B. Match the two parts of sentences below to find out what different types of accountants do

A. Look at the text below and discuss if the job of an auditor is really challenging.

Supporting Materials

Auditing is a complex career, involving many different job responsibilities. Auditing involves the review, analysis and evaluation of processes, products, services, systems, organizations and employees. Auditors assess the accuracy, validity, reliability, verifiability and timeliness of organizational information, as well as the sources and processes by which that information is produced. Auditors also inspect an organization's internal controls and the extent to which these controls manage an organization's risk exposures. Internal controls help prevent the theft of a company's assets and, if properly designed and executed, prevent data manipulation by employees. Among the main objectives of audit are to report upon the reliability, verifiability, accuracy and timeliness of information.

There are a few personal characteristics that are important for an auditor to have. First auditors should posses a strong ethical framework. Then good communication skills allow auditors to have a rapport with a variety of employees, managers, directors and external parties. Strong interpersonal skills are also important, due to the variety of informational requests. Furthermore, auditors need to be team players, as the scope of the audit can be fairly large. Finally, "professional skepticism" is an important trait to have, especially when reviewing a company's internal controls.

The qualities required for bookkeeping are probably accuracy and concentration, and mathematical ability. Managerial and cost accounting require analytical ability and mathematical competence. Tax accounting probably requires a thorough knowledge of tax laws and accounting combined with a desire to help one’s clients reduce their tax liabilities. Auditing presumably requires strong analytical and synthetic skills and honesty.

An accountant should be confident, with a good knowledge of company finance and legislation, but also approachable and good at communicating with people.

1.	Bookkeepers	A.	check the complete accounts before they are presented to the external auditors and make sure that the management has sufficient control over what is going on in the company.
2.	Management accountants	B.	record transactions in purchase ledgers and sales ledgers.
3.	Internal auditors	C.	have to verify that a company’s published financial statements gives a true and fair view of its profit, its assets and liabilities.
4.	External auditors	D.	calculate how much tax an individual or a company should pay – or try to reduce this figure.
5.	Cost accountants	E.	analyse the sales figures from different departments and make decisions about their future activity.
6.	Tax accountants	F.	work out the real cost of every item the company makes which means finding a way to allocate all the overheads to different products.

c. Produce your own dialogue about auditor’s and accountant’s responsibilities and useful personality characteristics. Make use of the underlined helpful phrases from Dialogue 1 and Supporting Materials. Find answers to the following questions.

· What are an auditor's responsibilities?

· How can useful personality characteristics for an auditor be defined?

· What particular skills do different kinds of accountants need?

· What kind of qualities does a good accountant need?

Дата добавления: 2014-12-23