Text 1 8 . Accounting Industry in the USA

Accountants and bookkeepers work for business firms, government agen­cies, and many other organizations. In the USA public accountants are those who are available to the public for such accounting functions as monthly book­keeping and tax preparation. Most states do not regulate the qualifications or performance of public accountants.

The only accountants permitted to offer opinions about financial state­ments should be Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), who have passed difficult national examinations. Accountants must also fulfill the require­ments of the state in which they practice including several years of var­ied experience within the profession. Provided a person is a certified ac­countant, he will be licensed by the state to perform accounting services to clients for a fee.

Business companies, banks and large corporations employ their own ac­countants to examine their accounts and prepare financial statements or maintain their own internal accounting departments. If a small company or business required to prepare some financial statements, it would hire the ser­vices of an outside accountant.

Most US CPA firms are relatively small and represent individuals and pri­vately held businesses for whom they prepare financial statements and act as advisors on tax matters. The largest accounting firms in the United States are known as The Big Five and a large number of their offices are spread through­out the world and the nation's largest companies are their clients.

Of the various specialized areas of accounting that exist, the three most important are: 1) auditing, 2) income taxation, 3) non-business or organizations.

Auditors are accountants who estimate the accuracy of a com­pany's financial statements, and if they find any disagreements in the docu­ments with generally accepted accounting principles, they will be responsible to inform about them in their report.

Income taxation as the second area of accounting specialization includes determination of a company's taxes according to the existing laws. The tax accountant sometimes may be a lawyer, because if there had been any changes in tax law, he would have informed the company about it. The methods chosen to report assets and liabilities will influence the amount of tax to be paid, at least within the fiscal year.

A third area of specialization is accounting for non-business organiza­tions, such as universities, hospitals, churches, trade and professional associ­ations, and government agencies. These organizations differ from business companies in many items: 1) they receive resources without paying for them, 2) they do not have profit orientation, 3) they have no defined ownership interests as such. As a result, these organizations have a number of differences in record keeping, in accounting measurements, and in the form of their fi­nancial statements.

Exercise 1 26 . Answer the following questions.

1. What is the difference between a public accountant and a certified public accoun­tant? 2. What are the main requirements to a CPA in the USA? 3. How does the work of an accountant in a big and in a small company differ? 4. What are the main branches of specialized accounting? What are their tasks?

 

Exercise 1 27 . a . Find in the text synonyms to the following words and groups of words (adjectives and adverbs): once a month, conventional, accessible, significant, different.

b. Form antonyms from the following adjectives and nouns using negative prefixes un-, in-, im-, ir-, dis-: real, dependent, desirable, advantage, proper, responsible, limited, possible, adequate, agreement, sufficient, developed, easy, regular, able, efficient, profitable, successful, active, employed.

 

Exercise 1 28. Name the following definitions.

Accessible, easy to access; open or known to people in general; to give an official documents to smb., to allow them to do or use smth;     an amount of money paid for professional advice or services; a business company; a person who gives advice, esp. smb. who is an expert in        a particular field; money that has to be paid to the government by people and businesses according to their profits; a person trained and qualified in the law who does legal work for other people; the state or right of being an owner; financial year; the process of working or functioning; the process of gaining know ledge or skill over a period of time through seeing and doing things rather than thought studying; to make smth possible, to allow smth; to adjust.

Exercise 1 29 . Cross out the modal verb and its form, that it is impossible to use in the following sentences.

1. Taking into account the high rate of inflation the government (may / ought / will have) to increase salaries of jobholders by 2010. 2. In the late 1980s, many industries in European countries (were able to / must / had to) increase investments in informational technologies for future production. 3. the value of one commodity (are to / should / must) be compared with that of another in terms of money. 4. The tax system (should / can / must) be easy enough to administer. 5. Individuals (should / are / have) to pay income tax on earnings from labour, rents, dividends and interest. 6. An the absence of some form of money, exchange (can, has to / should) take the form of barter. 7. An the modern world where so much business is conducted on the basis of credit, sellers (have to / must / is to) accept the system of deferred payment. 8. Calculating company assets an accountant (should / ought to / had to) remember that non-renewable goods (can / are to / should) be used up in one production cycle.

 

Exercise 130. Translate the following sentences into English.

1. Фінансові звіти, що публікуються щорічно для акціонерів цікавлять також податкові органи. 2. Звіти для правління містять дані щодо планування, взаємозв’язку вартості і прибутку, ціноутворення, створення бюджету і ефективності підприємства. 3. Щорічний звіт включає в себе наступний набір фінансових документів: балансовий звіт, звіт про грошові потоки, звіт про прибутки, звіт про перерозподілений капітал, до того ж для порівняння в звітах надаються дані за попередній рік. 4. Звіт про грошові потоки показує чи накопичила компанія досить готівки для фінансування своєї діяльності чи необхідно було взяти гроші у позику. 5. Звіт про прибуток наводить дані як про доходи і витрати так і про прибутки і збитки компанії за даний період. 6. Звіт про перерозподілений прибуток містить інформацію про використання акціонерного капіталу і про рівень дивідендів акціонерів.

 

⇐ Предыдущая21222324252627282930Следующая ⇒

Поделиться: