Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the processing of information about economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys this information to a variety of stakeholders, including investors, creditors, management, and regulators. Practitioners of accounting are known as accountants. The terms "accounting" and "financial reporting" are often used as synonyms.
An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certified Accountant or Certified Public Accountant, or Registered Public Accountant. Such professionals are granted certain responsibilities by statute, such as the ability to certify an organization's financial statements, and may be held liable for professional misconduct. Non-qualified accountants may be employed by a qualified accountant, or may work independently without statutory privileges and obligations.
Certified General Accountant (CGA) is a professional designation granted to Canadian accountants. A person who meets the education, experience and examination requirements of the Certified General Accountants of Canada (CGA-Canada) is entitled to use the professional designation and add the letters "CGA" to their title. A CGA is jointly a member of CGA-Canada and a provincial or territorial CGA association, or a CGA association overseas.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) is the world's first professional body of Chartered Accountants (CAs).
Chartered accountants were the first accountants to form a professional accounting body, initially established in Scotland in 1854. The Edinburgh Society of Accountants (1854), the Glasgow Institute of Accountants and Actuaries (1854) and the Aberdeen Society of Accountants (1867) were each granted a royal charter almost from their inception. The title is an internationally recognised professional designation; the certified public accountant designation is generally equivalent to it. Women were able to become chartered accountants only following the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 after which, in 1920, Mary Harris Smith was recognised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and became the first woman chartered accountant in the world.
Founded in 1904, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants(ACCA) is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (ACCA). It has 240,952 members and 541,930 future members worldwide. ACCA's headquarters are in London with principal administrative office in Glasgow. ACCA works through a network of over 110 offices and centres in 51 countries - with 346 Approved Learning Partners (ALP) and more than 7,600 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide employee development.
The Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) is the world’s leading professional body for Accounting Technicians, with over 150,000 members worldwide.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India is the supreme audit institution of India, established under Article 148 of the Constitution of India. They are empowered to audit all receipts and expenditure of the Government of India and the State Governments, including those of autonomous bodies and corporations substantially financed by the government. The CAG is also the statutory auditor of Government-owned corporations and conducts supplementary audit of government companies in which the government has an equity share of at least 51 percent or subsidiary companies of existing government companies. The CAG is also the statutory auditor of the Lokpal.
Indian Audit and Accounts Service is a Central Group 'A' central civil service under the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Government of India. The central civil servants under the Indian Audit and Accounts Service serve in an audit managerial capacity, in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department. IA&AS is responsible for auditing the accounts of the Union and State governments and public sector organizations, and for maintaining the accounts of State governments. Its role is somewhat similar to the US GAO and National Audit Office.
Founded in 1908, the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGA-Canada) serves Certified General Accountants and students in Canada and nearly 100 countries. CGA-Canada established the designation's certification requirements and professional standards, offers professional development, conducts research and advocacy, and represents CGAs nationally and internationally. CGA-Canada joined the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada to integrate operations under the CPA banner in 2015. CPA Canada is the new national accounting body formed by the merger of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) and the Society of Certified Management Accountants (CMA) in 2013, and now Certified General Accountants.
The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a national competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to higher Civil Services of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, and Indian Police Service. It is also colloquially referred to as the UPSC examination, and UPSC CSE. and is conducted in three phases: a preliminary examination consisting of two objective-type papers, and a main examination consisting of nine papers of conventional (essay) type, in which two papers are qualifying and only marks of seven are counted; finally followed by a personality test (interview). A successful candidate sits for 32 hours of examination during the complete process spanning around one year.
The Indian Railway Accounts Service is one of the Group A Central Civil Service of the Government of India. The civil servants under this Service are responsible for the Accounts and Finance Management of the Indian Railways. About 25–30 IRAS officers are recruited every year through Civil Services Examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission. Currently, the IRAS Cadre has a strength of about 800 officers.
British qualified accountants are full voting members of United Kingdom professional bodies that evaluate individual experience and test competencies for accountants.
The Ministry of Finance is a ministry within the Government of India concerned with the economy of India, serving as the Treasury of India. In particular, it concerns itself with taxation, financial legislation, financial institutions, capital markets, centre and state finances, and the Union Budget.
In India, Civil Service is the collection of civil servants of the government who constitute the permanent executive branch of the country. These includes servants in the All India Services, the Central Civil Services, and various State Civil Services, who are recruited by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), and each state's Public Service Commissions.
The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is the global organization for the accountancy profession. Founded in 1977, IFAC has 180 members and associates in 135 jurisdictions, representing more than 3 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce. The organization supports the development, adoption, and implementation of international standards for accounting education, ethics, and the public sector as well as audit and assurance. It supports four independent standard-setting boards, which establish international standards on ethics, auditing and assurance, accounting education, and public sector accounting. It also issues guidance to professional accountants in small and medium business accounting practices.
Gazetted Officers are executive/managerial level ranked government officers in India. Authority for a Gazetted Officer officer to issue an official stamp comes from the President of India or the Governors of States. To that effect, they are de jure representatives and delegates of the Indian State and the President. If and only if a person's appointment is published in the Gazette of India or any state government gazette with their name, are they called Gazetted.
Chartered Professional Accountant is the professional designation which united the three Canadian accounting designations that previously existed:
CPA Ireland, formerly the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland, is one of the main Irish accountancy bodies, with 5,000 members and students.
Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS) is a Central Group 'A' Civil Service of the Republic of India established to provide Financial Advice, Payment, Accounts and Audit services to the Defence Services i.e. Indian Armed Forces and other allied organisations viz. Defence Public Sector Undertakings, Military Engineer Services, Border Roads Organisation, Defence Research and Development Organisation etc.
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