrutiny following the corporate climate in the aftermath of the Enron scandal. This has resulted in divestitures in the consulting divisions by many accounting firms. In audit engagements, CPAs are (and have always been) required by professional standards and Federal and State laws to maintain independence (both in fact and in appearance) from the entity for which they are conducting an attestation (audit and review) engagement. However, most individual CPAs who work as consultants do not work as auditors, or vice versa.

Also See:

Bookkeeping
St Helena Index

Tax Consultants
Calistoga Index

Financial Guide

Keyword Category Index