An accountant is a person with the responsibility of recording and monitoring the flow of money in a business oriented organization. They are responsible for preparing the financial statements of an organisation.

A chartered accountant is a person with the primary role of providing consistent information concerning financial reports. They also play an essential role in giving suitable advices to the employer with the aim of achieving maximum profit. He should have successfully completed the CA course.

Accountant and opportunities

An accountant is a person with specialization in accountancy. They can work directly for a company or a business oriented institution or else they can be engaged in helping private individuals in their financial decisions. They can be hired by any agency to complete their tax returns. Some of the fields of work of an accountant are:

• Personal finance
• Business finance
• Estate planning
• Tax preparation

They need great accuracy in their work as they are dealing with finance. Many private firms as well as public organizations provide job opportunities for an accountant. Even a small firm sometimes needs the help of a specialized accountant in settling the financial records.

Chartered accountant and opportunities

A chartered accountant has a lot of opportunities in the field of accountancy. His academic qualification is a highlight as compared to other accountants. They may specialize in auditing, taxation or accounting. They basically offer professional service for various clients for a payment. The tasks of a chartered accountant includes the following

• Corporate financing
• Auditing
• Taxation
• Financial reporting
• Risk analysis

There are various private as well as public organizations that provide a platform for chartered accountants. Some of them are as follows

• ICICI Prudential
• ING Vysya Life
• Max New York Life
• Om Kotak Mahindra
• Reliance
• SBI Life

The chartered accountant may work as a freelancer also.

Key difference between accountant and chartered accountant

A chartered accountant needs to undergo the professional course CA offered by ICAI where a graduation in Commerce might be enough to become an accountant. Like wise there are a lot of job opportunities for a chartered accountant compared to other accountants and also the salary offered to CA will be comparatively very high as compared to an accountant. Accountants are usually involved in the task of ensuring accuracy in money transactions where as a chartered accountant is mostly involved in the auditing of financial statements.