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What is Public Accounting?
Public accounting is probably the most recognized form of accounting known to the general public. Even if you are not too familiar with the accounting world you have most likely heard of  "The Big 4". The "big four" are the four largest international public accounting and professional services firms. They include: Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Deloitte, Ernst & Young,and KPMG. These four companies are responsible for auditing major publicly traded companies and large private corporations.
Audit?
Audit is a crucial word in the public accounting world, it pretty much is their duty. An audit is what takes place when a company puts out their quarterly, annual reports and earnings. These public accounting firms are responsible for making sure that the informationthese companies put out is correct and that they are not "cooking the books". This phrase is used to talk about incorrectly lying about assets so that crooks in the company can run away with stockholders money and make a fortune off of, if they don't get caught. If you are not familiar with the Enron scandal if can easily be found all over the internet. The Enron scandal is a prime example of acompany and its auditor, Arthur Andersen, establishing accountancy fraud and getting caught. This scandal not only destroyed one of the five largest accounting firms but also had a devastating effect on the economy. This is just one small factor that shows the major importance of accounting in the business world.
C.P.A.
A C.P.A. or Certified Public Accountant, will almost always be seen at theend of a name in a public accounting firm. A C.P.A. is a certification just as a PhD and a J.D. are. While the C.P.A. exam is not neccesary to go into the accounting world it is extremely recommended. To qualify to become a certified public accountant there are many qualifications that must be met. Just as a law degree, each state has a different certification so if you work in a public accountingfirm and typically working with many clients, you must be qualified to practice in every state that your client resides in. Being a C.P.A. usually comes with great respect but also great responsibility. To become a C.P.A. there is a qualification known as the 150 hour requirement. This qualifications requires that the applicant has completed 150 semester hours of academic credit at an accreditedcollege or university. The second requirement is that the applicant must have  one year (2,000 hours) of experience in an accredited work place. Depending on state, once you complete this you are now ready for the CPA exam. This exam is actually four separate exams that is a total of fourteen hours of examination. This obviously is not a one day test. Once you have passed the first part you mustpass the next three parts within an 18 month period. The exam is only available 8 months of the year so you need to be very aware of how much time you have. This exam is one of the most stressful and dreaded processes for accountants. However, if money is the issue SmartPros salary survey reports that those with a CPA license make nearly $21,000 more than those without.
Public Accountants
Now thatthe two main aspects of what a public accountant is responsible for, what do they do on the job. Here is a short list of what other types of things a public account will do when they are not dealing with tax season:
* Review financial statements
* Assess risk
* Test system reliability
* Evaluate business assets
* Tax planning and consulting
* Measure performance
*Analyze operations
* Financial planning
* Benchmark against competition
* Manage information real-time
* Teach/research
As you can see, public accountants do a lot to stay busy. Also, accounting laws and regulations are always changing so public accountants must also stay on top of what is going on in the economy and what types of restraints they must follow so that they do not go...