Meaning & use
accountant
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Meaning
nouncountable
A person whose job is to keep, examine, and analyze financial records.
Grammar: Has the plural accountants; often qualified by tax, certified, chartered, forensic, or management.
Patterns
- be an accountant
- hire an accountant
- an accountant for a company
- work as an accountant
Our accountant checks the invoices before payroll runs.
She works as a tax accountant for a small theater company.
The firm hired an accountant to clean up last year's records.
Word forms
| plural | accountants |
|---|
Common combinations
- certified public accountant
- A certified public accountant signed off on the audit.
- tax accountant
- A tax accountant helped the family file correctly.
- forensic accountant
- A forensic accountant traced the hidden payments.
- chartered accountant
- In the UK, a chartered accountant often audits company accounts.
- management accountant
- A management accountant advised on next year's budget.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bookkeeper
- A bookkeeper records daily transactions; an accountant may analyze, advise, and certify records.
- auditor
- An auditor independently checks accounts, often after an accountant has prepared them.
- CPA
- CPA is a formal US qualification for some accountants, not a synonym for every accountant.
- controller
- A controller manages accounting operations inside a company, beyond routine record-keeping.
Word family
- accountancy noun
- The profession of accounting; common in British English.
- accounting noun
- The activity or field of keeping financial records.
- account noun
- A record of money spent, received, or owed.
- account verb
- To explain or represent an amount, as in account for.
Commonly confused: accountant or auditor? accountant or bookkeeper?
accountant vs auditor
An accountant may prepare accounts, while an auditor reviews them independently.
accountant vs bookkeeper
Bookkeeping is narrower record-keeping; accounting can include analysis and reporting.
Practice
Which person is most likely to prepare and analyze a company's financial statements?
Choose one answer.
An accountant keeps, examines, and analyzes financial records. A bookkeeper records transactions, a cashier handles payments, and a customer buys goods.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “accountant”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.