Auditing Profession - Example

A CPA designation is important for me because it is not only a barometer of knowledge and passion for accounting, but it is a representation of a person who has a strong work ethic and a mentality for invoking continuous self-improvement. In my undergrad, I sought out numerous opportunities to make myself a better accountant by joining a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance group, serving as treasurer for my fraternity and Institute of Management Accountants Club, and interning as a tax preparer amidst being a fulltime student. After reading the student experiences of Northeastern’s MSA program, I feel that the program will encourage my goals of becoming a CPA which has led me to consider Northeastern as my next career move.

3 – Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) (source: PYP7-6 Kimmel textbook.) The PCAOB was created as a result of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. It has oversight and enforcement responsibilities over CPA firms in the United States.

Accounting is the study of how businesses track their income and assets over time. Accountants engage in a wide variety of activities besides preparing financial statements and recording business transactions. These activities include computing costs and efficiency gains from new technologies, participating in strategies for mergers and acquisitions, quality management, developing and using information systems to track financial

establishment of an independent Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, PCAOB), the audit of listed companies supervision ;

Obtaining my CPA designation is something that I have aspired for a long time. Ever since I have committed myself towards achieving my goal. Through interning at an accounting firm, diligently networking with various PwC staff and past interns, and maintaining a good GPA in my first year, I believe I have taken the next step towards a career in accounting. For me personally, PWC internship is genuinely the opportunity of a lifetime, since it is the ideal place for me to develop my skills further, and use my networking ability to forge relationships with various PwC employees. Given my commitment towards professionalism, developing my skills, and strong interest in PwC, I believe I would be the ideal candidate for this position.

It's the equivalent to the BAR exam for lawyers. An accountant can certainly work with clients and help them with financial matters, but to be a CPA he or she must pass the exam. There are 4 sections of the exam, and it is time consuming and stressful. The CPA Exam Review is a podcast that helps with the study requirements to help students pass the exam. There are podcasts that cover time management tips, simulations of the exam and topics like working moms and the exam. https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam/cpa-exam-podcasts/

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB, is a nonprofit organization established by the government to oversee audits of public companies. The organization also oversees the audits of broker-dealers, including compliance reports filed pursuant to federal security laws (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, n.d.). The PCAOB was created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, also known as SOX, to protect investors and the public interests by promoting accurate audits through independent auditors (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, n.d.). SOX was established by the government after many companies were caught committing fraudulent activity including Enron and WorldCom. PCAOB is just one part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act hoping to deter fraud and protect investors and the economy.

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has implemented new rules to its auditing standards which will provide financial statement users with information about engagement partners and accounting firm that participate in the audit of issuers. After the final decision, all public accounting firm will be required to apply the new rule for each issuer audit. According to the PCAOB Release No. 2015-008, the three disclosing issues include:

An audit can be described as an official inspection of an organization 's accounts and is typically conducted by an independent body. Companies often hire external auditors in addition to auditing themselves. External auditors are accountants who work independently of a particular company. They examine company records and operations to ensure financial statements are accurate. External auditors are important to establishing your small business ' credibility and to ensuring compliance with tax laws.

The Business Dictionary defines audit as “A systematic examination and verification of a firm’s books of account, transaction records, other relevant documents, and physical inspection of inventory by qualified accountants”.

Auditing is defined as the investigation or the search for evidence to enable an opinion too be formed on the truth and fairness of financial and other information by a person or persons independent of the preparer or the people likely to gain directly from the use of the information, and the issue of a report on that information with the intention of increasing its credibility and therefore its usefulness.

Auditing in general is an organized process of accurately finding and assessing statements regarding financial records to determine the degree of accuracy between those statements and established criteria and communicate the results to interested users and or the public.

Auditing standards are published by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). As such, the PCAOB published Auditing Standard Number 5 (AS 5), which recommends integrating an audit of intern controls with the audit of a firm’s financial statements (PCAOBUS, 2007). An auditor’s objectives of the internal controls audit and that of the financial statements are not identical, and the auditor must perform the audits to achieve both objectives.

In the accounting profession, whether its managerial or financial accounting, the systematic examination of the accounting records (books, documents, vouchers, etc) is defined as auditing. The Federal Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, requires companies that are publicly held to have their financial statements examined by an auditor(s). In auditing, the primary purpose is to ascertain how “fair and true” the financial statements represent the issue under concern. Auditing acts in the purpose to add assurance; Assurance is the guarantee that the records and statements have been fairly

Accountants record, classify, and summarize (report) a company’s assets, liabilities, capital, revenue, and expense in financial statements. Auditors gather evidence related to the assertions management makes in financial statements and render a report. Accountants produce the financial statements; auditors audit them.