Alphabet Soup of Accountants

Nov 7

Written By Core Group

ABC … Easy as 1- 2 -3…

•Certified Public Accountant

•Licensed by the individual States. Out of state licenses must be approved/qualified

•Can generally do any accounting function for both private companies and the public

•Rigorous continuing education requirements

•Strong Professional Ethics standards

•Public Accountant

•Hold over from history. Not all states have them, and many don't issue the license any more

•Limited in some functions of public accounting. Compare to an MD and a PA (Physicians Assistant)

•Enrolled Agent

•Licensed by the Internal Revenue Service

•Literally means that the invidiual is enrolled to practice before the IRS

•Has no public accounting authority (e.g. cannot issue audited financial statements). Generally limited to taxes

•Ongoing education requirements concerning federal taxes

•General term that applies to various things. Could be a bookkeeper.

•Some states limit the use of accountant with the public to CPA's

•Unless supervised by a CPA or EA, cannot prepare or file federal taxes

Core Group