Accounting along with such fields as architecture , engineering, law, medicine is recognized as profession. What distinguishes a profession from other disciplines ? There is no single recognized definition of a profession, but all these fields have several characteristics in common .
First, all professions involve a complex and evolving body of knowledge . In accounting, the complexity and the ever-changing nature of the business world, financial reporting requirements, management's demands for increasingly complex information and income tax laws certainly meet this criterion .
second, in all professions, practitioners must use their professional judgement to resolve problems and dilemmas.
Of greatest importance , however ,is the unique responsibility of professionals to serve the public's best interest, even at the sacrifice of personal advantage . This responsibility stems from the fact that the public has little technical knowledge in the professions yet fair and competent performance bye professionals is vital to the public's health safety or well-being . The practice of medicine for example directly affects public health while engineering affects public safety . Accounting affects the public's well-being in many ways because accounting information is used in the allocation of economic resources throughout society . thus accountants have a basic social contract to avoid being associated with misleading information .
Accountants tend to specialize in specific fields as do the members of other professions . Career opportunities in accounting may be divided into four broad areas (1) public accounting (2) management accounting (3) governmental accounting (4) accounting education . < I will discuss them later in a separate post >
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