An accountant is a person who documents, keeps, and interprets financial statements for an individual or a business. Typically, an accountant is required to have earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting. In preparation of accounts, accountants follow a set of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) rules.
Accounting can be classified into three broad categories; managerial accounting, which assists the management in better decision making regarding their business performance, cost accounting which is crucial in product costing and tax accounting, which assists individuals and firms in complying with tax requirements.
The roles of an accountant vary in an organization, but mainly they are tasked with preparing financial statements, managing budgets, financial forecasting, completing income tax returns, preparing tax reports, and coming up with tax strategies. Therefore, accountants help an organization in strategic planning, external compliance, operation management, and fundraising.
Individuals also work with accountants to help them prepare tax returns, check the accuracy of bank and credit card statements, pay bills, etc.
Financial documents should be stored or shared in an encrypted and safe manner. Since accountants are constantly dealing with client financial information, they should consider looking for a file sharing system that offers end-to-end encryption, secured file storage, and compliance to data security regulations, among other features that ensure total data security. Such features are not found on freely available file-sharing options or emails but can be found on secure systems like the ICFiles.
