Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
Type
Qualified accountants
Founded
United States
Headquarters
United States
Industry
Accountancy and Finance
Accountancy
Key concepts
Accountant
Bookkeeping
Trial balance
General ledger
Debits and credits
Cost of goods sold
Double-entry system
Standard practices
Cash and accrual basis
GAAP / IFRS
Financial statements
Balance sheet
Income statement
Cash flow statement
Ownership equity
Retained earnings
Auditing
Financial audit
GAAS
Internal audit
Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Big Four auditors
Fields of accounting
Cost • Financial • Forensic
Fund • Management • Tax
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the
statutory title of qualified accountants in the
United States who have passed the Uniform
Certified Public Accountant Examination and
have met additional state education and ex-
perience requirements for certification as a
CPA. Individuals who have passed the Exam
but have not either accomplished
the
required on-the-job experience or have previ-
ously met it but in the meantime have lapsed
their continuing professional education are,
in many states, permitted the designation
"CPA Inactive" or an equivalent phrase.[1] In
most U.S. states, only CPAs who are licensed
are able to provide to the public attestation
(including auditing) opinions on financial
statements. The exceptions to this rule are
Arizona, Kansas, North Carolina and Ohio
where, although the "CPA" designation is re-
stricted, the practice of auditing is not.
Many states have a lower tier of account-
ant qualification (below that of CPA), usually
entitled "Public Accountant" (with designat-
ory letters "PA"). However the majority of
states have closed the designation "Public Ac-
countant" to new entrants, with only about
10 states continuing to offer the designation.
Many PAs belong to the National Society of
(Public) Accountants.
Many states prohibit the use of the desig-
nations "Certified Public Accountant" or
"Public Accountant" (or the abbreviations
"CPA" or "PA") by a person who is not certi-
fi