Auditors

Most people still do not get the difference between auditors and accountants. To some both terms are interchangeable to mean the same thing. However this is a huge misconception since the two professions are totally different.

The major difference between these two professions which is obvious is that the accountants' job involves tracking of money for both individuals and institutions, whereas the auditors' job is to track what the accountants while at the same time ensuring no fraud has been committed.

Being financial professionals of high repute, auditors and accountants have several similarities and perform various job functions that are very much alike; apart from making sure the books of accounts are balanced.

Some these functions include: Cost Control, Budgeting, Asset Management, Employee compensation, Taxes (Federal, State, and Personal), Planning and Forecasting and New product development.

What is obvious is that these two professionals will always feature anyway money is involved. The financial field is so wide that these professional choose to become specialists. Examples of the fields of specialization include tax audit specialist and employees' benefits tax accountant or auditor.

What is interesting with the two professions is that training for the two jobs is largely the same. The foundation to the two careers is a bachelor's degree in Accounting. After the degree, the next requirement is to become a CPA or Certified Public Accountant.

To become a CPA, one has to cover the required coursework by clocking 150 semester hours coupled with considerable on the job experience. It is mandatory to become a CPA in order to be an auditor. The CPA is the term used in the U. S but there are several equivalent qualifications such as CA/ACA referring to Chartered Accountant as the qualification is known in some commonwealth countries like Scotland, Ireland, Australia and England. The requirements for attaining the CPA qualification are by and large the same globally.