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The accounting curriculum largely masks what accountants do. That is, the curriculum is not in harmony with accounting practice. A current accounting careers brochure, published by the AICPA's Relations with Educators Division, asserts that accounting helps in understanding and solving problems and in communicating solutions effectively. Accounting is defined as the language of business. Public accounting and, in particular, CPAs are described as dealing "with issues and people instead of just paperwork or numbers... (CPAs) work with clients -- individuals, small companies, organizations, and numerous industries, including nonprofit, real estate, public utilities, and manufacturing."(1) The following statement from the brochure is in response to the question, "What exactly does an industry accountant do?"
"Anything and everything. Industry accountants have diverse responsibilities that may include financial and accounting duties, legal affairs, negotiations, and personnel matters. With an accounting degree, you can go into almost any industry anywhere in the world. Besides the technical skills, CPAs in industry must be good communicators and use their insight and judgment to make solid business decisions."
The brochure's classification of an industry accountant is intended to include all accountants other than those in public accounting.
Conversations with real-world accountants reveal the consensus found in the following synthesized quotation:
Certainly we must...