Question

The Accounting profession: Gloria is an audit associate of Gor and Brad, CPAs. In one of the meetings with audit clients, a non-accounting staff remarked that "accounting is back-office work. It is merely bookkeeping. It is not a profession." Requirement: You are Gloria, and you are to prepare a reply explaining why accounting is a profession.

Answer 1

The definition of profession is "A paid occupation, especially one that involves prolonged training and a formal qualification". If a person wants to be an accountant, he/she needs to go through rigorous education/ practical training and most importantly pass the professional exams. It does fit into the definition. An accountant is a professional who performs accounting functions such as audits or financial statement analysis. Accountants are given certifications by national professional associations after meeting state-specific requirements, although non-qualified persons can still work under other accountants. Accountants have bachelor’s degrees and may need to get a certificate, which can take up to a year to obtain depending on the type of certification being pursued and the state in which those requirements must be met. And this is the reason why accounting is a profession.